People always keep me wondering about these two issues: guns and gays. So, if you are suffering from severe homophobia or you are running away from confrontations your entire life, I suggest you not read this article.
Recently, the law of gay marriage was rejected in the beautiful state of Maine. Plus, I found out in an article that 31 other states have also rejected (including the liberal state, a.k.a. California) the concept of two people of the same sex going in any matrimonial union. I have a question for the government: what are you thinking and what are you trying to accomplish by these self contradictory laws? The logic behind this escapes my mind. If we take a closer look I think the government is trying to play the divide and rule game among liberal and conservatives. First, the state governments declared same-sex marriage legal just to lure the homosexual community and for that matter the whole liberal vote bank . So, when they think that the liberals are happy now, it is time to please the conservatives. So, they go for a public vote on this law. Obviously most of the states' majority consists of straight populations and this is a very big deciding factor while handling this issue. Therefore, the majority wins. However, is it justifiable to discriminate somebody's right because he or she is gay?
Now, lets talk about guns. Yes, it is our birthright to own a gun , but come on, think about it: in the last 24 hours there were two shootings in two different states. Yes, I heard this argument several times, ' People kill people, guns don't.' But guns make it easy. Now people have another argument that is, if there are no guns then the killers will find some other weapons. I agree , but what would that weapon be - knife, stone, or may be a baseball bat. So, in order to use any of these alternative weapons one needs a lot of strength to actually kill a person. One more benefit is since it requires a lot of power and hard work, people will have to actually come up with a plan instead of just walking and shooting. Moreover, the impact, by impact I mean body count, will not be as high as when guns are involved.
Gun owners always claim that it is their right as per second amendment, to lawfully own a gun. So, why do we have a right to own a gun but not a right to marry whomever we choose?I find it kind of strange that it is okay to own killing machine but it is not okay for people in love to get married and spread the love. I personally think if people are allowed to carry guns then two people who love each other should be allowed to get married irrespective of their orientation.
Cheers
MS.
P.S. Please pass this around and help in generating awareness.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Believe "IT" or not: The Mystery of Evil Clown
Plot:
It all starts with kids getting killed mysteriously in Derry, ME. Nobody knows who is killing the children of the town, except one guy who knows "IT" is back. He and his friends have defeated that demonic evil clown 30 years ago however, now it is again haunting the little town of Derry. This whole story is about seven friends, who are living their lives separately but get back together after 30 years to finish "IT."
Overall, the whole series is interesting and very well done for a show aired in 90s. Tim Curry was brilliant being IT a.k.a. Pennywise. The child actors were great too and one interesting fact: Seth Green still looks the same. The grownup actors were alright; not that great. However IT was good enough to keep us hooked for three and half hours.
We liked the series but not very pleased with the ending. The director, Tommy Lee Wallace, was very good in keeping the suspense till the very end. But the climax didn't work out great. It felt like the whole thing was buildup for nothing. The first half is obviously better then the second half, no doubt. However,there is always room for improvement. I will also say that seeing IT in these day n age does make the effects look poorly done, but you know it was very well suited for 90s and IT is considered as one of the horror classics. Therefore, I will say "IT" is good.
Overall, the whole series is interesting and very well done for a show aired in 90s. Tim Curry was brilliant being IT a.k.a. Pennywise. The child actors were great too and one interesting fact: Seth Green still looks the same. The grownup actors were alright; not that great. However IT was good enough to keep us hooked for three and half hours.We liked the series but not very pleased with the ending. The director, Tommy Lee Wallace, was very good in keeping the suspense till the very end. But the climax didn't work out great. It felt like the whole thing was buildup for nothing. The first half is obviously better then the second half, no doubt. However,there is always room for improvement. I will also say that seeing IT in these day n age does make the effects look poorly done, but you know it was very well suited for 90s and IT is considered as one of the horror classics. Therefore, I will say "IT" is good.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Film Club: Review
The word film always excites me . Since I was five, I've always enjoyed watching movies. Even though, growing up we were not allowed to watch a lot of movies. My love for cinema increased with age. English not being my first language kept me away from watching English films till the age of seventeen; since then I have watched a lot of English movies, including classics. So, a book about film naturally grabs my attention, but I was very reluctant to get hooked to another book when I have a lot to accomplish. My girlfriend also wanted to read the same book , so we got a copy of 'the Film Club' from the local library. She read it first and after completing it she told me that this is one book which I would really appreciate. I was very apprehensive about reading it, but I started reading anyways. A couple pages later I said," I am hooked on this book."
