Its really ironic that I have a decent intnt connctn in Hyderabad but nthn much to blog about. Here in Manuguru ders everythn, No intnt.


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Volleyball court at night

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Nice trip

Strtd frm home at 6. As alwz it took an hr fr evryone to gather. Reachd by 7.30. Water level ws a lil low bt the greenery ws nice. Lots of pics wer taken. Shud be on orkut evrywr in a while. The pic in the last post ws uploaded frm der, live. Good trip.


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Tummal cheruvu

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No intnt here

Dialup intnt never wrks. Blogging frm a gprs phone can be a pain.
Went on a small trip today. Plan ws fr tummal cheruvu. Went in the wrng dirctn n ended up smwr near the railway trcks near mngr. Wil go again mrng. Wil post pics soon

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A history of violence...

Not a day had passed since the death of YSR Reddy, and I already had grisly photos of the crash site in my inbox from one of my friends. Heaven knows where he got those from. Blood. Gore. more Blood. I'm getting sick.

Let's do a quick roundup:

I switch on the TV, and before I start browsing through the channels I make sure my Aunt's not around. Coz no matter what there is atleast one channel showing graphic bloody mayhem, like telugu news channels that pay no regard to reporting ethics or what not to show, or there are those music channels that show item songs all the time. And you know how they can be.

Back to violence. TV 9 was showing some fight that broke out somewhere in Rayalaseema that killed three. What irked me was they were broadcasting live feed of a dying man with a stab wound in his stomach! He's dying for ----- sake!!! Then there is this thing about showing dead bodies on screen. I'm not into this journalism stuff but I know for sure showing closeups of dead bodies with cotton swabs stuffed in noses and all... is not right. Hell, one even zoomed into an open mouth!

Movies. Now please, we have enough violence in the real world. Give us something to smile,cheer about. Again, no offence to the telugu world but really, Do we need such violence in our movies? Ravi teja is cracking jokes one minute and breaking bones the next. Oh, and he's so good at it that the bones just come right out their sockets and skin. eeeyuk.

And ye, the real world is bad too. The aforementioned attack in Rayalaseema is actually the consequence of a love affair. The guy loves the girl so much he kills both her parents! The dick. The mob kicked him around so bad he almost died. Violence again. The police? Well, the less said the better. Although one (controversial )incident did earn them a few brownies. Remember the warangal Acid attack? Apparently all the accused were killed in a 'fake' encounter. No tears were shed for the killed. Good riddance everyone said. Whatever.

Children like violence too. Human nature I guess. Give a child a nice toy gun and some other toy to play with. Chances are he'll like the gun better.
Which reminds me, I forgot video games altogether. I never played GTA much. My cousin who's hardly 12 plays GTA 3 like crazy going about killing Liberty city folks just for the heck of it. His favorite is the chain gun.

Point is, violence is deeply established in our society whether we like it or not. And it's scary to even think of what's in store for us in the future.

TranceUpdate

Not a trance track but The Strangest Thing by George Michael remains my favorite since childhood for it's haunting lyrics and superb music.
Here goes:


Take my life
Time has been twisting the knife
I dont recognise
People I care for

Take my dreams
Childish and weak at the seams
Please dont analyse
Please just be there for me

The things that I know
Nobody told me
The seeds that are sown
They still control me

Theres a liar in my head
Theres a thief upon my bed
And the strangest thing
Is I cannot get my eyes open

Take my hand
Lead me to some peaceful land
That I cannot find
Inside my head

Wake me with love
Its all I need
But in all this time
Still no one said...

Theres a liar in my head
Theres a thief upon my bed
And the strangest thing
Is I cannot get my eyes open

Give me something I can hold
Give me something to believe in
I am frightened for my soul
Please, please
Make love to me, send love through me
Heal me with your crime
The only one who ever knew me
Weve waisted so much time
So much time

In news...

-The new Hindustan times ads are awesome. Thought provoking and hard hitting, they clearly illustrate the quirks of indian society.

