Hey there

Hey there,

It’s been a long time since i wrote a blog post. I’d attribute this delay to  the transformation within me from a college kid to a working professional (Ahem…). Life hasn’t change much except that i’ve had to shift to a new city(No issues with that, bangalore is a lovely city), I’ve had to move away from dearest of friends and family( Big issues bcos of this, but you make new friends at new places, so its ok! Hefty phone bills seem to be a side effect though! ), I’ve had to survive on hotel food (Big complaints, All of bangalore food seem to be sweet and i’m used to a more spicy kind), I’ve had to do my own laundry( Fixed that now ), Had to get up early( Now i am doing the night shifts, so no issues), Have to stay at work late ( I used to stay up late for no reason, but staying up late and working is a different story ), and the list goes on and on…

I’d been pretty much stuck in a kind of a writers block, but what got me writing again ( If you can call this writing ) is a post on the mensa group for starting a writing special interest group. I still have the idea of a collaborative writing venture. Not necessarily books, but maybe short stories, blogs, articles, etc. If you are open to any kind of a writing venture, mail me at lapstre@gmail.com .

Meanwhile Google Code Jam is back again, register at topcoder for more details. Chennai has its very own blogcamp coming up soon, So check em out.

Till then, this is LApstrE signing off,

Cya!

(Ya i know, that’s a very lame signoff line, but couldn’t help it, Cya!)

Krrish – A Critic’s review

I was just checking out Bangalore, hanging around brigade road, when i stumbled upon a theatre in the middle. I had no idea if tickets would be available, I walked in the counter to find tickets available for the movie Krrish. Considering myself blessed, I bought the ticket at double the usual price. I had been to a theater a few weeks ago on the weekend , but returned bcos there we’re no tickets. So i jumped at the oppurtunity, and went right in to watch the movie…

The seats we’re a dissappointment, They we’re so near the screen, that i had to watch the movie at a very uncomfortable angle and the seat itself was another tale of misery… But all that was forgotten once the movie started.

The first thing you’ll notice about the movie is the amount of advertisements inside of the movie. Beginning with Faber Castell, Bournvita ( Krrish (Hritik Roshan) even urges a kid to drink bournvita to become like him!),Vicks and Hero Honda. The next thing that’ll stirke you about the movie is the gleaming hunk Hrthik Roshan(Duh!). You cant help but watch (sometimes with a open lower jaw) as the camera pans around hrithik to reveal his well toned body (The author of this post looks kinda similar- Chorus: You wish!- author apologises for a blatant lie). The third thing you’ll notice in the movie is Rekha’s overdone makeup. Her makeup is painfully obvious, as is everybody else’s makeup in the movie. Rekha has tried hard to look old, but shes got to face the fact that she still looks sweet sixteen! (Thats a bit overdoing the fact that she looks artificially old in the movie but she dusnt look half the characters age in the movie).

The movie’s got a good storyline(None of which i shall reveal in the course of this review- go watch the movie, but i can tell u its nothing like Koi mil gaya- Chorus: We know!), and a cute looking heroine( Priyanka Chopra ) She looks cute, does a bit of acting , does complete justice to her role. Except for the fact that the heroine’s role in this movie is no better than that of other heroines in other bollywood movies…

Naserrudin Shah pulls off the part of the villian effortlessly, His expressions and style are amazing!(Just like that of the author of the post- Chorus: Boooooo! ) You cant help but laugh at his samachar updates(wondering what it is all about? go watch the movie! )

 
The movie is highly influenced by the matrix(Stunts and Clothes), Halo (Some sets), Most superhero movies( Mostly spiderman), and typical Bollywood/Indian sentimental movies… Most of the scenes remind you of one movie or the other…

You cant help but praise hrithik for the amount of hardwork he is put into the movie, The stunts and footwork in the fights look amazing! Krrish is on the whole A perfect bollywood superhero movie….

Bangalore vs Chennai

Hey Guys,

How’re you doing??? I’m enjoyin it here in Bangalore. However work leaves me with little time for anything else, that’s why i havent been blogging lately.

Have been in this city for less than 3 weeks and already loving it… Having had lived in Good ol Chennai for more than 20 years, I cant help but compare both Chennai and Bangalore… Both are similar in many ways, Different in many others…

<> Having had a taste of both, What would you choose to live in??? Like your home turf? whats the reason??? