Cut+ Copy+ Paste

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The Song:
The lion sleeps tonight was first recorded by Solomon Linda and his groups the evening birds in 1939., and eventually came to the attention of American Folk group Pete Seegers and the Weavers. Their version of the song was recorded with "Wimoweh" instead of the original chorus of " uyimbube" which means the lion is sleeping in Zulu.
Ever since the songs topped the charts and upteen covers have been made, the most notable being in the soundtrack of Disney's The Lion King.
The song actually refers to an old South African legend, about their last king, Chaka the mighty lion who did not die when the Europeans took over their country. He simply went to sleep and will wake up some day.

The Video:

In 1979, with the hiring of Dr. Ed Catmull, the graphics group division of Lucas Films corp was formed. This small company was purchased in 1986 by a certain Mr. Steve Jobs. The company then progressed to make high end computers for medical applications whichevidently not very successful. This company struck a deal with Walt Disney Pictures to produce full length animated motion pictures in 1991, the first of which was Toy Story. The rest, as they say is History.

Presenting the first complete video made by Pixar Animation studios, The Lion Sleeps Tonight..

And this one from Friends when Ross meets his Star pet monkey...

Twenty Five Before 25

25 things I have done before 25...

01) Dunked 12 cups of coffee a day

02) Air guitared at a big music concert

03) Watched reruns of favorite TV shows

04) Played a musical instrument

05) Walked a beautiful girl home..more than once

06) Prayed with all my heart

07) Stayed awake throughout the night

08) Regretted things I have said

09) Said and meant sorry

10) Motorcycled my way in college

11) Kept a French Beard

12) Gained a few extra pounds

13) Bunked lectures to watch Cricket

14) Footboarded on Pallavan buses

15) Cheated in exams

16) Given advice for free

17) Felt that samosas were god's way of telling us how much he loved us

18) Played tennis ball cricket on weekends

19) Waded through waist deep water to get to school

20) Played and still love playing video games

21) Kept in touch with people who matter

22) Watched superstar's movie first day first show

23) Not act my age

24) Cook like a caveman

25) Understood that everything happens for a reason

Bruxism

I have bruxism. Bruxism is defined by the medical dictionary as the habitual involuntary grinding or clenching of the teeth, especially during sleep. It is caused by the activation of the reflex chewing activity controlled by the reflex nerve pathways and the brain. During sleep, the brain control is lost but the chewing activity is present which causes the teeth to grind against each other (wikipedia). Bruxism normally occurs The biting force which is the pressure exerted when the teeth clench is six times more during the nights. Bruxism is attributed a variety of causes which include misalignment of teeth, improper diet and most importantly high anxiety and stress. Common symptoms include sore facial muscles, damage to teeth, TMJ problems, toothache and painful sensitivity.
The symptoms started at around midnight on a monday when I started having uncontrollable pain in my incisors and molars. I attributed it to my inconsistent oral care and met my dentist the following day after making it through the night with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. He checked my teeth for any signs of nerve damage or decay, two potential causes for pain but did not find any. He then noticed that the upper surfaces of my incisors were ridged and my teeth showed signs of wear, and then things fell in place.
The reason why I am writing about this is because I want everyone to be aware of such a condition. All of us go through stress at some point of time, and issues like bruxism are added baggage. I was unfortunate to have been identified with it at a very later stage, as a) It happens when you sleep and b) nobody sleeps next to me to be disturbed by the grinding and let me know about it. Its in our hands to keep ourselves aware of conditions such as these. If you notice
symptoms like dull headaches, sore and tired facial muscles, earaches, sensitive teeth, and locking, popping, and clicking of the jaw and damage to tissues of the inner lips and cheek, and you have been leading a stress filled lifestyle, its probably a good time to talk to your dentist.

So whoever reads this, please make sure to pass it on to your friends and ask them to do the same. Just like prevention is better than cure, awareness is better than regret.

Touching a Note..

Even though I appreciate movies and music more than just listening to it, and have a musical persona to my side, I have never reviewed music and movies. Its probably because I feel that I am not qualified to do so or simply do not have the knack to do so.
Recently two of my absolutely favorite composers released back to back albums..the first being Vishal-Shekhar, two of the most talented musicians out there. Right from their debut movie, Jhankaar beats till date..these guys have their uniqueness in most of their songs which is extremely refreshing and innovative. The other composer needs no introduction, the Mozart of Madras- AR Rahman.

Vishals earlier album Honeymoon travels Pvt. Limited was an ensemble set of music, Right from the extremely addictive, creatively composed and brilliantly sung Sajnaji vari, vari to the hindspanic tango song, that album was path breaking (speaking of sajnaji vari vari-Its got an amazing video as well, KK Menon's dance is worth its wait). They follow it up with the next production from the sarkars of Bollywood, Yashraj film's Ta ra rum pum, which stars Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan. I was really curious to hear the soundtrack of this album, firstly because Vishal and Shekhar were back in action and secondly, their previous effort for this production house was not that bad. I was never so wrong..In my opinion, this is probably one of their most pedestrian efforts to date. The Cliches never stop, u have this happy family song, these 2 romantic duets, a back-to-your-feet-and-have-a-go motivation song and of course the punjabi numbers. Its this tune of been there heard that and disappointment which is heard repeatedly.
Similarly, Rahmans Sivaji was out last week, and i was excited to hear his sounds since I felt that after a lackluster 2006, where his best efforts were only Rang de Basanti and parts of Guru, he made a fantastic comeback with Pray for me Brother. For those who haven't heard it, its vintage Rahman back in the good old days. Minimal instrumentation, awesome voice control-the music, lyrics and vocals blend in such a way, that you are spellbound..listen to it using headphones and you will know what I am talking about. The instrumental version stands out on its own, especially the mridangam bit towards the end..it brought back memories of andhimandharai and Pavithra, some of Rahmans unsung works of wonder.
and now we have Sivaji, with all the hype surrounding it ever since its procreation, one did expect a good album, within commercial restraints due to the unanimous reason-Rajni. I know I will be making a lot of enemies here, but the album is sort of a letdown.
Though Rehman had to deal with the pressure, I felt that he could have justified himself better. The Vaaji, Vaaji song starts of well actually and amalgams a blend of middle eastern, hindustani and oriental tunes-the song generates a wierd feeling of deja vu.
The pick of the lot is the dulcet Sahana. However there are two words which brings back terrible memories-Udit Narayan. I feel that Udit Narayan should be allowed to sing songs with simple wordings, laced with ample english and hindi interspersion. However, we have him singing pure tamil. In the middle of the song, he goes into orgasmic overboard with "pookal", "Bhoomi" and "Vaanam". The results are heavenly. Chinmayee does a great job as usual, She is Rahman's Brahmastra.

Its saddening to see talented composers succumb to commercial constraints. It affects their credibility, confidence and skill. I feel a composer should be given a relatively free hand in doing what they do best. It would enable them to work from the heart.

Happy Listening.

Freeze

Welcoming the newest member of my menangerie..

Loud and Clear

To cut a long story short, The lack of inspiration rather than the lack of time was one of the reasons why I haven't had a chance to update this space frequently. Most of my time also was spent sorting out some professional issues, which was time well spent.

After a lot of contemplation, I upgraded to the new Ipod Shuffle-not much of an upgrade, as I had a shuf

fle earlier as well-the 1st generation 512 MB version, which has been discontinued. My initial choices were the Creative Zen V plus, which is a solid 2GB player, with video playback and voice recording. However, once you have an ipod, it sort of serves as a benchmark for other players and I returned it back. I considered the Nano, which is a winner in its own way, but realized that my love affair with clumsiness is going to play villain here. Besides, I really dont care to see the song details, and I have my computer to watch my photos and videos.

One of the primary reasons I invested in this player, apart from the fact that I love to damage my eardrums in a slow and synchronous fashion is that it helps me a lot in my commute.Despite living in a city which boasts of one of the best mass transit systems in the world, more often than not, trains moving downtown during peak hours are limited in service. One has to put up with overcrowding, irritation and displeasure quite a bit. A lot of people make use of such opportunities to cement relationships,slurp coffee, share ringtones and making their private lives public. My music shuts me out and I am so glad. This ain't a rant but I feel that theres a time and a place for everything. The utter lack of consideration for a fellow commuter's sanity further contributes to the show. I know that I cant ask people to lower their decibel levels or tell them that I really do not care about how their "boo" can kiss for hours. All I can do, is just press play..

La Vita e Bella gente..

P.S:
I really like the new shuffle, its compact, the headphones are designed more ergonomically and the lengths reduced a bit, no more USB charging and above all..its so apple..:)

Signs from Above

Recently, LIFE magazine posted an article on some of the most interesting church signs across the country. Some of them inspire a chuckle, some are candid but all of them work towards the same purpose.

" Keep using my name and I will make rush hour longer"-God (Selkirk, NY)

" Looking for a lifeguard? Ours walks on water" (Statesville, NC)

"Walmart isnt the only saving place in town"(Nashville, TN)

"Swallow your Pride. It contains no calories" (Bridgeton, MO)

"Heaven is a cool place" (Trumbull,CT)

"Give up your troubles to god, He's up all night anyways" (Stewartsville, NJ)

and heres my fave

"Dont wait for six strong men to take you to church" (San Diego, CA)

Keep the faith y'all

Its Scary..

One of the sureshot symptoms of addictive joblessness is when you start listening to each and every song on your computer hard-drive. On a lazy saturday, that was precisely my plan of fruitful action. This particular song caught my ears, tinkered with my mind and made me do things I did not want to be caught doing today..retrospecting, introspecting, speculating and in general, thinking.

25 is a scary age man.A fourth of my life just whizzed by along with 16 years of schooling, 2 degrees and a year on an insipid profession. Its an eerie thought of disbelief.

So many things have happened so fast. Mom's cooking now become a thing of the past and cooking for yourself is trendsetting. Being dropped at school has transitioned to walking to college and commuting to work. I have moved from people making decisions for me to being consulted on to make decisions and eventually making decisions for myself and others. I dont know whether this wind of change is for the better or the worse. Better-because it makes you responsible.Worse-because you are responsible.

Anyways, to cut a long story short, change is growth. Sometimes, things take a while to change making us anticipative. Most of the times, change is so fleeting that it catches us short of our breath. Either way, it is upto us to make the most of what change brings.

Without further ado, may I present "100 years" by Five for Fighting.

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars

15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live

I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
Half time goes by
Suddenly you're wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are

Scrubisms 5

The original Scrubs title sequence..

This video was aired only for 3 episodes of season 2- an extended version of the title accomodating the likes of the janitor as well. However, due to fan consternation and studio pressure, this video was removed and replaced with the shorter one, still opening the show to date.

and the actual theme song itself,
I am no superman by Lazlo Bane

Coffee Conversations...

Coffee is a great bonding agent. Discoveries, friendships, opinions and hell has been made across that cup of caffeine. I am proud to admit I am a big fan of coffee, a tad overindulgent infact, and millions will raise their mugs in admitting the same.

AL and I caught up last evening after a long time. He's an MD, a plastic surgeon passed out of JHU and UCSF respectively. We work together occasionally. Random conversations about the weather channeled towards scientific research and his work ( Disclaimer: Some of the facts stated are directly from conversational ditties, the authenticity of them will soon be verified. They were taken for granted because they were from a highly qualified individual). AL is here on a 2 year resident fellowship to study the effect of specific genes in the cause and effect of atherosclerosis (clogging of the blood vessels due to fat accumulation). He then gets back to UCSF as a resident fellow. He was telling me about his addiction towards research-which according to him is like gambling. When you win some, You play more..when you lose some, ou play more to make up for the loss and win some. His only regret after getting back to the emergency, is that he would be putting in 84 hrs of work every week as opposed to the 60 he does now. Why? a simple example- Sewing back a cut hand will take 14 hours to rejoin 3 blood vessels, 5 nerves, tendons, ligaments and muscles. Then, theres the risk of internal clotting, which would involve repeating the entire procedure. As part of his future plans, he wanted to do a sub speciality in pediatric craniofacial surgery. In infants born with deformed head shapes, it is actually possible to split the skill which spreads out, and parts can be cut and rearranged. wow!!Conversations drifted to alcohol and drug rehabilitation- something I am really passionate about. AL opines rehabilitation is of two types-One following any addiction, another before it. I concur with him.