-Sashi Tharoor travels with what he calls the "cattle class" and proudly twitters about it! Poor dude's in trouble. What the hell's he doing on twitter anyway?

-Still no decision on AP CM sucessor. Jagan is quiet.

-Serena threatens to kill line empire, Klijsters wins!

-Microsoft has done it at last! Zune HD is more than awesome, Its fan-F***in-tastic, say revew sites. It's not even officially released.

Ya I know. Had nothing else to write about. Goin home tomorrow. Be back by 30.

2006 Batch- Picture Slideshow

Update: Youtube wasn't too pleased with me using a copyright soundtrack. Had to audioswap with some instrumental theme. it's good though.

Back in 2006 while fiddling around with Movie Maker, I made a slideshow of all my favorite photos. I even added the 'My December' track to the background. Back then
it was just one of my past times and I soon forgot about it. I had it backed up so I never lost the file.
I've had a youtube account for maybe three years now and it never crossed my mind to upload it!

It's never too late so here it is...(Please watch it WITH the music. sorta adds depth to the experience )

Ultra cheap Tripod

For steady and blur free shots a Tripod is a must. Prices start from a few hundreds and go upto thousands! I can't buy one right now so I decided to make one myself.
What I used: Useless CD rack frame from my old computer table, An empty allout bottle, glue and tape.

Photos below. As is evident it offers only one freedom of movement: horizontal. Panning the camera upwards is not possible.

TranceUpdate

Never Fade Away John O'Callaghan (Andy Dugoid remix)

superb lyrics. Just listen to it and you'll know(tired of describing each track)


Never fade away
Never fading out
Stars aren't so bright
When you're not here
I'll wait forever my dear

Your light, your light
Your light, your light
May never disappear

Never fade away
Never fading out
Stars aren't so bright
When you're not here
I'll wait forever my dear

Never fade away
Never fading out
Stars aren't so bright
When you're not here

Your light, your light
Your light, your light
May never disappear

A walk down memory lane

It's been almost four years since I left school. The only memories I look back to are from my school days.

I did my schooling at Atomic Energy Central School(AECS), Manuguru from 1995 to 2006. Before that I studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya for a couple of years in Kalpakkam.
Our school is a little different from typical AECS schools in the country in terms of design. Teachers hate it(Long walks). We loved it. Lots of corners to hangout ;-) There's a huge playground overlooking our school and a nice basketball court too.

Perhaps my best memories are from class 10. Our silly fights with girls,stunts with bicycles and our favorite past time- pen fights. We had teams Germany(Atir n Myself), US(Nitin n Bharat), France etc. Even our pens had names! Quick Silver, Tank,Viper,Freeman and the like. We were once playing late after school in one of the classrooms when our then vice principal Mr. Rajashekhar walked in. You may remember him for his "thats" he used in every sentence. He was known for his short fuse and we thought we were in for some whacking. Strangely he just smiled. We got the hell out of there. In an other incident Atir yelled "Hoodibaba" at Murthy Sir ("yaara fools!!!") who was passing by on his new bike. He swiftly came round and gave a look so scary we thought we were dead. Again we were spared. Our teachers were never bad to us. Their teaching was a different story alltogether but who cared?
I'll post a detailed summary of all my favorite teachers soon.




What I loved about my School :

- School started at 7 in the morning. So basically, I was an early riser in my school days. Never again have I risen without hurling abuse at the alarm clock or whoever cared to wake me up.

- Amulya madam's announcement. We sorta looked forward to seeing her on stage everyday. We loved it when she said "quite a few announcements today, children!"

- We hated him then but it turned out Mr Seshu Babu Sir's 'rants' were the only speeches I ever liked, for a long long time. Maybe it's just me but I really miss him.

- Library: It was not the books that drew us to the Library but our Librarian, Azhagappan sir. A far cry from that PITA Homrey, he got along with everyone. Howewer we knew all hell would break loose if he ever lost it, so no matter how jolly he looked we always played it safe.

