XKCD.COM

Witty and poignant. Check out xkcd. A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

 

  

  

Heroes interpreted.

The time has come, to talk of many thing. Of capes, and pandas, and flying bums; of maniacs and kings. And why Darkseid never sleeps; and whether bats have wings.

The post, obviously, has been inspired by watching three superhero movies in quick succession; Kung Fu Panda, Hancock and The Dark Knight. Okay okay, so you say Kung Fu Panda is NOT a superhero as such. Do I even care?

So lets start off with Hancock. A great premise and reasonable acting ruined by a lousy script. Not even Charlize was able to save this. Will plays it too emotional to be really funny, and where oh where are the impressive villains? A gay guy with a hook for a hand? That's the baddie? Please. The movie gets over before it begins. Do not watch it. Not even if guys with hook hands turn you on. Coz' you can find stuff on the internet that'll satisfy THAT fetish. Rule 34, baby.

Kung Fu panda is cool. He can do the Wushi finger hold AND make a mean noodle soup. But that doesn't mean I like being compared with him. The NERVE of some people... Anyhoo, this is another movie which starts before it begins. The Bad Guy is whipped in one round with Po. The hero does not lose the first round only to return for round two, having finally learnt the meaning of 'heart'. And it doesn't really give me a good cartoon babe to fixate on (can anyone say Jasmine?).

But the movie is fun all the same; full of laughs and morals. And in the end, the audience learns that the secret to avoiding paralysing kung fu attacks is in developing an insulating layer of fat. And isn't that what really matters?

And finally, the movie of the year; The Dark Knight. Now I don't want to wax loquacious, but what a flick. They've finally tried to reach what I have visualised as the ultimate Batman film. That's right, in my head I'm an Oscar winning film director. And Batman will be my masterpiece. So starting with the premise that this film is awesome, crap-yo-pants fantastic, lets begin to tear it down. Christian Bale.... nope, Bale is NOT my Batman. He's too small, not brooding enough. Batman is a physical presence. He looms out from shadows. His cape falls over his shoulders to the ground; covering his suit; hiding it's outlines. His mask is not an oversize helmet covering most of his face, but thinner, smoother, showing his jawline. And his voice is not a rough rasp, but smooth and deep and full of hidden menace.

Has Ledger beaten Nicholson in his portrayal of the Joker? Who can say. Nicholson was an impressive joker, and combined with Burton's genius was whimsical, mad and deadly. Ledger's just creepy. Okay; subtract the 'just'. He brings creepy to a whole new level; a psychopathic mass-murdering level. And he's brilliant at it. They've interpreted the madness of the joker wonderfully well in the movie. He's in control of the situation the whole time, playing Gordon and Wayne like marionettes. And like the comics, the interplay between the Batman and Joker is wonderfully scripted. One gets the feel that the Joker defines himself by the existence of the Batman.

Finally, Gotham. Chicago does provide a good substitute, and plays off well against Nolan's storytelling style, but I would expect Gotham to be more... er... Gothic. More dark, more gargoyled and gloomy.

But hey! You can't have everything! A few things they DO get right is the twisted relationship between the bat and the joker, emphasis on the dark knight as a detective, and the deliberate concealment of Chief Gordon's daughter, Barbara. And we all know who SHE is.

Watch out for more heroes, including the eagerly anticipated Watchmen and the second celluloid version of the seminal Mike Mignola's Hellboy.

Sanity revoked

Okay... drop everything. Do yourself a favour. Go to the theatre and watch The Dark Knight. Immediately. Now. Do it.

Visitor Locations

Well, in a very polite mail Clustrmaps informed me that a year has passed since I had installed it on my blog, and they had archived my map and replaced it with a fresh one (on the right). I was quite proud of the old one; it showed hits from almost every country 'cept a few in Africa and round Russia Well, its on to bigger and better thing; and I hope you guys will help me populate the new map even better.

Here's what the old one looked like -

Finally...

How to configure EDGE on the iPhone

Configuration November 5th, 2007

I will show you how to configure iPhone for EDGE on any network - especially on India’s Bharti Airtel and Vodafone GSM networks.

1. Tap on Settings on your iPhone
2. Then General -> Network -> EDGE -> APN
3. For Bharti Airtel Mobile Office EDGE connection -> Type airtelgprs.com as the APN
4. For Vodafone EDGE connection -> Type www as the APN
5. For both Airtel and Vodafone EDGE connections leave the Username and Password empty

Now your Safari and YouTube should be working!

And for more tips of a similar nature, head off to iphonetipz

The Real World.

Whoever told you that a long vacation refreshes, relaxes and get's you ready for work is a dirty stinking liar. After being pampered, fed and generally coddled for two and a half weeks at home, returning to work is like emerging for a warm, cushioned womb into a dismal dystopian reality. Not that its not warm here.. oh no! Delhi's burning heat of June may be over, but the weather here has unleashed a new weapon in it's arsenal - humidity. The air is so sodden, so damp, that goldfish would probably find it salubrious. Any small exertion and you're pouring out streams of sweat and gasping with your mouth; much like afore-mentioned goldfish. Contrast that with my home in Coimbatore where an air conditioner is never required.

