The Desk

Desk - Music and Sound Design from Aaron Trinder Film:Motion:Music on Vimeo.

The author who sells his work on the subway, not on amazon!

If you watch this video, you would realize that this guy is quite like and quite unlike modern day authors. A lot of authors have come out with manuscripts in prison, very few have actually made a self help book out of life experiences. When they got out and they got a publisher to back them, they sold their books in big corporate franchises, and on the great electronic stores like amazon. This guy started his own publishing company over time; he makes money and still sells his books on the streets---$10 for 1, $15 for 2.

I tried to look up his book called 'Change your gameplan' on amazon, to see if I could actually find it. I was hoping I would find something in the used section for the usual <$1 price. Think again. 1 new for $75, and 2 used available for $34! From what I read in the New York Times article about this guy, the books are actually quite good. People have been known to bump into him and thank him for the pleasure of reading his book....take that for 'review' in our modern times! Besides, you don't sell 14000 copies of garbage! He has a rule- sell 35 books a day, and to not go back home till he actually does. He writes, he sells, he pays rent for his apartment in the Bronx, and he takes care of his 3 kids, aged 20-23.....

Randy Kearse used to be a drug peddler. He spent 13 years in the slammer for moving 200kg of cocaine on the streets. He has turned a new leaf and written this book to help kids, to stop them from making the mistakes he made.

People have written to him, asking him if his new role would wash off his disgusting history....till date, he has no answer to this question....

This brings us to the point of learning from other people's experiences. But then, if you are reading this article, you probably don't need to derive a lot of message out of it-the irony of life; those who need it the most don't have access to it.......

Despicable Me....What a good movie!

I was kind of apprehensive about going for 'Despicable me'. I went for 'The Last Airbender' a couple of days back; it almost made me lose my faith in the art of movie-making. Shyamalan has certainly come a long way since he made Sixth Sense; his consistency in degradation is just exemplary!

Despicable me had me thinking right at the beginning, 'Here we go again, this shows promise, lets wait and watch, I hope it's just not another bad night', so on and so forth. Thankfully, this one did not fail me. In fact, I would go on to say that it is one of the better movies made this year. Humor, great timing by Steve Carrel, the feel good factor, an appropriate length-it has it all!

This movie reminds you of the essence of comedy, the way it all began in the days of Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Ever since 'That 70s show' and similar shows took up a lot of airspace on television, we have almost gotten stuck in the rut of situational comedy. What 'Despicable Me' does, is that it reminds us that you don't need come up with clever stuff to make people laugh. Of course, it's all very clever integrally, but the art of making people laugh is more of a knack, and not slave to the wit and intelligence of the writer in coming up with stunning dialogues. It could be just about an audio-visual experience that would suffice....and when you blend the odd killer dialogue on the fly, it just works like a garnish, gives it more appeal.

The editing on this movie is so amazing, they never get stuck in the whole adopted kids drama. Hence, they still maintain the crazy hilarious criminal plot at its best, and still lend the movie that feel good factor.

GO FOR IT! In the meantime, enjoy the trailer.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mqUMQfKmg0

The Chronicles of LeBron James

The drama that has been going on for quite a while now could be justified, considering the fact that LeBron James is one of the most followed players in basketball. Some would even go ahead and call him an all time great (I would!). For me, the whole LeBron drama has just been boring. There's a game going on, and what do the guys on Sportscenter talk about, as part of the halftime report? Any guesses? LeBron of course. Is he going to New York, or is he going with his friend Jay Z to the Nets? Chicago and Miami are also in the running....and it goes on......

Some people have identified this whole event as derogatory to the sport of basketball. I don't think so. People say that this never happened when Jordan was making his decisions. It sure did, just that things happen on a different scale today, and information escalates out of control owing to the superfluous outlets of media. Long back, people would have heard it once on the radio. Then came television. Now we keep hearing the same things on multiple levels, for those not satisfied, they would even head to espn360.com....and believe it or not, people might say they are bored by the whole thing, but when they go to the page, most are tempted to click on the LeBron link, and there......5 mins of life wasted, 5 mins one would never get back! (My sympathies with those who even follow the news on different levels, multiple sites).

