Frankly Speaking

Benjamin Franklin was a genius, no second thoughts about it. I'd spend a lot of time savor spending time talking about the contributions he has made to..pretty much everything. One of these days I sure will. However, this ditty is about a code of conduct developed by a young Mr. Franklin, in his twenties, on his way back from London to Philadelphia. He followed the plan faithfully till he was 79, when he finally decided to document it in order to ensure he diligently followed it for the rest of his life, thanks to its efficiency.

His 13 virtues were as follows:

1. TEMPERANCE.

Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY.
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY.
Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION.
Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11.TRANQUILLITY.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

The way he implemented it was even more impressive. He gave attention to one virtue a week, so that at the end of 13 weeks, he would have completed an entire cycle. He then went back to virtue 1 and repeated the cycle.4 more times. He kept track of his progress by maintaining a notebook where he tabulated the 13 virtues against the days of the week. He used to review every day spent and place a dot near the virtue for every fault committed with respect to it. Initially, there were a lot of dots, but they diminished over a period of time. It did take a lot of effort, hardwork and discipline, but then the results speak for itself.

Happy New Year!! May this year get you closer to where you want to be.

The Belgian Connection..

What connects this kid

to this guy

this guy

and him

Think a little young Belgian reporter and his faithful fox terrier whose exploits have taken him to wee little corners of the world. He's met Al Capone in Chicago, wrestled gorilla's off the coast of Scotland, gets acquainted with a perpetually inebriated Captain in the sands of the Sahara, encounters the Yeti while looking for lost friends in Tibet and even manage to land on the moon.

Thomas Sangster (that kid from Love Actually) plays Tintin in a forthcoming motion capture version of the Adventures of Tintin in a series of films to be directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Spielberg directs the first, which is based on The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, while Peter Jackson directs the second installment. It is speculated that the two will co-direct the third. In Spielberg's own words in favor of 3D motion capture,

"We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live action film and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live action format would simply not honour the distinctive look of the characters and world that Hergé created.

"The idea is that the films will look neither like cartoons nor like computer-generated animation. We're making them look photo-realistic, the fibres of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people - but real Hergé people."

Andy Serkis would say Aye to that, for he is no stranger to that art of film making. His antics coupled with computer animation created one of the most memorable fiend of middle earth and celluloid history- a certain creature which went GOLLUM GOLLUM. He's plays Captain Haddock in the Tintin series.

Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles!!!!

Here's a little bit of Tintin trivia:

"The Castafiore Emerald" is the only book which contains a wee bit of profanity, wherein a character uses the word "DAMN"

In June 2006, Tintin became the first fictional character to be offered the Dalai Lama's "Truth of Light" award because " For many people around the world Tintin in Tibet was their first introduction to Tibet, the beauty of its landscape and its culture. And that is something that has passed down the generations".

Potterheads alert!!

They have been spotted since July 22nd. You see them everywhere, Parks, bus stops, cafes, the trains, even staircases and rest rooms haven't been spared!!

Males and Females exhibit evident and similar characteristics, head down, nose buried in between 752 pages of a certain yellow jacketed book about the travails of a boy wizard. They show utter disregard to life in their vicinity and cling on to their books as if the world was to end that instant, if they remembered to lift their head and breathe.

Picture this..

5: 30 PM, a crowded compartment on the orange line..people clinging on to save their lives..Potterhead makes her entrance..3 bags in tow..one hand grabs the railing..the other hand fishes out HP 7, causing painful contact with innocent civilians hanging out beside her...disdaining eyecontact later, Potterhead gets into business.

12: 30 PM..lunch at work..bespectacled potterhead walking down the stairs, doing what he does best..not realizing that there only a finite flight...tumble and a fall later, potterhead is still in shape, book in hand.

Little did an unemployed mother in Edinburgh who commenced writing in December 2004 know that she would eventually change the course of the literary world. J.K. Rowling, during the same journey, You have created monsters.

Disclaimer: This wasnt to berate HP or HP fans around the world, JK Rowling has envisioned and presented a fantastic world to us. Enjoy the books and ensure you do not cause inconvenience to other denizens on this planet.

Shahrocks Primetime

The much anticipated revival of kaun banega crorepati with more moolah at stake, and most importantly a new helmsman. Shahrukh Khan takes over from where Amitabh Bachchan left. Amitabh reclaimed his lost glory and won the hearts of millions of indians all around the world, being the accessibly affable superhost of this show. Shahrukh has huge shoes to fill. At a time when his moves seem to be taking Bachchan head on, comparisions and opinions are flowing in by the dozen.

I checked out the first 15-20 odd minutes courtesy youtube and I loved it. Heres why shahrukh hits the ball out of the ground.

Right from his early days till date, Shahrukh's forte is his charisma, energy and his uncanny ability to banter forever, with repartees thrown in good measure. It is exactly these which he brought in with him on the sets. Pour liberal measure of warmth and spontaneity, I am sure he brought smiles on everyones face with his introduction lines about not speaking pure hindi and when he asked the contestants wife to " wish him all the best and say I love you".SRKs enthusiam and geniality provides the perfect alternative to Amitabhs restraint.The only sore point was the shoddily made, kindergarden music video. Whats up with the blings and whites a-la Abhishek Bachchan bluffmaster mode? The english and hindi soliloquies...Namak Halaal/Velaikkaran anyone? and SRK did mention mere angane mein tumhara kya kaam hai.

give the guy his due..stop drawing comparisions and lets enjoy the show for what it is..Big B, SRK or whoever.

P.s: on a personal note, the new Don was a very well made film by its own might.