- Competitions: CCA period was the one we always looked forward to. Dance comps, Singing, elocution and all. We died laughing when Siva went on stage and sang...
I still donno why I never got the courage to get on stage. Bad mistake.

Actually this list can go on forever. So, now the bad things.

What I hated:

- Pretty much everything that happened after Seshu Babu sir left, was bad. Our new princy
Mrs Mahalakshmi was a case study in inefficiency. Other than many admin blunders that I don't know anything about, what I remember is that not a single new fiction book was added to the library in her three year tenure.

- After Isenth sir left, the school had lost another great teacher. No worthwhile art trophies ever since.

- Bias: This is common everywhere but I think they sometimes overdid it. A teacher's ward never got away without a prize. ever.

- Coaching for competitive exams was never given much importance although a few half hearted attempts were made.

All the hiccups aside, I still think my school WAS the best.

Sitting(From left): Mr Joshi, Mr Ram Surat, Mr K.R.Rao,Mr Swain, Donno who, Mr Mishra , Mr Asim Chakraborthy, Mr Mohan Ram, Mrs Sri Devi

(Note: All views and opinions expressed are my own and do not imply a general viewpoint. No photograph is to be used without permission. Contact me on my email)

TranceUpdate

Stranger in Moscow by Michael Jackson remixed by Jerome Isma-Ae.
Superb beats and MJ's legendary voice make it a memorable track.

I was wandering in the rain
Mask of life, feelin insane
Swift and sudden fall from grace
Sunny days seem far away
Kremlins shadow belittlin me
Stalins tomb wont let me be
On and on and on it came
Wish the rain would just let me

How does it feel (how does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When youre alone
And youre cold inside

Here abandoned in my fame
Armageddon of the brain
Kgb was doggin me
Take my name and just let me be
Then a begger boy called my name
Happy days will drown the pain
On and on and on it came
And again, and again, and again...
Take my name and just let me be

How does it feel (how does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (how does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When youre alone
And youre cold inside

How does it feel (how does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (how does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When youre alone
And youre cold inside

Like stranger in moscow
Like stranger in moscow
Were talkin danger
Were talkin danger, baby
Like stranger in moscow
Were talkin danger
Were talkin danger, baby
Like stranger in moscow
Im livin lonely
Im livin lonely, baby
Stranger in moscow

TranceUpdate

Marcus Schossow & Andy Duguid feat. Emma Hewitt - Light
and
Chicane - Hiding All The Stars
This weeks favorites from ASOT 420

A great movie at last!

Movies on Extra Terrestrials are always fun. Alien(1979) was outright freaky and scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. The eery atmosphere and the scary Aliens(By god they were ugly!) made for a movie that is still considered a classic in the horror genre. Predator(1987) was yet another great movie which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a military mercenary fighting a sophisticated Alien being. Alien vs Predator combined these two aliens to try cashing in money(which it didn't). We've had quite a few movies on Aliens, some flops and some successful.

District 9 created quite a ruckus even before release. Creative billboards were put up at various places that elicited positive responses. I saw the trailer and noticed two things: First, the movie was shot in documentary style. Second, the plot seemed to have have been based on the Roswell incident. I was not very excited as movies with dumb plots and massive overdoses of special effects are dime a dozen these days. I expected this movie to be no different. I was wrong.

This movie meets all expectations and goes further.
The premise: An alien spaceship reaches earth,loses its navigation systems and hovers lifelessly above Johannesberg. The aliens are provided shelter which is actually a shabby refugee camp. The ETs slowly start to get out of hand,the public is miffed. When they start to get on everyone's nerves, a private military organisation, MNU is called in to relocate the aliens. The rest of the story is one hell of a ride. The right twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat. The performances are very believable and the camera work commendable. The aliens could have been designed better. They look more like humans stripped of skin with some added organs to give them that OOTW look.

some critics are blasting it for "racial insensitivity" and stuff. wtf? To hell with them.