To say it in one sentence: this is a story about a father and son who watched a lot of films together. It sounds boring, doesn't it? I felt the same way, I said to my self ," why do I need to know what movies they watched together? However, after reading a few pages, I realized it is a story about a father and son. Both of them are in different stages of life. Son is sixteen years old and he is dealing with all the teenage issues like hating to go to school and girls. The father is dealing with his own life along with being a dad to a sixteen year old. This story also depicts how they see the world and how their relationship evolves.
David Gilmour, is the author of the book "The Film Club". It is based on true story ; his life. It also covers a lot of classics and little juicy bits about the movies which avid movie fans will like to know. The writing style is very creative ; the author made sure that he is doing justice to the story along with movies. Plus it is not very hard to read, very entertaining and keeps you hooked.
Cheers
Mragendra
To say it in one sentence: this is a story about a father and son who watched a lot of films together. It sounds boring, doesn't it? I felt the same way, I said to my self ," why do I need to know what movies they watched together? However, after reading a few pages, I realized it is a story about a father and son. Both of them are in different stages of life. Son is sixteen years old and he is dealing with all the teenage issues like hating to go to school and girls. The father is dealing with his own life along with being a dad to a sixteen year old. This story also depicts how they see the world and how their relationship evolves.
David Gilmour, is the author of the book "The Film Club". It is based on true story ; his life. It also covers a lot of classics and little juicy bits about the movies which avid movie fans will like to know. The writing style is very creative ; the author made sure that he is doing justice to the story along with movies. Plus it is not very hard to read, very entertaining and keeps you hooked.
Cheers
Mragendra
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Village WITCHES : Consequence of superstitoon and illiteracy
It is Halloween time, so discussion about witches and witchcraft will sounds commonplace.However, recently five women were tortured for allegedly being witches in India. The details can be seen on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8315980.stm
It is so horrendous that people in third world countries still believe in ghosts, witches and all sort of superstitions. I blame the the illiteracy as the contributing factor towards this kind of behavior. This is neither the first case that ever happened nor that last case that we will see. This incidences are very common in the rural India.
India is one of the fastest developing countries. When people talk about IT , economics , and for that matter, any thing ; India will always be mentioned. India is competing with developed countries in all the aspects, head to head;shoulder to shoulder. People love Indian cuisine, Bollywood is one of the biggest movie industry of the world; they make more movies per year than Hollywood. However, apart from this developed side there is one aspect of India which negates the entire achievement of it as a country. The underdevelopment of Indian villages.
Majorly people in rural India depend upon agriculture as occupation. However, farming in India is not the most coveted profession and farmers are not the rich people. Most farmers in India live below poverty line. They have not enough money to feed their families. The whole family work hard to get the bare minimum to survive. Generally these villages are deprived with the basic necessities like electricity and water supply. In some villages ladies have to walk ten miles to get a gallon of water, everyday.
Generally education is not very popular concept among the villagers. Government of India, spends million of dollars to create awareness in rural areas about literacy; but it is not impacting the masses.Corruption also have a part in it ,but that is another can of worms.However, the school enrollment among the kids in villages is increasing day by day. Though, it doesn't change the fact that there are still uneducated superstitious people living in the villages; who believe in ghost, and witches.