Add to this the tedium of office. My cubicle, which was chosen carefully for its solitude and distance from everyone, has been filled to the brim by sincere hard working drones. The person next to me, so awed by his manager, reads out lines of code to himself in a semi-panicked mutter which does much to drive away all my peace of mind.

And of course, in Delhi I am at the whims and fancies of outdoor food. Whereas at home, I am secure in the knowledge that all I have to do is turn up at the dining table at prescribed intervals and be fed; in Delhi every meal takes at least 15 minutes of keen descisions. Do I eat or skip? Do I subject my stomach to the tortures of the cafeteria, or do I venture out in the broiling sun to eat at a resteraunt? Will a bowl of musceli stave the ravening pangs of hunger or should I go whole hog on that cheese burst pizza and pay for my indulgence with guilt ridden sleepless nights? Decisions, decisions...

Psychologists save lives

The Gate

I know; my blog posts have become few and far between. Instead of the words and ideas flowing out smoothly, like slick jellied eels, they emerge grudgingly reluctant onto the espace like an alligator from its mud pit. And from those rotten analogies, you know it must be true.

The reason for this is a pervasive ennui which seems to envelop me and everything I do nowadays. The only thing which I do nowdays is read tech blogs and salivate at the new and shiny bits of metal and plastic that they so love to talk about. Gizmodo is my favourite right now, with Crave, Engadget and Slashdot following close behind. I occasionally tune into Scott Adam's blog, though his output is nowhere as good as before. And when I want to get in touch with my feminine side I head on over to Dooce.

Not that I need to get further in touch with my feminine size. I'm just one Avril Lavigne song away from putting on a dress. Coloured pink. Okay, so I apologise; apparently girls don't just like pink. They like red and white stripes/prints too. Which is not the same as pink. Definitely. Not.

Ever since I've returned to India, I've been doing my very best to visit as many pubs/lounges as possible, and get as comprehensively drunk in them as possible. And no, I will absolutely not let the shame of ordering strawberry daquiris while the girls with me down whiskeys with soda and then adjust their crotch and spit stop me.

Hey, I did tell you about my feminine side, didn't I? According to these girls (they pretend to be my friends), I give off this gay vibe, which is why they take me with them to restaurants and force me to ask the maître d' for a table. Apparently they are quick to comply either from desire or terror.

This weekend involved a drunken semi orgy at home with triple distilled vodka, white rum and Drambuie and Burnout matches on the PS2. We were supposed to catch a play at the Indian Habitat Centre on Sunday evening, but on arriving there learnt that it was sold out. Apparently more people were interested in imbibing culture than we thought. So after hanging around and ineffectually trying to bribe the guards into letting us in, we decided to make our way to Khan Market for dinner.

After strolling around a bit, we decided to have dinner at Big Chillz, which, as usual, made us wait for a half hour for a table, while we stood outside the window and pulled hungry orphan faces. I have to say, patience and girls go together just like apples and Godzilla. First, Miz Kuruvilla accosted the maître d' for letting this couple get in ahead of us. The waited replied politely, 'We would seat you first, Madam, we really would, but we would lose our jobs. The couple we just seated were the owners.'


Big Chillz is a pretty good restaurant serving continental and Italian, but what you should really go there for are the delicious and indulgent desserts with mud pies and cheesecakes crowding the menu.


This time however, we decided to go to India Gate for ice cream. Quite surprisingly, there was a huge crowd at India gate. People were lounging on the grass with picnic baskets and vendors weaved their way through the crowd selling everything from bhel-puri to bubble guns. It sorta reminded me of another famous place - people on the lawns before the Eiffel Tower. Such different places, yet so similar.


The girls of course wanted a bubble gun and a fluorescent helicopter, which miz Dutt promptly proceeded to launch in a wild and erratic manner, causing everyone to take seven steps away for safety.


Of course, the battery of my D60 chose that very moment to quit on me so you'll have to be satisfies with (inferior?) shots from Shazzer's D40.

[Update - I've managed to get just two photos outta Shazzer. Rest will follow shortly]

The Jesus Phone crucified.

Okay, so for those of you who follow my blog, you will recall me posting abt the latest list of gadgets on my have to have list ie http://lifeofviren.blogspot.com/2008/03/gadget-crazy.html. Anyway, two of them have been delivered into my grubby, clutching lil' mitts, namely the MyBook and the Nikon D60. The Nokia N96 however has eluded me by being, most frustratingly, still unreleased.

So what do I go out and do? Well, buy the Jesus Phone obviously. Yes yes, I know the 3G iPhone is imminent, but the CarPhone Warehouse were practically giving them away at £169. Of course, you were supposed to get a 2 year contract with O2, but hey, I'm willing to forego my warranty and get it unlocked.

I've got to hand it to Apple; they really DO do things in style. The phone comes in a sexy little box within with is the phone, a tiny manual, a usb cable, headphones and a jigsawesque power plug, all wrapped in yards of plastic. I was in the last stages of packing (this was the day before I was to leave for India), and my luggage was already approaching critical mass, but I just had to take the box back home. So, out went all my underwear, and in nestled the box between a James Herriot and a fleshlight. Of course, I haven't got around to buying any undies yet, but I'm quite enjoying the freedom.

err.. Anyway, back to the iPhone. After charging it a bit, I installed iTunes on my PC and upgraded the phone's firmware to 1.1.4.

Rant #1- What's it with Apple and their proprietary software? Whatever happened to good ol' drag n' drop? This always pissed me off no end, which is why I bought my self an iRiver d40 all those years ago and not an iPod.

Unlocking the iPhone next was a snap. ZiPhone does a pretty good job, both unlocking and jailbreaking it in a snap; and its ready to use. After playing around with the interface, I was genuinely impressed. Till I tried to make a call.

Rant #2 - WTF, the iPhone does not pick up your contacts off the SIM. Which is just horrible!

So, I had to first sync all my contacts from my Razr onto Outlook, and then sync them back to the iphone. And I saw it. And I used it. And it was good. Especially browsing the net, for which the iPhone is really built. So it's all joy and dreams... as long as you have wifi. Switch off the net however...

Rant #3 - My iPhone does not recognise the ad hoc wifi conn I set up from my laptop. Though this may be more a defect in me than in the iphone.

Rant #4 - Why does the SMS keyboard not appear in widescreen mode? I mean they've done it for the internet entry. How hard is it to put it in for the sms mode?

Rant #5 - Apparently, the bluetooth on the iPhone pairs only with the Apple bluetooth Headset... and NOTHING ELSE. Fun, innit?

Rant #6 - A 2 megapixel camera? Really?

Sigh, and lets not talk about the lack of 3G shall we? And neither of the fact that it will almost surely be outdated in a few weeks when the 3G iPhone arrives.

But for all this, it is a slick piece of gadgetry; an iconic crowd puller. And it's mine. And that's all that counts really. So now all I haveta do is sit back, whip it out (the phone, not anything else you pervert!) and wait for the ladies to come flocking. As I'm sure they will. Won't they?

A New Hope

Those of you who know me know that I'm always in search of the next big thing. From gadgets to galoti kebobs, I scour cyberspace for titbits to titillate both geek and gourmet. My first discovery is for the man of refined taste who's looking for something to tickle his taste bud. http://www.freshkitten.com/ will open up a new world for taste sensations for the purist and hedonist alike.

And having stimulated you physically, I now attempt to jog those grey cells by introducing you to the latest kid on the blogosphere - http://meinbetweenbooks.blogspot.com/. Now I know this blogger personally; we even pretend to be friends on occasion. And I do have to say, she's intelligent, knowledgeable and quite humourous too, especially when she tries to enter stores through their plate glass display windows (no I WON'T forget that). So give it a go.

And to end up, let me say I've changed continents again, and I'm now typing this blog from a place where the thermometer shows 43 degree celcius.

Farewell....

So I apologise. I know I've been neglecting you all for the past few weeks. But I have a really good reason - I'm finally going home! Yup, its 1 am, and in 3 hours I leave for the airport and fly home, home, home to India.

It's been a really hectic 2 weeks, what with all the cleaning, packing and winding up in general. And so ends my fourth trip to the UK. For me not the grassy hills and lush medows. The babbling brook and riotous orchard holds no more charm for me, as now I go home.

To be true, I am dreading the 40+ degree temperature in Delhi. But but but.. I get to go home (did I mention that).

So Farewell, may we meet again. My next blog will be from India!

The Cliffs of Insanity

Well here is just a little sample of what goes on on a typical day in IRCLand. Warning - the conversation below may contain excessive vulgarity, obscene perversions and even references to George Bush. In fact, dont read it. especially if you work with me or are related. Or if you know me even.

