and the movies...

As I said in a previous post, the book didn't stop me from watching some movies during this period. So, I saw "Amores Perros", "Jhankar Beats", "Lola Rennt", "Manhattan", "Life of Brian", "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "Hercules", "The Bicycle Thief" and "The man who knew too much". Out of these "Amores Perros", "Lola Rennt" and the two Toy Stories were very good. "Manhattan" was good too, though it was too much like "Annie Hall" without being quite as good. "Life of Brian" was like "Holy Grail", and just like Holy Grail I didnt quite like it. It was hilarious in parts but avoidable overall. I don't think I am one of "monty python" types.. Though probably holy grail is worth a re-watch. Not Life of Brian. "The Bicycle Thief" is a famous italian movie but I didnt find it quite as good as I expected. It was a good story but the movie was probably a bit too old to have anything that would've impressed me a lot. I guess its difficult to REALLY like REALLY old movies. I had similar problems with "8 and half". Of the old black and white movies (as against newer ones like "Schindler's List" and "Raging Bull") I liked "Dr. Strangelove" and "Paths of Glory" and didn't mind "Rebecca" either.

Atlas Shrugged

This was my first Ayn Rand book, and will probably remain my last. Not because I didn't like the book, but because I expect the other books to be close to as voluminous as this one was and I just dont see myself getting enough time to start reading another book as big as this. Anyway, this one was good. I don't quite agree with the extreme ideas but just the fact that she took her theories to such extremes meant that she had to be pretty imaginative in developing the plot, and THAT was the best part about the book. However, there were times when she just kept on belabouring the point ad nauseum. So much so, that some of the monologues were almost soporific because of the repetition and sheer redundance of ideas.

Also, I thought the ending was anti-climactic. Most of the first half of the book was pretty interesting however, and makes me recommend the book for anyone who likes to read books and has enough time to do it.

Back to blogging!!

Back to blogging, after a looooooong time. Junta ki demand par. :P

So, one of the main reasons why I wasn't giving my blog any attention over last 3 weeks is that I was reading "Atlas Shrugged". Normally when I start reading a book, I don't do anything else in my lukkha time. So all my websurfing, blogging etc was put on the backburner till I was able to finish the book. (by the way this rule does not apply to movie-watching :).... though the frequency decreases drastically, it does not quite go to zero)

Anyway.. here I am... back to blogging...

vivek kumar janu is now in IFS!!!

no, its not Indian Fashion Show. Though I can imagine him being there too.. :P

Janu bhaai, the same who inspired me to start this blog, the same who I keep chatting with all the time, is now Janubhaai IFS (not to be confused with that VVC creation.. this is real!)

Ranked 71 in the civil services exam, he has chosen IFS as his career. And I am SOOOOOO happy for him. I always knew he'll do something BIG. I have always been a big fan of his (and have made it official now on orkut!!

I hope this achievement of his inspires me to do at least something worthwhile in my career at some point of time. (though I fear this is not going to be the case :P)

Dream to reality!!!

look at this!!

I was absolutely stunned by this article. Seems NASA is seriously pursuing a project to make a "Space Elevator", a structure which will rise from some place at earth's equator and will go way beyond the geosynchronus orbit (~36Mm). Its still not exactly a reality but the way these people have thought about each and every aspect of the project is absolutely amazing! seems as if they are pursuing a dream and are sure to turn it into reality.

Read the full article whenever you find some time. Its superb!

And if you are as excited as I was at reading this, then you might want to go ahead and look at this report.