The lack of education also stops people to think rationally. Although,Social evils like discrimination on the basis of Caste, Child Marriage, and Dowry are illegal ;they are still being practiced in the villages. Yes, in this day and age. If you are unfamiliar with these words I will suggest to google them. I mean discrimination on the basis of caste not only exist in smaller villages but also in big cities. Several, ladies are still being burnt alive because of dowry all over the country. Every once in a while there is news of child marriage in the news paper.
So, when I saw this news I was not shocked actually; however, felt sad about the situation. I think I was fortunate not to be born in any of those conditions and be able to get education so that I will be able to distinguish between right and wrong. These, villages needs awareness so that people living in villages encourage their kids to go to school and help in eradicating the whole concept of superstition.
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
It is so horrendous that people in third world countries still believe in ghosts, witches and all sort of superstitions. I blame the the illiteracy as the contributing factor towards this kind of behavior. This is neither the first case that ever happened nor that last case that we will see. This incidences are very common in the rural India.
India is one of the fastest developing countries. When people talk about IT , economics , and for that matter, any thing ; India will always be mentioned. India is competing with developed countries in all the aspects, head to head;shoulder to shoulder. People love Indian cuisine, Bollywood is one of the biggest movie industry of the world; they make more movies per year than Hollywood. However, apart from this developed side there is one aspect of India which negates the entire achievement of it as a country. The underdevelopment of Indian villages.
Majorly people in rural India depend upon agriculture as occupation. However, farming in India is not the most coveted profession and farmers are not the rich people. Most farmers in India live below poverty line. They have not enough money to feed their families. The whole family work hard to get the bare minimum to survive. Generally these villages are deprived with the basic necessities like electricity and water supply. In some villages ladies have to walk ten miles to get a gallon of water, everyday.
Generally education is not very popular concept among the villagers. Government of India, spends million of dollars to create awareness in rural areas about literacy; but it is not impacting the masses.Corruption also have a part in it ,but that is another can of worms.However, the school enrollment among the kids in villages is increasing day by day. Though, it doesn't change the fact that there are still uneducated superstitious people living in the villages; who believe in ghost, and witches.
The lack of education also stops people to think rationally. Although,Social evils like discrimination on the basis of Caste, Child Marriage, and Dowry are illegal ;they are still being practiced in the villages. Yes, in this day and age. If you are unfamiliar with these words I will suggest to google them. I mean discrimination on the basis of caste not only exist in smaller villages but also in big cities. Several, ladies are still being burnt alive because of dowry all over the country. Every once in a while there is news of child marriage in the news paper.
So, when I saw this news I was not shocked actually; however, felt sad about the situation. I think I was fortunate not to be born in any of those conditions and be able to get education so that I will be able to distinguish between right and wrong. These, villages needs awareness so that people living in villages encourage their kids to go to school and help in eradicating the whole concept of superstition.
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Mad-Men: The Review
This AMC drama's takes place in 1960s. The show mainly depicts the life of people working Madison Ave New York in that era. Advertising, was emerging as a full blown industry in the same time as well. This drama revolves around the creative head, Don Draper, of the Advertising firm " Sterling and Cooper". There are other important characters as well in the show, to name a few Peggy Olson, Betty Draper, Roger Sterling,and Pete Campbell etc.
It is fascinating that how brilliantly the creators has delineated the mindset of people living in those times. It shows, how there was no such thing as sexual harassment exist back in those days. Women, in offices are not treated equally. Racism, adultery , and drunk driving was very prevalent. It also shows how people use to carry themselves in the social circles.
So, as far as screen play is concerned, it is written brilliantly. They did their homework very well. It doesn't look like a made up story. It also shows how the whole advertising industry became so big from being a very unthinkable occupation. They made sure it looks authentic.Few things I will like to mention are; The cigarette smoking,the alcohol consumption, the clothing style, and the setup it make it look more believable.