I'm CENSORING the rest of this! ..
[r34en]little britain.. what's that all about
[evil-inc]Something about being the only gay in the village
[evil-inc]I figured you'd be able to relate to it.
* Evil-Inc chuckles
[r34en]no I cant :/
[r34en]there are lots of gays in norwich
[evil-inc]lol
[evil-inc]I'll tell you what I don't get
[evil-inc]The Kumars At Number 42.
[evil-inc]What the hell is that all about?
[r34en]eh dont ask me
[evil-inc]I thought you'd know. Being Indian and all.
[r34en]second gen desis are all a bit crazy imo
[r34en]at least it's not big brother
[evil-inc]lol
[evil-inc]I've never seen that crap.
[evil-inc]Although I did watch the clips with Shilpa Shetty.
[evil-inc]That was funny.
[r34en]I watched it about 4 years back
* spyoct77 has joined #brighton
* ChanServ sets mode: +o spyoct77
[r34en]when I had come here for the first time
[r34en]fascinated what people would watch
[r34en]and what rat crazy people got in that house
[evil-inc]lol
[r34en]Shetty even
[r34en]'I am the Angelina Jolie of Bollywood'
[evil-inc]haha
[rachel]shit, i just knocked the speaker off the desk and now it sounds like its inside a plastic bag
[rachel]and it hit the lamp transformer and now that wont turn on
[evil-inc]What were you doing?
[rachel]THIS PLACE IS A MESS
* Evil-Inc looks at Rachel suspiciously.
[r34en]though I have to say she is hot.. as long as she puts a bag over her head and a ball gag in her mouth
[evil-inc]Seems as though you saw a penis.
[evil-inc]lol Viren.
[r34en]pls to keep a safe distance from electronics while wanking
[evil-inc]heh
[r34en]Rachel.. stop it!
[r34en]enough damage for one day
[evil-inc]lol
[r34en]I once broke a chair wanking
[r34en]once = yesterday :/
[r34en]nearly took out the table too
[evil-inc]wow. Now thats one story I don't want to hear.
* Rachel changes topic to 'welcome to #Brighton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2EThpC-I4M&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv8fLUuwo3M 2(120202:124602:124202) [01@Rachel] i am always curious to see penises. [@r34en] I once broke a chair wanking'
[r34en]wtf
[spyoct77]really rachel?:)
[r34en]TANKS
[evil-inc]Tanks!? WHERE?
[r34en]eh thanks even
[r34en]you think shes away wanking... and she's just waiting to topic you :/
[evil-inc]She's sneaky like that
[r34en]FALSE PRETENCES -_-
[spyoct77]i never knew rachel was so curious:)
[r34en]not in your's spyoct77
[r34en]er
[spyoct77]in whos?:)
[spyoct77]you broke a chair?
[r34en]er
[r34en]no
[spyoct77]hehehe
[r34en]what gave you that idea
[spyoct77]its written in the topic
* r34en edges towards the door
[r34en]oh rachel lies
[evil-inc]He nearly took the table down as well
[spyoct77]must be in the guinness book of records
[r34en]i'm not in the mood for this shit.. esp after sitting on this fucking hard chair off the dining table
[evil-inc]Your moms in the guinnes book of records.
[evil-inc](Sorry, I couldn't resist)
[r34en]hah
[spyoct77]i never mentioned family members
[evil-inc]I know. I did.
[spyoct77]not nice
[r34en]yes Evil-Inc.. why you mention the family members?
[evil-inc]I'll make sure I punish myself
[spyoct77]:(
[r34en]you a bad lil boy
[r34en]spyoct77.. where are you from?
[r34en]WHO are you?
[spyoct77]island of malta -europe
[evil-inc]or..what are you?
[evil-inc]Oh I know Malta.
[r34en]oh I'll stop fishing... are you female, hot, and willing to shag me?
[r34en]or any two of those?
[evil-inc]lol
[evil-inc]Hot and willing to shag him will do
[evil-inc]You don't have to be female.
[r34en]yeah Awais knows ALL about that
[spyoct77]oh im not saying what i am:)
[r34en]what species even?
[evil-inc]I know nothing.
[evil-inc]I'm only going by what you're saying.
[r34en]I'm coming there soon... get lubed up and ready
[evil-inc]lol
[spyoct77]where r u lot from?:)
[evil-inc]Pakistan.
[r34en]India
[spyoct77]thought u were american
[r34en]He is
[r34en]I'm more Russian
[evil-inc]On the Inside.
[evil-inc]lol Viren
[spyoct77]what languages do u speak?
[r34en]um.. not english obviously
[spyoct77]hehe
[r34en]I speak Indian
[evil-inc]I speak Pakistani
[spyoct77]i can speak english italian french maltese
[r34en]ah a linguist
[spyoct77]cant speak ur languages:)
[r34en]for shame
[r34en]soon the whole world will be speaking Indian or Pakistani
[r34en]we guys are breeding like crazy tryong to make it happen soon
[r34en]o/i
[spyoct77]first world language is english , then french/spanish , italian
[r34en]chinese imo
[r34en]or rather mandarin
[spyoct77]chinese maybe
[evil-inc]Yeah, plus we're sending people all over the world. To cross breed.
[evil-inc]Soon, we'll take over the world.
[r34en]yeah.. any news from our embassy in Malta?
[spyoct77]no trouble over here :)
[r34en]oh.. there'll be trouble in a couple of months, trust me
[spyoct77]foreigners r all welcome
[evil-inc]You'll soon regret saying that.
[spyoct77]u mean cause of religions?
[r34en]foreigners? who's a foreigner?
[r34en]are YOU a foreigner Evil?
[evil-inc]Everyones a foreigner to someone.