Now that he has gone with the Miami Heat, I think the coming season is going to be an interesting one to follow. I would even go ahead to call this the first superteam of the NBA-James, Wade, Bosh on one side.....add Kobe and you have the Olypmics Redeem team. Like always, people have their doubts. I don't-you see I like to commit to a judgment! People say that this means nothing, that better 'teams' would outdo them.Three out of five guys don't form a team? Especially 3 guys who are good enough to score 80 points on a given night. And I can't even imagine what LeBron and Wade could achieve, given that they would be given the much needed rest, given that they would play with the comfort of not knowing that they do not have to go out each night scoring 30+ points. I think this is the team to beat now!

You have to give it to Pat Riley. A lot of teams offered the big money to LeBron. Pat Riley offered him a shot at the championship. When it comes to LeBron at this stage in life, when he has 10 good years left in him, he has ample time to earn his dollars. What he is hungry for right now, is the championship ring. That is something that eludes him, eludes their 'big 3'! And this new Miami outfit would give them their best shot at it. If they can't do it with this team, it might never really materialize.......

Beat The Heat....beyond air-conditioning

A heat wave has gripped the Northeast. In places like Western Massachusetts where three digit temperatures were unheard of, this heat wave has made us appreciate the high comfort factor of our usual climatic conditions. It's not just the temperature, but the humidity, that makes such a heatwave intolerable. And to top that, if you happen to live in an apartment that does not have air-conditioning, it's very important for you to know how to beat the heat! Looking at the status updates and tweets on our most popular networks, I have come to the consensus that not a lot of people actually have an idea about what can be done. Well, I can tell you what I did....and it worked, at least as much as it could....

1. Fluids- You have to stay hydrated to avoid the major complications arising from the heat and resultant dehydration. Drink lots of water (even if you don't feel thirsty). It might be a good idea to have lemon juice with some salt added to it. Gatorade would be excellent. A lot of people don't know this, but in this weather, it's very useful to eat fresh fruits- especially bananas since they are rich in electrolytes.

2. Be in air-conditioned settings as long as you can. I spend most of the time in the department. The problem is, you have to be back home to sleep. And sleep you can't, in such hot and muggy conditions.

3. Quick cold water showers multiple times in a day. They make you feel really good. It's an even better idea to go for one just before going to bed. That could be the difference between going to sleep and lying restless in bed.

4. Shut the windows and blinds during the sunny hours of the day. This prevents the air in the room from heating up, also prevents hot air from entering the room. This would, if not totally keep your room cool, at least limit the temperature your room would reach during the day, making it a quicker cooling process at night.

5.

This could be the difference between you bedroom cooling down to desirable temperatures overnight or not. It's a basic simple 10-15 $ fan kept on the window sill after sundown. What this does is, it brings the cool air from the outdoors into your room replacing the warmer air inside, at an accelerated pace. As we know, hotter air being lighter settles near the ceiling and gives you the pleasure of being in the company of some cool air while you're going to bed. To top that, if you are using another fan in the room, it would mean that the second fan would be circulating cooler air in the room.

6.
This could be a real handy device, especially when it's extremely hot and humid. Firstly, spraying cold tap water around the room and along the walls with this spray would not create the mess that splashing water would; this would lower the temperature in the room marginally-something's better than nothing. Second, if you have a towel handy, you could just spray your face with this for a really refreshing cooling effect. And being water, you can do this as much as you wish to.

7. Wet thin towel as a blind on the open window: This would lower the temperature of the air entering the room. Some people even say that keeping a wet towel in front of a powerful fan/air circulator helps- I haven't tried this. Besides, it is not a self-sustaining trick. But then, nothing mentioned above is!

8. Keep wiping off the sweat. It's really refreshing.

9. Have cool beverages, but not in the sun, unless you want to invite heat stroke.

10. I have noticed that if I somehow keep my face cool and sweat free, it somehow feels a lot better than it would considering the alternative. I cannot explain why this happens, like a lot of other things I suppose.....

Stay cool and may we have our cherished weather back soon!

The different food pyramids....

It's Tuesday, the day of the classes. Three classes scheduled, the first one almost done with. The topic to discuss in this class is quite interesting. We are talking about the evolution of nutrition and recommendations in the US. This included a lot of content ranging from dietary recommendation cards in the US; how their wordings changed from assertive words like "avoid salt" to politically correct words like "choose to have salt in moderation", how the decision making with something so scientific as nutrition and health has been influenced by politics and industry.
We also looked at the evolution of the food pyramid. The food pyramid from 1992 explains quite well why obesity is a disease in the US and a lot of the western world.



It is quite evident that the whole issue with this pyramid is that it recommended a superfluous intake of bread and cereal- the whole problem with the current day diet in the developed world!