****
Highly Recommended

DIY: Wallet from Scratch

Having nothing better to do, now that internals are over, I was idly going through some old papers when I got an idea. DIY!
Long time since I made something from scrap. My last project trying to illuminate my keyboard went bad when the LEDs burned. I hadn't thought of adding a resistor necessary.
So this time I got decided to make something, keeping electricity out.
No wires.No batteries. Just scrap.

All I used: Some polyethene covers, cardboard(invitation cards), Glue,Tape and a pair of scissors.

How bad can it get?

WE had our second Online Get-together on Yahoo Messenger. The last one held on August 15 2008 had more than 12 participants. This time only 8 turned up.We invited 40+.
Pathetic.
Apart from giving the obvious impression that they're no more themselves, they had the nonchalance to ignore our messages. They might have as well said "f you" in the face.

The ones who attended included Bharat,Juber,Atir,Vaishnavi,Kriti and Hema. Shyam and Siva came and went. Sravani had trouble using Yahoo. After a few startup problems, the chat became stable in about half an hour.
Lots of topics discussed. Studies. Life. YSR. Crushes...
Chat lasted about 4hrs. No transcripts were saved this time. So breathe easy.

Will there be an other one? Don't think so

TranceUpdate

Faruk Sabanci & Nurettin Colak "Anatolian Emotions"
Great track.

Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode remixed. donno the DJ.


Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Cant you understand
Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Enjoy the silence

Back-breaking news

Y.S.R's tragic demise has shocked the whole country. After more than 24hrs of nail-biting tension, the news finally emerged - his chopper had crashed into a cliff and burst into flames. All five on onboard including YSR,the principal secretary,security officer and the two pilots perished in the accident.


The news channels had a field day. Slideshows,file photos and discussions- they left no stone unturned and gave coverage so exhaustive it actually became boring. They cycled the same file footage and photos over and over and the unrehearsed voiceovers were only making things worse. Star news showed an animation of how the helicopter crashed.I couldn't help but laugh. We've seen better graphics in 1920s. One reporter loved to use "infact" in almost every line. The other tried adding "indeed" everywhere. Howewer, not showing footage of the wreckage or the bodies was a move worth appreciation(although most channels made it to the site)

Newspapers realising how unimportant they've become hit back by publishing grisly photos of the accident. A prominent urdu paper showed a picture of a badly mutilated body among the wreckage- possibly the pilot. Very bad considering not many people can bear the site of a dead body. And on the fornt page at that. In full color.
Indian reporters attracted flak for their flawed approach during the 26/11 attacks. They were giving away army locations to the terrorists unknowingly. The TV cable to the Hotels had to be cut as the reporters just wouldn't shut up.We have numerous telugu news channels that air graphic images and videos with no system in place to deal with censorship and ethical issues.

New news channels are cropping up by the day. N Tv,I TV,yeh TV,woh TV... It's not the number that counts.It's the quality.


Chain sey sona hai toh TV bandh kijiye

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Was it a dream?

I hear voices, muffled and distant
The empty road but for ourselves
The long walk, the laughs.
Just echos now empty and obscure.
So long ago,I now think
Was it a dream?

A paper rocket at the fan and lights
the long yawns,the sighs
the empty stares at the board
and our sleepy,sore eyes
So long ago, I now think
Was it a dream?


The trips to the beaches,Araku and Chennai.
The laughs,the quirks and the campfire.
The fun we had, our moments together
is but a memory now, lost forever.
So long ago,I now think
Was it a dream?

Update: AP chief minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy and four others died in a helicopter crash yesterday. The government and the public is in a state of shock.

Chief Minister Rajashekar Reddy's helicopter went missing enroute to Chittoor on Tuesday morning.
More than 20 hrs on, no clue as to the wherabouts of the chopper. A massive search operation is underway with more than 5000 ground troops and several helicopters pressed into service. ISRO is expected to help with it's real time satellite imagery.
What's making everyone anxious is the fact that the helicopter supposedly went missing over the Nalla Malla forests,a Maoist stronghold.