This is probably going to be my shortest HOW-TO. Go to the following DMV website and fill in your details. This comes really handy during Tax-Time when you can’t find that damn registration letter that DMV had sent you 
Is that a question to ponder over at all? No, Not for me - With all the advance in the way movies are made, I would still stick with the original 70mm Sholay !! Even if Spielberg made Sholay - I would stick with the original. Why? Because nothing beats the cast of the 1975 original ! The cast and the performance was unforgettable.
Dialogues like “Aese Kaise” (Soorma Bhopali’s) to Thakur’s “Mujhe Gabbar Chahiye - zinda ya murda” to Gabbar Singh’s “Ab tera kya hoga kaalia” to Jai’s “Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti” to Veeru’s “Chaki peesing and peesing and peesing” . How can a remake of this movie even come close to having dialogues like this?
Or for that matter come close to the songs, location, the epic cast and the roller coaster of emotions that the movie takes you through ?
What was Ram Gopal Varma thinking when he decided to remake this movie and name it “Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag“? WTF is up with the name?? And with people like Ajay Devgan playing the role of “Veeru” and some random newcomer playing “Jai” . I will give RGV the benefit of the doubt and watch the movie, unless I hear atrocious reports about the movie, just so that I can be proved right about how wrong he was in deciding to re-do or out-do an epic !
The one thing that I MAY be excited about in the new movie is that Rapal Yadav is going to be playing the role of “Soorma Bhopali”. This guy can be quite hilarious !! I MIGHT be fractionally interested in watching Amitabh as “Gabbar Singh” - oops I mean “Babban Singh”
I take a lot of Panoramas and I usually like to put a “frame” around them to make them look professional Here are the various frames that I have tried in the past. These pictures are ALL shot by me. Click on the pictures to see the larger version.
Northwestern Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California 
San Francisco, California
Downtown New York City, New York 
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Boy, was I excited today when I saw that “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” was back on air ! This is a drama/comedy (termed as ‘Dramedy’) that airs on NBC. This show is excellent ! Everything has a cause and every dialogue said is needed and not just something thrown in. It has fun, comedy, drama, excitement (sometimes) and a nice cast and yet it doesn’t do well and the ratings fall and the show is nearly cancelled ! Hmm…why am I not surprised ! Why does America always want the slapstick comedy shows or the reality shows - which are barely “real”. Why does everything have to be “in your face”. For once can they appreciate something really good?
Anyways, this is just another one of my ramblings ! I can go on and on but lets focus on the show. The show features Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as 2 directors re-hired in Studio 60 when the current director is fired. Everything revolves around the show and that is what makes this show so intricate. The entire cast have their own lives, which are intertwined every now and then, but the glue is always the “show” itself. I really like this show no matter what the general public thinks of it - I give credit to Aaron S0rkin for creating this show - It takes a lot to create something intelligent, funny and dramatic - not many people will appreciate that but when you see what I see then you too will appreciate it !
All in all - a series worth watching - I hope all of you’ll who read this will take some time to see this show and appreciate it. Give all of those reality series and other shows a break and watch this - It is worth it…
Oh did I mention all the “Stars” that have performed on this show? Take a look…
Watch online episodes here
UPDATE: Watching the episode tonight, I realised why I love this show so much - every person in the show has a character. From Matthew Perry’s secretary to a doctor performing some routine tests on Amanda Peet. Each one of them have character and it takes only a single dialogue by the actor playing the role to give the exact description of that character and that in my mind is simply Brilliant ! You don’t need a full episode, not even a full scene - just a simple dialogue to make it clear to the viewer what kind of character the actor is playing - What a Beauty !
Yes, I am talking about the 1968 flick directed by Brian G. Hutton. Where Eagles Dare is a wartime story of a covert operation by the Allies into a strategic Nazi castle. There is more to the story than just that but I will not ruin it for those who are interested in seeing this epic movie.
So why did I think about writing this post - well 2 reasons - the DVD for the movie came out just a while ago and I got it on Netflix today !
I grew up seeing some of these classics - I give credit to my dad for making me see some of these greats ! He and I watched some great movies together such as “Guns of Navarone“, “Force 10 from Navarone“, “Mackenna’s Gold“, “Lawrence of Arabia“, “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines“, and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea“. I have had a great childhood and I am grateful for that. I did more than most of the kids have done (even in comparison with todays kids) and at the same time I learned a lot from what I did and what I saw. Movies, poems, music and everything else taught me a lot and has given me values that I cherish and hope to pass on to my kids - I hope they also see the value in things as I do. I love literary works, poems and even some movies ! All these have attributed towards my growth as a person.
Back to the movie. I still remember seeing this movie when I was in the second standard - that would make me about 7 years old at the time that I watched this movie - so approximately around 1985 !! Wow - that is a long time ago and I still remember the first time I saw “Where Eagles Dare”. My dad had rented the VHS tape (which he eventually owned) and we watched it in my neighbour (Paul, Suzie, Danny and Hep) place. It was amazing - sitting by the fireside and watching Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood kick some German ass !
I loved the music score of the movie and the impact the starting tune has had on me is something that I will never forget. It gives each scene so much dept. Some of the scenes are so intense - and it is all because of the great music. Even today when I see this movie and hear the score - it gives me the same old tingling feeling. Kudos to Ron Goodwin for the great music direction.
To explain how much this movie meant to us. Here is something we did - As a kid we would always play with each other and imitate Richard Burton over the walkie talkie (in his British accent) shouting -
“Broadsword calling Danny Boy. Over”
This movie had everything a great war movie should have - plot, character, location, action and a lot of explosives ! Simply genius - it is worth the watch and I recommend this movie (and the others listed above) to everyone ! Its is definitely a 10/10 for me. It is amazing how you grow up and some things are just ingrained in your mind. This is just one of the things the will remain with me forever.