[spyoct77]lol
[r34en]got that off a fortune cookie?
[r34en]ask for your money back
[evil-inc]It was free.
[spyoct77]so in ur country u had richard gere and that model on the news?
[r34en]which model?
[evil-inc]Not in my country.
[r34en]the hamster?
[evil-inc]Gere is scared to come here.
[spyoct77]i forgot her name
[spyoct77]he kissed her on stage
[evil-inc]Shilpa Shetty?
[spyoct77]yeah thats her
[r34en]no he means the gerbil
[r34en]it was an Indian gerbil
[spyoct77]she took part on big brother
[evil-inc]I'd kiss a gerbil on the stage.
[evil-inc]Oh.
[evil-inc]Not an Indian gerbil!
[r34en]heh
[r34en]i think his relationship with it went more than kissing
[spyoct77]indian girls r nice
[spyoct77]heheh
[r34en]no they're not
[r34en]they dont shave
[spyoct77]really?
[r34en][down]O_O
[evil-inc]The cute ones do.
[spyoct77]neither legs?
[r34en]er
[r34en]yes
[r34en]legs
[spyoct77]well at least they do that:)
[r34en]when I want to see how I'd look with a beard, I just get the nearest girl to stand upside down in front of the mirror, and put my chin between her legs
[evil-inc]LOL
[spyoct77]lol
[spyoct77]why dont they shave there?
[r34en]its a religious thing
[spyoct77]ic
[spyoct77]well who would know if they did
[r34en]when it grows long enough, they make it into pigtails and dye it orange to honour the great saint Rajnikant
[spyoct77]lol
[r34en]spyoct77.. why did you laugh?
[spyoct77]i never heard of such things
[r34en]are you making fun of my religion?
[spyoct77]no
[spyoct77]but they dye it orange
[evil-inc]rofl
[r34en]it seems you are
[r34en]yes
[spyoct77]pigtails?
[r34en]YES
[r34en]plus they make great handles
[evil-inc]haha
[spyoct77]r u serious?:)
[spyoct77]lol
[r34en]do you have an issue with that?
[r34en]again with the laughter
[spyoct77]never read about these things ur saying:)
[spyoct77]whats ur religion?
[r34en]well we dont write about pigtails OBVIOUSLY
[r34en]I'm Indian
[evil-inc]ROFL
[spyoct77]not nationality
[r34en]my religion is Indian.. I speak Indian.. thats what I am and that's what I do
[evil-inc]His religion is Sachin Tendulkarism
[spyoct77]ah ok
[spyoct77]im catholic
[r34en]oh
[evil-inc]I hear catholic chicks put out.
[evil-inc]Is that true?
[r34en]in my country we're scared of catholics
[spyoct77]nah not true
[evil-inc]lol r34en
[r34en]we are scared they'll steal our shadows
[spyoct77]we have all religions in my country
[spyoct77]we are friendly with all:)
[r34en]is it true you can kill people and suck their souls by throwing water at them?
[spyoct77]us?
[r34en]yes
[spyoct77]no
[r34en]atholics
[r34en]+c
[spyoct77]its false
[evil-inc]ROFLMAO
[r34en]no?
[r34en]are you sure
[spyoct77]positive
[r34en]or are you not allowed to tell these secrets to non catholics?
[luis]viren, im catholic, and my spatula still [3s]He's just learning about her religion
[luis]haha
[r34en]his
[r34en]his imo
[r34en]luis.. but you are different
[spyoct77]catholics dont harm other religions
[luis]:D
[rachel]the only women in this channel are me and bonnie (then erika, susan and katherine when she comes in)
[r34en]I yearn for your catholic ass
[evil-inc]lol
[rachel]oh gawd.
[luis]w00t!
[r34en]man we should bash.org that whole conv
[rachel]man love.
[spyoct77]what religion r u Rachel?
[r34en]shes a nympho
[evil-inc]She's a mormon
[rachel]i am a buddhist paul.
[rachel]when i am not also a nympho and a moron, apparently.
[r34en]same thing
[spyoct77]decide:)
[luis]lol
[spyoct77]mormons can marry more than one woman
[rachel]oh and i misread that too.
[rachel]anyway
[r34en]thats it I'm converting
[evil-inc]Oh
[spyoct77]mormoms started off after american civil war , many women were left without husbans so one man would have to satisfy a whole lot
[r34en]In India if a woman looks at a man who's not her husband, her pigtails are tied togetherr
[r34en]-r
[spyoct77]who ties them,?
[r34en]the village elders
[spyoct77]ic
[spyoct77]do they practice circumcision there too?
[r34en]and she can only be free if she can get the family goat to eat them off
[r34en]er
[r34en]sorry
[r34en]went off on a tangent there
[r34en]circumcision is Evil's thing
[evil-inc]LOL
[spyoct77]so many religions and many traditions
[spyoct77]in malta we r mostly catholic
[spyoct77]@__@
[r34en]oh okay
[r34en]so are you married?
[tingteg]yes
[r34en]you are kept, teg
[spyoct77]not married yet
[spyoct77]you?
[evil-inc]rofl viren
[r34en]I'm married to my religion
[tingteg]kept WELL
[tingteg]mind you
[evil-inc]O RLY?
[evil-inc]When was the last time you got some?
[r34en]we are not allwed to marry
[tingteg]RLY
[r34en]nor masturbate
[spyoct77]u cant drink alcohol?
[r34en]no we can drink lots of alcohol
[r34en]how do you think we keep from wanking like crazed mountain goats?
[spyoct77]God Bless u all
[r34en]oh
[spyoct77]:)
[r34en]you leaving :/
[tingteg]god would have to bless me a lot to make up for my heathenism
[r34en]I wanted to ask how you cast out deamons wiht your cross
[r34en]coz I wanted teg out of this channel
* tingteg has left #brighton

