Summer Silver (Sequel) Screen

Couldn't pass on that alliteration! :-)

This summer promises a spectacular array of movies to watch out for, with Harry P's next adventure on the top of my list followed by Shrek 3 and Pirates. I have already planned a girls' night out to ogle drool over watch Clooney and gang in ocean's 13. There is Fantastic four and die hard coming back. Penguins apparently still make interesting subjects - Surf's up is sure to appeal to kids, although I am not sure if it is a sequel. Then there is the Almighty sequel, Evan Almighty. It is surely a good time for faith based movies.

Browsing through yahoo movies, I came across an interesting one Nancy Drew. Yes the same teenage detective we all idolized. Well, at least I did. I am excited about it, but at the same time, I don't want it to spoil my time warp. If you know what I mean. I cannot imagine a modern, hip/cool, teenage Nancy Drew, as seen in clueless or Princess diaries.

I read somewhere that TinTin was tagged for the near future. That would be good! I think!

Tips for Handling Telemarketers

Usually when I get forwards, I either read them or toss them, but rarely forward them. This one was too good and pretty close to home, so thought of posting it here.


Three Little Words That Work !!

(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.


(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.


This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 39 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.
Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 39 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again You get the idea !

If enough people follow these tips, it will work ---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.

What's the good word?

I vaguely remember this show on doordarshan. I can't recollect anything much about it though. But words have always fascinated me. Reader's digest was one of my favorites in school days, mainly for that section.

Looking for something, I came across this website - http://www.word-detective.com. Interesting site!

Then there is http://www.wordorigins.org/ that is similar, with interesting anecdotes about word origins.

The mother lode seems to be here, although not spiced up like the other two.

While you are at it, check out this one, about words that originated in India.

A fun game too!

Funny Woman

I rarely watch Anbudan on suntv. Yesterday was one such time and I thoroughly enjoyed Urvashi's banter. She is such a fun and lively person. It felt like I was with my friends.

I remember seeing her at the airport on one of my trips, she had lost a lot of weight then. I now wish I had gone up to her and started a conversation. It would have been really interesting, not because she is an actress, but because she is such an animated talker.

People like her make watching interviews very interesting.

overboard

Ivangalukke ithu konjam overa theriyala?

no.1 no.1

Sunday, a rare vetti afternoon, I was watching the inthiya thollaikatchiyil 13456avathu muraiyaga movie. My little one was watching parts of it with me. She loves the ads. She has always loved them - I remember a 4 month old stop nursing to turn towards the metti oli title song.

So she is watching the dinakaran no.1 no.1 ad. It ends with a question to her (i.e, the viewers), ...thamizhil dinakaran no.1, appo neenga? She promptly says no. 4. It took me a second to realize why. She meant her age.

pok-ri

After Gilli, I enjoyed watching Vijay in Pokkiri. A good masala entertainer. Now what I hear is Shirtless Sallu is planning to do it in Hindi. Last week, I was thinking that Abi Jr or Saif Ali would suit that role. Man, what a waste!

Life specks

Some time back I was talking to an expectant father and another mother. The mother wanted to go thru childbirth without medications. If her mother and grandmother went through it, so could she. Smacked of Amish mentality to me. When you can have it easy, why would you want to do that! A lot of us are scared of childbirth and some more are scared of medications. I was worried about the epidural causing pain or further complications, but decided that there was no way I wanted to go through it the unmedicated way. That is of course my opinion.

It is awful how these people are waiting to see Mills' leg fly!

Planning a trip is sometimes more enjoyable than the actual trip.

It is hard to believe that something that is so beautiful could be harmful too. Spring is here with pretty cherry blossoms, bradford pears and the rest of the colorful panorama. And so is the bout of allergies!

Warning: never approach a young kid practising her golf swing. And keep the other kids a few miles away!

Godavari was a great movie, albeit with subtitles! Manasa vacha is my current favorite song.

Caught a few episodes of kaapi with Anu. She is a good host and I loved the Maddy episode.

Got to wait until end of April for my next dose of Heroes. I was getting addicted. But who has heard of a tamil named Mohinder?

Chivalry

Reading Witchu's post reminded me of something that happened in my childhood. I had just started my 4th std, probably around 8 years or so. I had to travel by Pallavan to school and we had only one bus that took me to school on time. The next bus was at least 30 minutes later and I would be seriously late if I took that one.

The walk from home to the bus stop was around 10 -15 minutes. On that day, I had almost reached the stop when the bus started pulling out. I ran towards it, tears in my eyes, but it gathered speed. One of the footboard guys (collegiate), took pity on me, got down and gathered me and carried me to the bus and deposited me in to the departing vehicle. It was a small gesture and he probably has forgotten about it, but I was very grateful to him. How many of us would think of doing the same?