This pyramid needed flipping, which did happen in 2005. The current day food pyramid would be self explanatory....




The beauty of this pyramid is that it not only tells people that carbohydrates and sugars are bad for them, but also that good health is about healthy eating compounded with exercise!

For the pleasures of those really into this stuff, following is the Food Pyramid drafted by Walter Willett, who can practically be termed the father of Nutritional Epidemiology. Hopefully a lot would be incorporated in the upcoming 2010 food pyramid.....

--  G u r u 

Issues

There seem to be some nagging issues with my blogger uploader. I am
trying to sort them.....Sorry for the incomplete posts, if any.....

--
G u r u

Hero

My Tuesday evening class

I am back in class....Tuesday evening, 2.5 hours, painful, painful, painful.
It's not surprising I am writing this post right now. My last post was exactly a week back from this very class, which is scheduled just once a week. Quite an irony, the fact that the only time that I have come back to blogger to leave a post, the only time when I have been free, more mentally than time-wise really, is when I am in class, this very class!

But I get the feeling that I have to stop letting these lag times come in the way.....I mean I am busy and everything, but I still get my daily dose of news and other interesting articles, and coming to blogger for 5 minutes in a day would certainly do no harm to my quest with the boards.

Anyways, if nothing else happens, this class will, a week from now.......

Health insurers sue to raise rates - The Boston Globe

Health insurers sue to raise rates - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

Good morning..........

I have to say that it feels great to be up almost 6 hours earlier than usual.....
And no greater pleasure than waking up to a great song.......

When people get drunk......

1:47 AM 1: 2 you online? you fat person.....
9 minutes

1:56 AM 2: oh u skinny lil thiong..
poor u ..underfed..
u asleep?
else its time to drink..

1:57 AM 1: huh
skinny
underfed?
what?

2: 2 is turning u on..

1: what?
hey
hi
its 1
remember
whats happening

2: %^&* that was defg n pqrs
im talli-ish
:P

1:58 AM 1: ok

2: i love you

1: me too
!!
lol

2: that wa pqrs
dont believ all tyhe cjhat lkk
]i= 8upogtfre6534213qetiy pu;oi

1: ok ok
stop destroying pcs

2: nmolp

1: anyways macs are taking over

2: ok..
1:59 AM do u wanna comeover to drink/
c'mon for 2..

1: lol
dude
spare the poor thing
when did you get back from boston?

2:00 AM 2: hey pqrs here come hereb man

1: and do what
%$^&*( 2 am dude

2:01 AM 2: 1 y 1
y yy y yy y

/
'/
?

2:02 AM 1: people have lost it i can see

2: yes i have
wow
its so cool
this should noty be cvhatvlogged
ill kill u
so dont

2:03 AM 1: WOW

2: coz u shyud be live over summer

1: you gave me a brilliant idea

2: fc um
1
ont do it
dont doit
bnooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
nioooooooooooooooooo
noooooooooooooooooooooooo

1: whats happening here

2: 'k byeeeeee
byeee byee

1: bye

2: pqrs wants u fo come wirth qlcohol

2:04 AM 1: and why have you forgotten how to type

2: o k hye
bye
bye bye 1
;)
:)\

Let her be......

I am in class, but all I want to do right now is listen to this......(it's ringing in my head!!!)

Reading multiple books in parallel......

I have made a pact that I am going to go through some real old books, books that have their own place in literature- in fiction for most part.This also means that I would have to go through some pretty deep stuff.

I have picked up Catch-22, an American literary classic. It has been described as funny and explosive. I am sorry to say that the first 50 pages that I have just zipped through are anything but that. Despite this, I have a feeling I am going to love this book once I finish it. That would mean going through 448 pages, and right now, that seems like a daunting task considering the fact that I am as distracted as I get while studying!

I have always read one book at a time- non-academic of course. My catch-22 situation (not in the literal sense- the term originated from this book FYI) made me think- I have to read something else  for my hour odd/day of casual reading alongside Catch-22 to avoid dropping it completely, at least till I find it riveting (which hopefully at some point I would). I just wanted to know if a lot of people do this. So I went to google, and to my surprise, a lot of people who love to read, read multiple novels at the same time, alongside their daily dose of academic/vocational/devotional reading, newspapers and what not. So I have decided to give it a shot! I do have 3-4 books lying around, that I really, really want to read. I am about to open one of them, which is not really completely unrelated to my field of education- Epidemiology. Given its genre of read, I doubt I would ever get through it in its 300 odd pages of totality in one go, on its own. This seems like a plan.