Needless to say, I savored those 20 minutes after 5 and my coffee ofcourse!!

Bussy Days

I thought of this post on an impromptu early morning bus trip to New York last week, and it finally materialized on my notepad. Much as I tried to catch some sleep during the monotonous 4 hour journey, I couldn't help thinking about the influx of public transportation in my 24 year journey so far.

My earliest recollection of buses was when dad took M and me to check out the buses at Sanskrit college after dinner. I still remember the 12Bs, 45Bs, the 12s and the occasional 41 series at the bend. School was closer to home and we did not bank on buses to get us there. We walked and then eventually graduated to cycles. I used buses to get everywhere in town and was a master of most of the cities bus routes. 21 went all the way from Parry's to Mandaveli, 29C all the way from Perambur to Adayar, 12G from Anna Square to KK nagar, 12B from Foreshore estate to Vadapalani and 1 from thriruvotriyur to thiruvanmiyur. We used to take the express buses from Broadway to Vellore, the equivalent of a Boston-New York journey. The buses stopped enroute for breaks, and we made use of opportunity to have "Elaneer" on hot summer days. These point to point buses were outrageously fast, but had limited stops on the way. I remember travelling in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan in their famous tourist buses.

Manipal was bus haven. The trains used to go all the way to Mangalore and Manipal was an hour away from there. It was on the notoriously famous Mangalore-Manipal buses on NH17 that I used to reach college. These buses had their fifteen minutes of fame on the highway by travelling at unimaginable speeds. There have been many an accident on NH-17 courtesy these buses but the need for speed flourishes. An alternative way to reach Chennai was by taking the buses to bangalore and take the train from there.

In the US, my college was in a place where public transport wasnt necessary. I traveled from Chicago to Lexington in DEC 2004 which was my first long distance bus trip. That trip was a blast ( I have blogged about it earlier). After relocating to Boston, Buses were my staple mode of commutation till late.

My trips to New York have been courtesy the Fungwah buses, these buses are a boon to students and the like who want to get to New York fast and without burning a hole in your pocket. The tickets costs you 15 bucks and you are in NYC in 4 hours. Buses leave every hour and they are invariably filled.

As I look back, how much ever I love to bike or drive, my first crush is always public transport. I have met interesting people, debated on contemporary issues, made friends and in general, had great times during my bus and train travels. Madras, Manipal, New Orleans, Boston, Chicago or Vellore, nothing beats a good ole bus ride!

May the trips keep rolling.

mimes and sketches

played dumbcharades and pictionary with some ubercool people this evening. After a very very long time. Lots of competition and loads of fun.
I miss quizzing.

One Step Closer

This wednesday evening was spent watching a reality show called Dirty Dancing on TV. The premise of this show is that 6 couples performing diverse dance routines compete to win a dance contract. There were salsa, tango, cha-cha, hip-hop, pop and ballroom dancing on stage.The male is a professional dancer who has to choose his partner out of three contestants. In the hip-hop category, the ladies had to put up with the obnoxiousness of this guy, who was self absorbed, pungent and racist. One of the contestants actually wanted to leave the show but held on for the love of the dance. When she actually won, she told him onstage that training with him made her lose respect for the dance and walked out. Despite losing out on a chance in the finals, she sure won a lot of respect.

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.

IF.

I remembered Rudyard Kipling's famous poem this morning on my way to work. I heard it for the first time during the teacher's farewell for my seniors, when my principal recited it on stage. Elegant, inspiring and plain wonderful, I love this poem. In fact, I had a poster of it on my wall for more than 5 years and quoted it in many an autograph book.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

scrubisms

" In Med school they warn you about the sacrifices you need to

make, I guess it means different things to different people, like

giving up something you want now, for something you really want your

whole life "

Scrubs, Zach Braff- I am hooked!!

Performancing

Heres my first post using the performancing firefox, a full featured blog editor for the Mozilla browser and am I impressed..:)

Now I dont need to log into my account everytime to write a post, all I need to do is press f8 and lo! this editor screen pops up. Once when I am done, I click publish and the post is automatically uploaded to your website ( obviously we should update the url and the login details)

You can store multiple blog sites and enable 1 click publishing for each of them.