If not for that gesture, I would have equated Pallavan to pawing men!

Uncanny and "unfunny"

Ever been hit by a wayward stone while driving on the interstate? While driving to work yesterday morning, a stone pellet from nowhere hit the front windshield and drilled a tiny whole. Nothing special about that. What is uncanny is that, a few years back, it happened to me the same way. Same spot on the windshield, same location on the interstate and a similar hole drilled in my windshield. It was a good thing that stone was small. But then, if it were any bigger, it wouldn't have flown out at me. Wonder what poltergeist resides in that vicinity!

Today's gym workout ended with a big bang. Literally. Well, at least a big thud. I am sure I will laugh when I think about it in a few days time, but right now, my tail bone has been highly traumatized. I have been doing the fit ball abs for quite sometime now and I don't put much thought into it. My earphone came loose and while plugging it back, the ball slipped from under me. I am not even sure what happened. One minute I was on top, the next I am on the floor, blanked out for a couple of seconds. patta edathuliye padumnu sonnathu seriya pochu. The current count is 5.

Not so funny right now, although my friend laughed in my face when I told her. I will excuse her, since she always looks at the bright side of things.

Baa Baa brown sheep

Back in grad school, I used to ride my bicycle to school most days, and my husband (then fiance)would pick me up somedays. That day was our international festival. I parked my bike, chained and locked it and went and had my share of the fun. Came out later in the evening, hunted for my bicycle and couldn't find it. We searched everywhere and finally concluded that it had been stolen. My husband went to the university police station to file a complaint.

Towards lunch time, a few circuits connected and the bulb flashed in my head. I told my husband where I had actually left the bike. Sure enough, there it was, untouched and lonely. So he trudged up to the coppers to get the complaint back. Back to me sitting with the sheepish grin! A definite start to the duh moments of my life!

History definitely repeats itself! During my trip to India, my mother in law gave me some important documents and also an important letter to be mailed to her friend's daughter. The trip passed in a flurry of activities. I got back home, woke up (very) early the next morning and unpacked all my bags. Searched for the documents and couldn't find it. My husband also searched all the bags, couldn't find it and sent them up to the attic. For the next 2 weeks, I had to listen to mother and son fret over my forgetfulness. I called up my mom to search for the documents at home. She turned the whole house upside down and reported that she couldn't locate them.

2 weeks later after the jet lag fluff had cleared up from my brain, I went up to the attic and opened the bag's suit compartment. This is the compartment that is kind of the upper berth in the bag, but below the side panels. Both of us had failed to search that. There they were, exactly where I had put it, to make sure I didn't forget them and also to keep them from getting smushed up.

Duh moments continue!

Happy Valentine's day

Govinda sort of spoiled it for me, by saying everyday is a valentine's day for him in his own corny, cheesy style. But still, I won't say no to a bunch of beautiful red roses now and then.

Having being fed on romance, both in movies and books, it is a day for remembering the best romances I have come across.

Tamil movies:
Mouna Ragam: I have seen this movie umpteen times and still love it. Revathy in one of her best roles, as was Karthik, with his "Chandramouli". To me, the best that Manirathnam gave us.

RajaParvai: The romance of a blind man, although borrowed its climax from Dustin Hoffman's, was a beautiful movie.

Alaipayuthey: This was about the happily ever after part, and of course, there was Maddy.

Missiyamma: A nice and soft romantic tale.

Then nilavu: Great songs, that we enjoy even to this day.

English movies:
Pretty Woman, My girl, An affair to remember, French Kiss, Sleepless in Seattle, Ghost, When Harry met Sally, Roman Holiday

Books:
Gone with the wind: Scarlet O'Hara is a household name. That was probably the longest book I read at one go. What I liked best about her was her indefatigable attitude.

Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy's romance that still fascinates us after all these years. In fact, I love most of Jane Austen's books

Jane Eyre: This was a book in school and we got the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the book and it remains one of my faves.

Georgette Heyer: I can't really whittle down to one single favorite.

Then there are the regular authors I read, Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, Kay Hooper, Susan Elizabeth Phillips who can churn some good romance.

A day to curl up and read/watch a good romance.

Back to your mathematical roots

Over the weekend, someone posed this problem to me and wanted my help in solving it. It didn't take me too long to figure it all out. It was fun solving and reminded me how much I love solving such problems.

Here is the problem:

There are 400 students in a school. 180 take Spanish, 160 take Chinese and 160 take Latin. 60 take Spanish and Latin, 70 take Latin and Chinese and 60 take Chinese and Spanish. 50 take none. How many take all three?

Murphy's law goes wireless?

Why is it that the cell phone always rings when you step out of your office? To the point where coworkers start complaining? And when you try to call back, you always miss the other person.
Is this a mobile murphy law or something?

