Ultimatum...A Perfect Finale....

Had huge expectations out of this one...and it doesn't disappoint. A fitting finale to a wonderful trilogy. I loved the way the movie goes back to the period immediately after the car chase in 'Supremacy' and joins in at the phone call Jason Bourne makes to Landy.

The action director was acclaimed for his work on the car-chase in Supremacy...and he pulls off another great sequence in Tangier, Morocco which reminded me of the action classic 'Banlieue 13'. The hand-held camera work makes the feel of the movie very realistic and you instantly feel as if you are eavesdropping on Bourne. Matt Damon shows yet again with a superlative performance, why he is rated so high amongst the actors today. Bourne Ultimatum is surely a must-watch and I would rate it 4 on 5 for all the excitement it offers.

Memories --- Part 1

With the horde channels competing with one another for the eyeballs today, one might me tempted to wonder how different life would have been back in the 80's, if the advent of satellite television had happened earlier. Well..Thank god it didn't...and thank god we grew up in the golden era of Doordarshan.

With Ekta Kapoor nowhere in sight and no TRP's to bother about, filmakers with immense creative finesse competed solely on the quality of their products. No series, irrespective of the genre it represented could have more than 13 episodes. Of course with the stellar exceptions of Buniyaad, Hum Log, Mahabharat and Ramayan.

The wonderful 80's, the very mention of it brings back sweet memories...those were the days...days of childhood...days of carefreeness....days we know will never get back to. All we are left with are lingering thoughts that we keep reminiscing about...pretty much like Iam in this post.

Memories that you cherish...Thoughts that keep bothering you....People you have met and lost in the passage of time....Life seems to offer a rough deal at times...But as the origins of the blog title says..."It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world"

The title song from one of my favorite series...yet again from the 80's couldn't have been more apt !!!


Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum,
What might be right for you, may not be right for some.
A man is born, he's a man of means.
Then along come two, they got nothing but their jeans.

But they got, Diff'rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.

Everybody's got a special kind of story
Everybody finds a way to shine,
It don't matter that you got not alot
So what,
They'll have theirs, and you'll have yours, and I'll have mine.
And together we'll be fine....

Because it takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.
Yes it does.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.

Mash....A Long way to go...

Yahoo's second attempt of having a stable social networking site was opened this week to users outside Yahoo for testing purposes. I find it pretty tough to manage my active facebook and orkut profiles and I don't think I would have room for more unless something 'wow' comes up on that front. So I was absolutely disinterested when a mail saying 'XYZ had made a profile for you on Mash' popped up in my mailbox.

Yahoo's first attempt at social networking christened 'Yahoo 360' was a big failure considering its been around for more than 2 years now compared with the likes of News Corps's Myspace, Facebook, Bebo or Google's Orkut which have managed to attract tens of millions of users worldwide. Without any expectations, I decided to check out the 'Mash' interface anyway and find out if Yahoo had anything new to offer.

Mash's USP as of now seems to be the fact that it allows people to edit others profiles. For those frightened at the prospect, there is a flag in the settings to allow you to choose who can edit your profile. Apart from this feature, the interface of Mash would instantly remind users of facebook. The 'Applications' of Facebook become 'Modules' of Mash (Very few modules are active currently), 'News Feed' of Facebook becomes 'Pulse' page in Mash. Customizable CSS feature offered by Mash is a definite plus and will surely be a big hit especially amongst bloggers. Mash is still very much in its testing phase and we would know with time how it decides to differentiate itself from others. For now though, I'm pretty much happy with my orkut and facebook accounts.

What's in a 'Status Message' anyway ??

I have always understood 'status messages' as the person's current state of mind. Even if that assumption of mine happens to be wrong, they are always good 'conversation-starters' or probably the worst possible way of whiling away some time.

So, one fine day on my G-Talk list....

"Si hoc legere scis numium eruditionis habes. - If
you can read this, you are overeducated"
What amazing wit to have repeated yourself in different languages!!. A basic grammar course recommended !!

"A Spade is a Spade"
Great...I never knew that dude...

"Blah!"
Well you could have very well left the status message status quo ma'am...so much for the effort !!

"Who cares???"
Bang on mate !!...Nobody does !!

"F*** this...Im playin GTA:SA"
I'm very sure you must be pretty bad at that too..

Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it.
I got this one alright, now I know why you never bothered to mention who's quote that was!!!

Generation Gap...
The place is intended for a status message mate, not the title of the book you were so keen on writing..

Do watch Ram gopal Verma's 'Maa ki Aankh'
You surely seem to have enjoyed every bit of it !!

BUSY_DND
Hmm...Guess that would mean the same without the '_DND' part. In any case, seems like you haven't yet come across the humor on the guys with the 'busy' tag...

If you want to make god laugh, tell him about your future plans
Did ya get his appointment first, hurry...there's a long queue!!

Cant really keep changing my Status Message !
Yea man, you did put in a lot of effort to put this one up...so next time...well never mind !!

Shikin Harimitsu Daikomyu
Wow...must surely be a great feeling ai'nt it...enlightened, illuminated...whatever *($% that meant...

Allah Meherbaan Toh Gadha Pehalwaan
Takes a great sense of humor to do self-depreciation...cheers for the spirit mate !!

I'm Busy
Now who the hell was using your comp with the 'busy' tag on sometime back if it wasn't you..

On a concluding note, my best wishes to all the people who are 'Available' so that they change their status' soon enough. I'm sure the 'Busy' guys are enjoying themselves well ;) and those flaunting their music tastes..Thanks, But No Thanks..I'm pretty much happy with mine...

Mediocre But Arrogant

It baffles me how the characters in a book written on the love and life at a B'school in the early 80's can be so amazingly real, that even a current B'school pass-out would relate to them.
Well..I guess Abhijit Bhaduri's book "Mediocre But Arrogant" does just that. I'm sure every B'schooler who has read it would know that reading the book is just like traveling back to a few incidents of his/her own life..Thats how close to realty the book is...Some lines from this wonderful book :

Differentiation - "Tweak the formula,change the packaging and make a new commercial with a cute babe in a skimpier bikini"

Hostel Room - "The white-washed rooms had a bed, a small cupboard and a desk with a really uncomfortable chair for each occupant"

Hostel Food - "Why is that food in every hostel mess has to be just that(bad)"

Free Riders/Loaders - "I inevitably landed up in a group where half the guys where Free Loaders and had no interest in contributing to the assignment"

"Any senior caught glancingly lustfully at the girls from another, especially the Junior batch should be hanged"

"When u ASSUME without checking, you are making an 'ASS' of 'U' and 'ME'"

"All Northies are stereotyped as crude,arrogant and violent"

"Problems cannot be solved. They can only be absolved, dissolved or resolved"

Rules for Market Research Surveys

Rule 1 - Nothing more than one paper
Rule 2 - Tell people, you can't come back and you'll wait while they fill up
Rule 3 and most important - DON'T DEPEND ON OTHERS. FILL IT YOURSELF

ACP - After Class Participation, DCP- Desperate Class Participation,
I'm tempted to add JCP (Junk Class Participation)....

The book is a nostalgic read all the way with various emotions flowing in, I'm sure by the end of the book everyone would have that 'gathering tear' very much like Abbey in the book.