The blog post at 1:07 AM because I was sleepy at 11 PM; I did not turn the lights off and bury myself into my blanket; now can't sleep! It looks like this is going to be another long long night.......

Effective Reading can't be a habit....it's got to be an addiction!!!

People catch the bug from different places...I got it from my mother. Books.
I have been, what I would call, an avid reader most of my life, at least if I average it out! There have been phases where I have ripped on 300+pages of fiction day in and day out. There have been times when I have not read a page of casual literature for days together.
We all learn from really early on in life that reading is a good habit, probably the one to have. I would go on to say that it would be inappropriate to call, at least casual reading, a habit, per se. For if it is a good habit, and people know that already, you would see the whole world immersed in "non-academic" reading. But no. I would go on to call it more of an addiction, and one that really depends on what one reads early on in life (reading life, if you will).  I was lucky to have a mother who is closer to voracious in her reading, help me there. I started with the Archie comic series very very early in life. Even though it might have different connotations today, I did enjoy it a lot back then. Then came the Famous Five series and Enid Blyton overall. HARDY BOYS-rite of passage to more serious stuff. By the time I was there, standing at the end of my 150th odd Hardy Boys book (the whole series), I was so into it, that I really did not need much effort to get engrossed in books.
Medical School changed it all. Casual reading was replaced by no reading, because academic reading did not give me pleasure. I knew that it would be good for me, but unless it was a subject I loved, I would not read.  I COULD NOT DEVELOP THE HABIT.
During the same years, along came the Harry Potter series (not the only books I read all along medical school!!!). And once again, I was reading like a maniac, hitting a book/30 odds hours.
I feel sorry for the people who have not had people show them enjoyable reads early in the day. I know most of the people who read this blog....I know you guys are all fine......In case someone not as fortunate in this respect comes along at random, I would be more than happy to help with basic pleasant reads and suggestions. I may not be your "superhero print seeker", but I sure know who needs to read what to feel what!
Happy reading folks!!!!

The Google argument........Google is evil........I love Google

1: omg i love google

  :)

  2: im scared of google

5:55 PM  1: y r u scared of google?

  2: they have my emails

  my contacts

  my passwords

  some of my documents

  most of my pics

  dont you think i should be scared

5:56 PM the thing is

  think about it

  you cant switch to yahoo now even if you want to

  thats scary

  the thought that you cant switch

  we depend on them

9 minutes

6:06 PM 1: well i dont hav all my passwords n pics with google actually

  :P

  n i have a yahoo account too

  in fct, google was my last account

  i always had hotmail n yahoo

 2: ya well all do

6:07 PM  1: google happened only in my 3rd year of udergrad

  2: agreed

  1: so no, im not afraid

  ;)

  2: but think of the years when you are were active on the internet

  more dependent on the comp

  those were the google years

  and i dont have everything there

  but....they have enough

6:08 PM  1: well, think about it this way..google is such a mega giant, they've 'been there done that', they have the safest tech out there..so nur info is safest with them

  2: agreed

  thats y we are all with them

  im more with the comic book principle

6:09 PM with more power comes more responsibility

  and if turned bad, can screw way worse

  1: yeh well unless they decide to go terrorist..it cant be all that bad

  2: ya

  another

  bloggable conversation

When in Rome..............

its a judgment about all oldies back home

  where religion and customs controlled life

1: n really..they still do!

2: of course

  but im ok with it as long it does not affect my life

 1: true..wat we all hope for

   but alas..not happening once u step into the country

   haha

2: not at all

  when in rome....

1: rrrriiiiitttee

2: "do the romans"

1: hahah..that tho we 'do the romans' even if we'r ein australia :P

 2: hahahahah

  its a thing seen most with us "romans"

 1: yes..very rome-like behaviour

  sticky bunch

  these romans

 2: i know

 the best is when the romans see another roman within sight, they give him/her a big irritating stare from the corner of the eye, not direct enough to result in a "hey" and not unassuming enough to not notice

  its like

  have i seen this roman somewhere

  hmmm

  i have

  no

  maybe

 1: yes ..i have..wtf is he/she doing here?

 2: lol

  this is going to a blog

1: lollzz

  its like a new genre of blogging... chatblogs

Creaky old wooden chairs.....