Eiffel

VJPicParis115, originally uploaded by Viren Joky.

Moving my photo's to flickr

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Shadows and Light

Pictures with my new Nikon D60 at Snowdonia, Wales this Easter.

Dinner and drinks - Scotland Day 2 part 2

7.30 pm: Where the weary travellers finally arrive.
We reached the Bayfield Backpackers at around a quarter to eight, and were shown to our rooms by the friendly owner. The hostel was quite decent, and was full of Chinese, surprisingly. He recommended a restaurant nearby for dinner, where we proceeded and made a booking for later.

Portree is a tiny little town, with nothing much going for it, except a gale force wind which nearly lifted us off our feet. The wind blew straight in from the sea bringing with it a smattering of rain with each gust. Since we had about an hour to kill, we made our way in to the nearest pub with a pool table, where Gupta proceeded to comprehensively wipe the floor first with Kumar, and then with the locals. Meanwhile I and George enjoyed a smooth drink of Tallisker whiskey (the only whiskey produced on the island itself – at the Tallisker distillery) on rocks.


9.00 pm : Dinner and drinks.
We then headed to the restaurant, which was rather posh with a steep menu. The ambiance however, quite made up for the prices, and the food was delightful. I had the beefsteak with pepper sauce accompanied with haggis on the side with mountains of steamed vegetables. A red wine was ordered which quite complimented the food, and amidst happy chatter, we dug into the food.

Full and sated, and mildly intoxicated with the whisky and wine, we made our way back to the hostel, and into the common room, which was quite deserted at that time of night. The Bacardi and Morgan’s Spiced we brought out, and we rummaged through a stack of board games to play.

10.30 pm : A Trivial Pursuit indeed.
We finally settled on Trivial Pursuit, a game that none of us had played before, and consequently had to interpret the rules as best as we could, which in our inebriated state, led to quite a surreal game. We shuffled the deck of cards meant for adults, and started off.

I mean started off figuratively, as 15 minutes later we were all still in the exact same starting questions, scratching our heads over questions like 'Who won the 1980 Women’s Ping Pong championships in Bournemouth', or 'What significance does the phrase 'want bitty' mean to Harvey from Little Britain?'. Apparently, British trivia was much too complicated for our feeble brains, so we switched to the children’s pack of cards.

At the Children’s level, the advantage of still being in my first childhood became quickly apparent, as I started fielding question left and right such as –

Q. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A. He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Also Acceptable - It might depend on how many female woodchucks were present. Or, it could depend on whether the woodchuck's mother-in-law was around or not. If she was, he'd be chucking all day. If not, he'd be watching the football game.

Q. What colour were the Little Mermaid's knickers
A. Trick question! She never wore any.

We all were soon moving our counters round the board, except George, who had the bad luck of being stuck with some real mind-bending stumpers; including 'Complete the name of this famous fashion house- Ralph ____?', 'Would you find an orang-u-tan in a) A Forest b)The Kitchen or c) Your girlfriends pants' (though even I had to admit that there was no SINGLE correct answer here), and 'Spell your name backwards'.

11.30 pm: Ruin and Destitution.
Well, my prodigious brainpower ensured I won the game, followed by Kuruvilla as a close second, leaving George at the end to mutter and curse gnaw at the board. He soon had his revenge however, as we moved on to monopoly next where my generous and giving nature soon left me bankrupt, and I was forced to steal money from Kumar by distracting him by pretending nude Scots girls were frolicking outside the window behind us.

12.15 am: Nightime Chills.
By that time we had pretty much demolished most of the alcohol we had brought in, and when I had to bring my face about 5 centimetres from the notes to read their denomination, I decided it was time to give up and turn in. The only problem was, when we reached our room it was freezing cold; colder than a witch's tits; to be colourful about it. Apparently, the lodge keeper had forgotten to turn up the heating in our room, as Kuruvilla, who was sleeping in a different dorm reported back that it was all toasty warm over there. After trying the 'panic' button on the counter several times with no luck, we resigned ourselves to dying from hypothermia that night.