It is fascinating that how brilliantly the creators has delineated the mindset of people living in those times. It shows, how there was no such thing as sexual harassment exist back in those days. Women, in offices are not treated equally. Racism, adultery , and drunk driving was very prevalent. It also shows how people use to carry themselves in the social circles.
So, as far as screen play is concerned, it is written brilliantly. They did their homework very well. It doesn't look like a made up story. It also shows how the whole advertising industry became so big from being a very unthinkable occupation. They made sure it looks authentic.Few things I will like to mention are; The cigarette smoking,the alcohol consumption, the clothing style, and the setup it make it look more believable.
Over all the show is a good combination of creativity and originality. It keeps one hooked; very addicting.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Commercials Between the shows; don't you love it
You are watching your favorite Crime Drama, or your favorite game show or your favorite reality show; you are getting into the show and then animated detergent particles appears on the TV screen dancing and singing about their cleaning strength followed by a car commercial. You get the point; it spoils the mood. One thing I promise about this blog , there will be no commercials :).
TV is filled with either TV shows or Commercials. Who gets excited about commercials? No one; I mean, they are really annoying. They have no skin, they just drop by whenever they feel like. OK, I have to say commercials are not always bad. There are some great commercials which are very entertaining. However, the sad part is that they are not that many.
My problem is with all the commercials which are boring and they last forever. I hate the especially infomercials (Information Commercials). They are one of the most cheesy things I have ever seen. So, these infomercials always has some sort of great inventions which will transform your life forever. Once you get that product you will get all the virtues in the world. You are now confident all the girls wants to hangout with you and suddenly you became rich. Infomercials always have 'before' and 'after' concept;Before this person was such a loser and after using the product he is Super hero. For my astonishment these infomercials actually works on the people. Apparently, people buy a lot of things from these infomercials. Since we are talking of infomercials it will be shame if we don't discuss"Snuggie". This product is the most ridiculed product; however, Snuggie made $80 million since it came out, even in this economy. Recently , they came out with new designs for Snuggies i.e. Zebra and Leopard print.
Now lets talk about some of the good and creative commercials. The commercials which actually make you laugh and helps you in remembering the products they are endorsing. For instance Geico commercials are one of the most liked commercial;especially the Cave-men commercials. Their tag line:"15 minutes can save you 15 % on insurance" actually helps in remembering about their services . So, when you think of insurance the first thing comes to mind is Geico. Contraceptive, commercials are also very creative ones too; unfortunately majority of those commercials gets banned before they even get aired. If you want to check out those commercial go on www.youtube.com and look for banned commercials; there are loads and loads of banned commercials and these are the commercials which are funny and entertaining.
Now, lets talk about the commercials which are boring and they infuriates us when it comes on tele. Erectile dysfunction commercials are the worst. They show a couple doing outdoor activities and the narrator is talking in double entendre. I will consider those ED commercials are poorly made also how can you solve bedroom problems in outdoors. It giving out the wrong message. Now second worst commercials are car commercials. They start out interesting only to kill your suspense by showing a car in the end. When I see some interesting commercial, I hope it doesn't end up as car commercials. Let talk about the commercials which talk about "those days" or "monthly gift". I mean, do you really need to show on TV at prime-time how much liquid a sanitary pad can soak in a day. I mean there are many other ways to skin the cat advertising agencies should find a good way to represent it.
In this day and age how many people do you think actually watch the commercials during the shows?The answer is not a lot of people. Generally the TV commercials focus on a market segment and the people in that market segment already have TiVos or DVRs where they can record the shows and watch whenever they want "Commercial Less". So, they don't have to go through the pain of seeing people wearing Snuggie and talking on the phone or any of the ED commercials. I think it will be good if the agencies will start coming up with the cool commercials so that when viewers are interrupted by commercials during their favorite show they don't get miserable.
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
TV is filled with either TV shows or Commercials. Who gets excited about commercials? No one; I mean, they are really annoying. They have no skin, they just drop by whenever they feel like. OK, I have to say commercials are not always bad. There are some great commercials which are very entertaining. However, the sad part is that they are not that many.