I just visited Rao's Coffee House at Amherst Center, to pick up my favorite "Chai to go". I was shell shocked when I saw that the place had been given a makeover.

This is not the first instance that I have had to witness the change from something old, deep rooted, historical, lovable, familiar, memorable change into a high quality furniture store. Being from Bombay, I saw this change left, right and center over the last 5-7 years. We loved it as it happened for sure, but eventually- "Naah, I wish it were the same old messy place". When the old made way for the new, familiar staff changed, familiar routines changed, familiar ambiance changed, rates changed. So essentially, it was never really a change of furniture at all. It was the soul being ripped out and being replaced. No matter how ordinary home might be, it's still home. It sure was a great house to start with. But then, because you used it along the way to getting familiar with it, it got old. The house became the home. But when you're from Bombay, you've seen the change- We saw Bombay making way for Mumbai.........

The whole point behind heading to Rao's and not Starbucks, is the smell of coffee and the creaky old furniture! I would go to Starbucks if I wanted to! Why would someone change something when people already love what's being offered to them! I am getting sick of the everyday transformation of something we love into something that had the stench of a corporate boardroom. It's another institution dying on us-the good old coffee shop, the cafe. The first one opened in Damascus in the 1500s. And it started dying right here in the US in the 80s I think, when the first Starbucks store opened in Seattle.

All said and done, I would say that the new Rao's is not a second Starbucks on East Pleasant Street. It is still, in essence, very close to the one we know and have come to love. A year of use and we'll have the old one back. I just got the feeling that the lights were too bright. Maybe someone should suggest installing the old tube lights once again maybe.....kidding......

A tribute to the old Rao's. You rock.......

A tryst with a fountain pen.....

I have been a rebel most of my life, in fact I would say, for my entire life. Hence, I have never liked doing anything that I have been told to do, though at most times, I would eventually regret this contumacious attitude. 

Back in the day, when we started using fountain pens in school, I used to look at me seniors in seventh and eight grade with awe- their ball point pens, unlike the messy, compulsory fountain pens we were using! I waited so desperately for my time to come. It sure did come. And then Gemma happened!

I had this teacher who used to teach me Math and Sciences in tenth grade, Gemma Wasan, strict as ever, would select her students with great care, and would make them work the way she desired! I entered her first class with a ballpoint pen. She gave us a short exercise with some Math problems to see where we stood. At the end of it, she corrected them all right in front of us- rather tore them all up. Why? Well, there was no need to correct them. They were all written in ballpoint pen ink, and there were cancellations and corrections on pages.....so a rule was established on the first day of tuition classes- USE FOUNTAINPEN, CANCELLATIONS ARE AS GOOD AS NO SUBMISSIONS. Gemma and her class are worthy of their own entry. Today, lets talk about my journey with my fountain pen.

I hated it, only because Gemma wanted me to use it. I tried to use microtips and roller balls. Finally, I gave in. I want to go back and see her and thank her to this date. It was because of her, that I did not have a single cancellation on my 10th Grade University Exams. I fell in love with my fountain pens- one red and one blue Parker vector, which lie at home in Mumbai till date. I continued using them through junior college, medical school and even internship!

I now carry a Waterman Hemisphere, way more expensive than my Parkers, but nowhere as good! Not for me at least. This just goes to show that no matter how boring something might get, if you're used to it, you are going to miss it! And yes, distance does make the heart grow fonder.

Gemma would say- "Buy a fountain pen, buy a bottle of camlin ink, use it for years. Less pressure on the paper, on your wrists and on the reader's eyes".

I wish there were more people like Gemma. I used my fountain pen at my Nutritional Epidemiology exam. It was a horrid experience. Apparently, the whole recycled paper circulating in the US is of such low quality, it's not even funny! A fountain pen needs a marginally absorbent paper with a smooth surface. The better the quality of the nib, the more would you feel the dynamics of ink, nib and paper. And it hurt, it was torture! There were blank strokes on one side of the page, compared to great writing on the other. The blue books are used for most exams at UMass. So what I am going to do for my Advanced Epi exam day after, is use a ballpoint! I hate it! But using the classic fountain pen is an experience which is dying out. 

I am starting a new forum for fountain pen users. There are a couple out there already. All I can do is hope. AND BE A REBEL! 

Hope to see you there.

How to fold a T-shirt in 2 seconds.....

This works for me. Felt like I should contribute my two cents to any readers out there as a small fee (fine) for getting back to this blog once again after a year's lay-off......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An0mFZ3enhM