12.45 am: A Romantic interlude thwarted.
Gupta and I immediately took the opportunity to announce that we would share the same bunk in the interest of 'sharing body heat', but that proposal was squashed immediately by the other homophobic prudes in our party. And that is INSPITE of the fact that we insisted we would be sharing ONLY body heat and nothing else. Apparently, getting frostbitten privates is infinitely preferable to doing anything vaguely 'gay'.

1.15 am: Dream Time.
Well, that was the end of the of a must enjoyable day 2, and I slowly dropped off into insensibility, with only my nose peeking out of the bedclothes.

More than what is.

Arthur C Clarke passed away today. He saw more than what is.

The Drive to Skye - Scotland Day 2 part 1

5.00 am: Coffee and Conversation at dawn.
I woke up around 5 am the next day, quite a bit woozy and disoriented, but driven out of bed by the realization that we had to leave as early as possible, and that none of the others would be up on time unless I woke them. In this, however, I was wrong, as Kuruvilla's bed was empty, and I saw her lying half comatose in the hall, having being awakened by a phone call from India. We felt much better once we got some caffeine in us, and we watched the spectacular sunrise over the harbour as we slowly sipped our coffee.

6.30 am: Where they were rudely awakened
The next challenge was waking up the other narcoleptic three. Gupta was up without too much of a fuss, but both George and Kumar, deeply dreaming of the women they could never get in real life, absolutely refused to get up. So I got Kuruvilla and Gupta to use the bathrooms (there were only two) first, while I woke the remaining too. I started work on George first. After a dint of much poking and prodding and guilt-trips, he finally sat up. My sigh of relief was premature however, as he saw Kumar snug under the duvet, and said - Wake him up first, and dropped straight back into his pillow. Okay, so I'll wake up Kumar, I thought. This was easier said than done as, for a skinny little skeleton; Kumar was surprisingly resistant to being woken up, clinging to his duvet and blanket and perverted dreams like a cross between a mule and a limpet.

7.00 am: Where I am tortured.
Oh, hang it all, I thought, and since one of the bathrooms were free by then, I in to start my toilet. Ahh, what could be more relaxing than a hot shower, especially when the climate is a bit nippy. I all but melted under the soothing jets of hot H2O, but quickly and rudely awakened when within five minutes the pleasant stream of water, became a FRIGID STREAM OF LIQUID ICE. Well, I should have seen that happening.

Remember guys, when there is a limited size boiler in the house, DO NOT LET THE GIRL TAKE THE FIRST BATH. Well, you can imagine the scene - me nekked and all soaped up cowering in the far corner, as far away from the stream of water which is so cold that it BURNED. From the other bathroom, a scream of pure anguish fell on my ears. I smiled sourly; apparently George had found the hot water had run out too.

I don’t want to recount how I managed to shower off the remaining soap off me, but I still dream about it sometimes. It haunts me. Kumar of course, having been the last person to get up did not have to suffer the agony of the temperature of the shower dropping from a pleasant 40 C to around 0 Kelvin. He simply opted not to have a bath, which worked out well for him, but forced the rest of us to spend that day travelling with our heads sticking out of the car window.

10 am: Last Moment Leaving Panic
After a hurried breakfast and a careful packing of the car, by which I mean throwing everything we had in the house in the back of the car, Kumar with great skill and resource lost the car keys. He made it seem so easy. Well, after a frantic ten minutes, where he panicked and jumped around like a castrated cockroach, we found the keys in his pocket, and checked out, and were off on our way, with Gupta at the wheel.

We found our way very easily this time, mostly due to my amazing memory and map reading skill, and were soon on our way to Fort William.

10.45 am: Loch, Stock and four smoking tyres.
We avoided the A90, and the bridge, which was apparently heavily crowded, but went west on the Glasgow road and merged onto the M9, which we left at Kildean to go on the A84.The A84/A82 is an amazingly scenic route, especially after Callander, after which we drove through several well wooded areas, and passed several Lochs with fascinating names like Loch Lubnaig, Loch Earn, Loch Tulla (with a turnoff to the ominous sounding Black Mountain), Lock Nah-Achlaise and Lock Ba.

We stopped at one of these lochs to take a few photographs and stretch our legs, and then we were off again. And here they are -

Remember, click on the slideshow to view them in detail. It's quite worth it, I promise you.

At Glencoe, we turned off our route to circle Loch Leven, passing Kinlochleven (a picturesque small town with amazing views), to reach the A82 again at North Ballachulish, after which we were on the Great Western Way, driving along the HUGE Loch Linhe, till we reached Fort William.

3.00 pm: Hunger Pangs

By this time I was trying to subdue a rebellion in the car, as except for Gupta and me, the remaining three were clamouring for their food. The worst was Kumar, who could hardly go an hour without shovelling some sort of sustenance into his gaping maw.