My problem is with all the commercials which are boring and they last forever. I hate the especially infomercials (Information Commercials). They are one of the most cheesy things I have ever seen. So, these infomercials always has some sort of great inventions which will transform your life forever. Once you get that product you will get all the virtues in the world. You are now confident all the girls wants to hangout with you and suddenly you became rich. Infomercials always have 'before' and 'after' concept;Before this person was such a loser and after using the product he is Super hero. For my astonishment these infomercials actually works on the people. Apparently, people buy a lot of things from these infomercials. Since we are talking of infomercials it will be shame if we don't discuss"Snuggie". This product is the most ridiculed product; however, Snuggie made $80 million since it came out, even in this economy. Recently , they came out with new designs for Snuggies i.e. Zebra and Leopard print.
Now lets talk about some of the good and creative commercials. The commercials which actually make you laugh and helps you in remembering the products they are endorsing. For instance Geico commercials are one of the most liked commercial;especially the Cave-men commercials. Their tag line:"15 minutes can save you 15 % on insurance" actually helps in remembering about their services . So, when you think of insurance the first thing comes to mind is Geico. Contraceptive, commercials are also very creative ones too; unfortunately majority of those commercials gets banned before they even get aired. If you want to check out those commercial go on www.youtube.com and look for banned commercials; there are loads and loads of banned commercials and these are the commercials which are funny and entertaining.
Now, lets talk about the commercials which are boring and they infuriates us when it comes on tele. Erectile dysfunction commercials are the worst. They show a couple doing outdoor activities and the narrator is talking in double entendre. I will consider those ED commercials are poorly made also how can you solve bedroom problems in outdoors. It giving out the wrong message. Now second worst commercials are car commercials. They start out interesting only to kill your suspense by showing a car in the end. When I see some interesting commercial, I hope it doesn't end up as car commercials. Let talk about the commercials which talk about "those days" or "monthly gift". I mean, do you really need to show on TV at prime-time how much liquid a sanitary pad can soak in a day. I mean there are many other ways to skin the cat advertising agencies should find a good way to represent it.
In this day and age how many people do you think actually watch the commercials during the shows?The answer is not a lot of people. Generally the TV commercials focus on a market segment and the people in that market segment already have TiVos or DVRs where they can record the shows and watch whenever they want "Commercial Less". So, they don't have to go through the pain of seeing people wearing Snuggie and talking on the phone or any of the ED commercials. I think it will be good if the agencies will start coming up with the cool commercials so that when viewers are interrupted by commercials during their favorite show they don't get miserable.
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
How to get rid of Writer's block: Well tested Formula
The in-ability to think about something to write is called "writer's block". Writer's block not only incapacitates the writer; but also makes him/her feel horrible about one-self. Writer's block can hit you that time when you need your creativity most. Furthermore, it doesn't discriminate between writers or non-writers; it can hit anyone at anytime.
The symptoms of Writer's block are:
1) Blank face
2) Isolation
3) Distracted state of mind; in extreme cases people have been reported to start talking to themselves.
4) Very fidgety
5) Unable to hold conversation; in extreme cases people have been reported to start rambling random words which does not make sense at all.
If you experience any of the above mentioned behavior that means you might be infected with writer's block. Now, if you find out that you might have been attacked by writer's block, remember DO NOT PANIC, because the more you panic the more you will make it worse.
Dos and don't if you get exposure from Writer's block. I will start with "don't", first.
DON'T:
1) Do not panic, if you did not notice it above, in caps.
2) If you choose to ignore my advice then, DO NOT ORDER, "PIZZA". You think it will make you feel good, after have couple slices. However once you finish eating, you will realize the amount of calories you have consumed which will make you more depressed. Same applies with ice-cream as well.