Check out this fan site for Where Eagles Dare
Trivia: The title is taken from Act I, Scene III in William Shakespeare’s Richard III: “The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch”.
Oh my God !! What is the deal with Indian Idol this year???!! Everything sucks in this show from what I have seen. The contestants suck, the judges might be good in their respective fields but they suck at judging !! All of them say good things after the performances and the next day (judgment day) they criticize the people ! the contestants look like kids - its more of a talent show rather than a serious singing competition !
What is up with Sony as well? They are airing 2 hour shows EVERY DAY for a whole week and voting out 3 contestants at a time - guess they just want to get done with the show as well - Boy, talk about budget cuts !! Bottom line - this show sucks and should be killed ! What a waste of time ! Simon Fuller - please take back the rights to this show from all of these fools !
I have been using Adobe Photoshop since ver 3.0 (1995) and I can proudly (and mostly non arguably) claim that I am very proficient at it ! I am not saying that I am the best or that I have mastered it all, but I am good. I have loved this software since ver. 3.0 and have hardly had any complaints with it - Some suggestions surely, but no complaints whatsoever !
Photoshop is the premier image manipulation software for graphic designers, photographers and many more professionals in the business. Some people do complain about the lack of vector support and text support, but those features are present in the current version of Photoshop - not too advanced though !
How I got into Photoshop, I myself do not remember. The earliest memory of me using Photoshop was when I was designing a poster for the IEEE society at my Engineering college - Thadomal (undergrad) called 360 Degrees. I think I had used ver. 3.0 for this. This is when I realised the power of Layers in Photoshop ! I became pretty good soon and started teaching the basics of Photoshop by example - This is the way I learned it and this is the way I was going to teach it !
I must say, I was pretty famous in my college and no one came near when it came to designing - I may sound arrogant right now, but I am not. Everyone has their talents and I had just found mine ! I learned Photoshop by following tutorials on the web. There are tons of tutorials out there - probably the most number of tutorials that I have seen on the web are the ones for Photoshop. I also did a website where I put up some of my own tutorials. This is quite an old site, but the tutorials are still good if you are a beginner ! Check it out if you are starting off as a beginner. Here is some of my Photoshop works…
If you have ever been to Pier 39 in San Francisco then you must have definitely seen the entertainers on the street ! One of the “entertainment sections” of Pier 39 are guys who put on some loud obnoxious music and sit in front of a crowd and display their talent - the amazing spray paintings that they create from a scratch !
These guys are amazing - to see them paint in front of a large crowd without a reference picture is quite something ! Everything is right out of their heads - at times you don’t even recognise what they are doing until the piece is all done. Its pure TALENT ! Their only tools are the Spray Paints, a circular cover (for the planets), a small blade, and magazine pages (to give the texture on the planets). Amazingly, the theme is always a “Space Scape” and some famous landmark of the city - The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz or even the Transamerica Pyramid. I have also seen this kind of spray painting in other cities - New York, Las Vegas etc.
Check out these videos if you haven’t seen these people doing their thing . The next time you are in one of these cities do not miss out on this - You can even purchase one of their paintings for a mere $20.
I just figured out that there is a website dedicated to this kind of art. Check it out : spacepaintings.com . It also has some tips and instructions for beginners - in case you get inspired and try to do this on your own - I am planning to do this sometime
UPDATE: I actually went out and got the paraphernalia to spray paint and tried it out. The result - Well, I am not (yet) as good as the ones in these videos but am just starting off - I will learn more and more and become good at it ! I encourage you to go out there and try it out as well - Its fun - try to mimic these guys in the video and you will learn !
Once in a while there comes along a song that will move you. You can feel the hair on the back of your neck and on your arms stand up when you listen to such songs ! If you don’t feel that with some songs then you need to ask yourself - “What moves me?”. I love musicians/artists that actually perform for a cause - No wonder why Bono is one of my favourite artists !
On American Idol this week there was a special episode called “Idol Gives Back” and all the contestants sang songs that inspire ! This show was good and I appreciate all the work they are doing. If you want to help check out this website called ONE.
Here are some songs that move me:
These artists have a talent and they use that towards a higher and better cause - not just to earn money for themselves ! I hope there are more artists that do this. We all have talents and we should all use it towards that higher cause !
My last word : Each of us can make a difference. You can contribute in countless number of ways. The least you can do is save up your change and give that to charity. You can give away your old clothes, computer or even your old car. There are tons of charity organisations that do a lot - Help them out in your own way. We are blessed to be in a better position - lets help out those who aren’t as blessed as we are !
Some of the Non-Profit/ Non-Government Organisations (NGO) you might want to look into:
There are tons more - I don’t care which one you choose - Just choose one and help them out !
Over the years I have come across some really catchy lines that Companies use to sell/market their products and I was amazed how few words can be so precise in describing the product and/or service that are being sold ! I bet there are companies hired by the sellers to come up with these innovative lines - and I bet they are paid heavily to come up with these concise lines !
From movies to products to services - there are taglines for everything - I guess that stems from our nature of getting bored of things really quickly and the fact that the first impression is always the last impression. If there is anything that requires a second thought - then we think lesser of it ! Some taglines are also random and probably do not make any sense, but they still capture our attention ! Our attention span keeps getting shorter and shorter and so do the taglines !
I was once playing a game with a friend of mine where each one said the tag line of a product/service and the other had to say what product/service it was for ! I also played this game with my wife on our way back from a trip to Lake Tahoe - she was amazed at how many of them she remembered. See if you can identify these tag lines with their products…
My Shared Items