The trend went like this – about 15 minutes from the previous stop where Kumar had demolished a couple of burgers, he’d start to look uneasy. Twenty minutes in, and he’d be darting shifty sidelong glances at the rest of us, looking more starving coyote than human. Thirty minutes was usually the breaking point, at which point he would turn around and ask if anyone else was feeling hungry. Not that HE was feeling hungry, of course, he declares emphatically; but he just likes to be considerate. At which point I usually squelch him by pointing out that if we stopped as often as he would like, we would still be around the outskirts of Norfolk.

But it was late afternoon, by the time we reached Fort William, and I was afraid that forcing the troops any further without fuel would result in a lynch mob, so we pulled into the first parking we saw.

4.00 pm: Tourism = McDonalds.
Fort William was decent enough, but very touristy and commercial. Kuruvilla had been yearning for a McDonald’s burger for the past two hours, and Manish had to feed his pet tapeworm, so we went into the closest McDonalds. There were a large option of burgers with different kinds of meat, but unfortunately not the Haggis burger I had been hoping for. Surprisingly, there was not even one veggie option, so Gupta had to do with fries while he mumbled and cursed.

5.00 pm: A Drive at Dusk; The Isle of Skye.

It was mid-evening by the time we left Fort William, and we hurried along the Great Glen Way, another very scenic route, passing Loch Lochy, where we left the A82 at Invergarry to continue on the A87, Loch Garry and Loch Cluane. By this time it was getting pretty murky, and most of the occupants were comatose, twitching and muttering in their sleep. Loch Duch loomed out from the gloom, with the Eilean Donan castle eerily lighted up. This castle was where the Highlander movies were shot, and is as remote and beautiful as in the movies.

It was getting pretty dark by this time, and we finally reached the Kyle of Lochalsh, where we crossed a huge bridge and were finally on the Isle of Skye!

3004 and Counting

Wow. This has been the fastest 1000 hits; just took little over two months. The reason for that may be that I posted quite regularily in Jan, and consequently hit refresh on my blog a significant number of times. But anyways, for those of you who visited my blog: thanks a lot and do come again.

Well it's here - my 750 gig MyBook. People have read my last post and apparently I've come off greedy and avaricious. I don't know why; this latest purchase just brings the amount of storage space I travel with up to a measly 1.4 Tb. What I tell them, is that storage isn't everything - my old PC at home has a 2 Gb hdd. 2 Gb; phew, the RAM on my current laptop is double that size!

Well, all I can think of nowdays is my upcoming dSLR purchase. I've almost settled on the D60, and good news - Nikon has released a very affordable 55 - 200mm VR lens. And this makes me happy. Well, maybe I AM greedy.

Gadget Crazy!!

Have you ever experienced this? You're walking along the month, saving your money, investing prudently in stocks and IPOs, when suddenly you decide you need this gadget. The purchase is usually small, but suddenly it opens the floodgates and you find yourself buying more and more gadgets, till suddenly you find yourself friendless and left sitting in the bathtub in the dark and crooning to your gadgets while rocking softly.

It all started when my Seagate external 500 GB HDD began behaving weirdly. Rather than find the problem I decided this was the ideal time to buy that Western Digital MyBook I'd been yearning for. After some deliberation I settled on the 750 GB Home Edition which I deemed worthy to store my extensive and important data collection. The Home edition is similar to the basic Essential edition with the addition of a capacity gauge and a FireWire 400/ eSATA connection, which would help me when I connect it to my PC.

Okay so that was a mildly justifiable purchase. Not so the phone I'm now obsessed with buying. Am leaning v v heavily towards the N95 8GB. Now I know it looks like crap compared with it's older, sexier sibling, but the larger screen and improved battery life have sold me. But then the iPhone tries to steal me with its seductiveness. Or so my n00b friends would have me believe. But I have yet to consider other smart phones on the market. Or else hold out for that totally droolworthy N96. Yum. Of course it will probably cost me an arm and a leg and BOTH kidneys.

So the N95 8gig is the way to go. http://multimedia-cell-phone-review.toptenreviews.com/ bears me out. And if any of you think the iPhone is better plz to see the comparision here. And the comparision between the two models of the N95 is here.

But all this is just dross in front of my next planned purchase, as I just heard the Nikon D60 has finally come out which nearly caused me a technologically induced orgasm. And all of a sudden, the dSLR which I had always been planning to buy popped up bright and clear in my mind.

Now I am a total camera n00b, not knowing my f stops from my ISO setting. The only thing I DO know is that you haveta crouch down and take pics, so you LOOK professional, no matter that you dont know what you're doing ^_^. Anyways, this photographer friend of mine swears by Nikon, and shes pretty hot-shot, and this seems to bear her out. And of course the D60 adds a lot of stuff to its arsenal, not the least of which is the dust reduction system, white balance bracketing, and best of all it ships with a vibration reduction lens as standard, which will help a lot with those night shots. See what you get with the extra 50 quid over the D40x here.

Well, if you guys have some suggestions regarding the phone, or especially regarding the camera, please do comment. Is the D80 worth the exta money. Anything I haven't considered?