Cauvery's son

Two years back, during my trip to Chennai, LandMark didn't have the 1st volume of Ponniyin Selvan's English Translation. So I had 2 choices. Wait for the book to be back in circ. or try to read the tamil one. As a self-taught-tamil-reader, reading the old style tamil doesn't come easy. And when you cannot read well, the beauty of the novel is lost. So I decided to wait. Note that the option of reading the online translation did not appeal to me.

So on the last trip, I found book 1 and promptly started reading it. I am being redundant many times over, by saying it is a wonderful masterpiece. I am in the throes of it now, but afraid to hurry, coz I don't want it to end quickly. I have read Parthiban kanavu and half of Sivakamiyin sabatham at Pavithra's blog. I am still waiting to read the rest of it. I came across the tamil ones at the museum book store (good place for book lovers). I didn't it buy it though, knowing I won't be able to do it. So that is another wait for me.

The translation has been well done and most of the time, I didn't feel like I was reading a translated work. It does take a lot of passion, energy, creativity and time to do it.

It made me wonder what would have happened if Arulmozhi varmar had accepted the throne of Lanka. Less violence now in that part of the world, may be?

Sundry

Sad news that OP Nayyar, the creator of such gems like Naya Daur and Kashmir ki kali passes on. I should attribute my appreciation of Hindi music mainly to this one great composer. His Asha tunes are unforgettable!

Heard a cousin of mine passed away recently. Such a wasted life!

Ms. Shetty is all over the news, having earned a lot of sympathy votes and emerging the winner.

How is younger bro Karthi going to fare?

A cold with a never say die attitude! It seems to attack during the weekends!

I am being blocked from some comments. Oh Well!

Cow Car!

My young one was understandably excited when she saw her first one!

bollywood, what a hoot!

Even if I had not read the reviews, as soon as I saw Hrithik Roshan land oh-so-accurately on top of the moving train, I would have guessed the tone of the movie. Modern day Fantasy! Hrithik did good though, especially when he was dressed as the old guy. AB Jr, comes flying from underwater, don't ask how he managed to keep the scooter underwater for that long, or even how he was breathin under water. I like him, but he needs some serious toning, at least to correct his posture. His dances would look better, if only he had a better posture. Uday Chopra, was too cheesy, to say the least. And enough said! The second Bips looks good, awesome toning, and that is the extent of her role. Aish, thinner and still beautiful, falls flat on her face in that first confrontation with A. She can't talk sultry, wrong role. All in all, it felt like a well packaged vignette of what Bollywood was and has become. Movie is a hoot, keep your thinking cells at home and just enjoy the visuals!

The trailers were interesting. Babul, a regular mush masala, Kabul express sounds good with 2 of my favorites (Arshad 'circuit' warsi and John Abraham) acting in it and Salaam-e-ishq promises to be exciting, except for the Shirtless Khan factor. Bhagam baag, Priyadarshan with another of his remakes, this time with Govinda featuring with the other regulars, promises to be a fun watch. Can't remember the original mallu movie, though!

Came across this article about suave Clooney wanting to dance around the tress lip-syncing to Hindi lyrics. I think I will like that! Now imagine Garfield with his big grin waiting for his pizza!

really random

The review (rediff) for the new bond movie says it is good. So is it James Bond or James Blond? Or James Bland?

Talking about bland, costco has a new cal style veggie burger out (Dr.Praegger's I think) that is pretty good, unlike the usual suspects. I just add a healthy dose of chaat masala and a healthier dose of red hot chutney or sambal olek to appeal to my taste buds.

SJS and Meera J? Who would have thunk?

George Clooney is back at no.1 acc. to people mag. No surprise there. Just give him a permanent post I say!

Emmitt won. Not really surprised, he seems such a likeable guy! Mario is a great dancer and so was Joey L. Will that erase that saved by the bell scar off his forehead?
I have started hearing carols everywhere. Seems a bit early to me. Is it that time already?

Ants are having a freaking fun season chez moi! Baited breath gets a whole new meaning!

Now when people start talking about sahana and durbar, I actually (sort of) know what they are talking about (an inkling, really). I think.

One more day, by 5 people .. in heaven's author, is one more good read.

For once, I haven't started shopping for the big trip. Yet. Do they still sell those handcuffs or whatchamaycallits for kids? I see it as the only solution.

Next post will be at random.

poll - voting

Under a sage friend's advice, walked up to the poll booth at 6:48AM, and finished my civic duty by 7:05 AM. Was 6th in line and one of the first to come out, since all I did was a straight party vote. That would have been called a breeze, except it was a yucky mucky morning. It still is. Coming out from that place, there was 1 thought uppermost - Hope is what makes the world go around!

Then on to the dental drill for a tiny filling. Why does a "simple filling" take so much effort and pain!