3) Do not go on internet because you might read some tweets, Facebook message or YouTube video which might trigger inferiority complex in you; that might result in harnessing negative energy in you. Trust me you don’t want to do it.
4) Do not try to take nap because you will have nightmares.
Now I will be covering Dos
DOs:
1) Phone a friend; if you have left any.
2) Take shower, which you were avoiding for weeks
3) Pay your bills; because loosing money will automatically kick the writer's block of you head.
Now, I am going to cover few techniques which will help you in getting rid of writer's block.
1) Start writing random words on the piece of paper. I will explain this concept in detail about how it helps in elimination of writers block. Imagine writer's block as a water dam; which is stopping water to flow through. In our case the Writer's block is analogous to water dam and the water is ideas. So in order to break that dam we have to dig holes in the dam. These holes will let the water seep through the dam, and if we keep making the holes the whole dam will be collapsed and the water will start to flow. So, we are trying to accomplish something like that here. If this doesn't help, try the next method.
2) Take a pen and paper and act that you are about to start writing. Now I explain how this will help in knocking writer's block out of you system. When you start acting as you are about to write it will create a self doubt in writer's block which will weaken it and once its gets weak then you can knock it down. If this doesn't work, try the next method.
3) Start talking to your writer's block. Have a question answer session. I can sense that you are not convinced with this step. Writer's block might have some issue and nobody have ever given attention to it. It might need a shoulder to cry on. Give it the shoulder and then see how fast it will be gone. If this also doesn't work try this.
4) Write a blog about it. This will definitely work :)
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
The symptoms of Writer's block are:
1) Blank face
2) Isolation
3) Distracted state of mind; in extreme cases people have been reported to start talking to themselves.
4) Very fidgety
5) Unable to hold conversation; in extreme cases people have been reported to start rambling random words which does not make sense at all.
If you experience any of the above mentioned behavior that means you might be infected with writer's block. Now, if you find out that you might have been attacked by writer's block, remember DO NOT PANIC, because the more you panic the more you will make it worse.
Dos and don't if you get exposure from Writer's block. I will start with "don't", first.
DON'T:
1) Do not panic, if you did not notice it above, in caps.
2) If you choose to ignore my advice then, DO NOT ORDER, "PIZZA". You think it will make you feel good, after have couple slices. However once you finish eating, you will realize the amount of calories you have consumed which will make you more depressed. Same applies with ice-cream as well.
3) Do not go on internet because you might read some tweets, Facebook message or YouTube video which might trigger inferiority complex in you; that might result in harnessing negative energy in you. Trust me you don’t want to do it.
4) Do not try to take nap because you will have nightmares.
Now I will be covering Dos
DOs:
1) Phone a friend; if you have left any.
2) Take shower, which you were avoiding for weeks
3) Pay your bills; because loosing money will automatically kick the writer's block of you head.
Now, I am going to cover few techniques which will help you in getting rid of writer's block.
1) Start writing random words on the piece of paper. I will explain this concept in detail about how it helps in elimination of writers block. Imagine writer's block as a water dam; which is stopping water to flow through. In our case the Writer's block is analogous to water dam and the water is ideas. So in order to break that dam we have to dig holes in the dam. These holes will let the water seep through the dam, and if we keep making the holes the whole dam will be collapsed and the water will start to flow. So, we are trying to accomplish something like that here. If this doesn't help, try the next method.
2) Take a pen and paper and act that you are about to start writing. Now I explain how this will help in knocking writer's block out of you system. When you start acting as you are about to write it will create a self doubt in writer's block which will weaken it and once its gets weak then you can knock it down. If this doesn't work, try the next method.
3) Start talking to your writer's block. Have a question answer session. I can sense that you are not convinced with this step. Writer's block might have some issue and nobody have ever given attention to it. It might need a shoulder to cry on. Give it the shoulder and then see how fast it will be gone. If this also doesn't work try this.
4) Write a blog about it. This will definitely work :)
Cheers
P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.
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