Heres to performancing!!

Sit or be Seated

This evening I offered my seat to a lady who politely declined it.
The gentleman next to me got up and offered his seat to her, she politely declined it as well.
He caught her arm, turned her around and made her sit.
Whoever said Chivalry was dead, look again. Its alive, kicking and ready to grab you by the throat.

INDIA POISED

INDIA POISED

India Poised- The Times of India's ode, on our 60th year of independence to the other India, the India which is ready to take on the world. A very interesting campaign, encompassing the varied facets of the media to get the message across. The website had an interesting appeal to it. I particularly savored the RK Laxman's TOI cartoons and Jug and Ninan's musings. The India Anthem as it is called is recited by the inimitable Amitabh Bachchan. Here's the text of it, and the video plays on the site.

There are two Indias in this country.
One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us. The other India is the leash.
One India says give me a chance and I'll prove myself. The other India says prove yourself first and maybe then you'll have a chance.
One India lives in the optimism of our hearts. The other India lurks in the skepticism of our minds.
One India wants. The other India hopes. One India leads. The other India follows.
But conversions are on the rise. With each passing day more and more people from the other India have been coming over to this side. And quietly, while the world is not looking, a pulsating, dynamic new India is emerging.

An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure. An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods but buys out the companies that make them instead.
History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it's taking a turn.
This is that rarely-ever moment. History is turning a page.
For over half a century, our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, fallen, rolled over, got up and dusted herself and cantered, sometimes lurched on. But today, as we begin our 60th year as a free nation, the ride has brought us to the edge of time's great precipice.
And one India - a tiny little voice at the back of the head - is looking down at the bottom of the ravine and hesitating.

The other India is looking up at the sky and saying it's time to fly.

INDIA POISED

Our time is now

Swe and I were discussing this couple of evenings back and the only thing in our minds was Why Amitabh Bachchan? . Its true that he is the numero uno of our film industry, a performer par excellence. Isnt it time we realize we are overplaying him? The guy is everywhere, right from promoting suitings, cars, pens and what not. Nowadays there are updates about his walk routines, temple visits and the like.

When I see Amitabh Bachchan take centerstage, the first thing that came to my mind was whether we will be able to appreciate and relate to someone else ? If so, would it be the same? Is it because of the fact that he has won the hearts of millions, we tend to cling to him? Are we scared to let go, because we fear the same impact would not be achieved?
Nevertheless, a very interesting and an inspirational campaign.Dont forget to get your indiapoised badges!!

Introspectively Retrospect

What a year its been, having its own shares of highs and lows, plusses and minuses, hits and misses, hellos and farewells. On a personal note, 2006 brought its share of enthusiasms and tribulations. I became a degree wiser, moved north east, working harder and enjoying it. Though the year started off on the wrong foot, things transitioned to a smoother directive and I hope its stays that way.

In retrospect, time exudes change, which keeps you going. Over the years, change has shaped my perception, thoughts and action. Change brings realization, which provides suitable experience for further change and the cycle goes on.2006 has been one such year and I hope the following years would be the same too.

Over the last year, I have made concious efforts to reconnect with people who matter the most and continue to do so. It may not be for knowing what their weekend plans are, but for consistent support, apprisal, opinions and criticism. At the same time, I require and respect my space and know that others do too. I have realised that keeping the final goal in sight, and savoring the steps towards it makes it worth the effort. Perfection isnt the zenith, striving towards it is. In addition, I have reaffirmed the importance of concurrent opinions in any relationship.

I have realized the importance of adequate rest.I have caught up on a lot of reading and honing my writing skills. I have walked miles and reaping the benefits of fitness and good health. I've volunteered and will continue doing so. I picked up my tennis from where it was and taking it further. I am meeting enterprising people by the day and seeking inspiration. Lifes looking up.

This year, I want to strike a more definitive balance betweeen liking what you do and doing what you like. I want to be a little more cynical,detached, practical, focused, diligent and smarter. My confidence, sense of humor, motivation and spirit is getting the much needed tinkering. Looks like I want a lot..true and I am working my ass off towards getting it. Did I forget to mention I turn 25 this year?

An awesome year ahead and pray everyone makes the most of it.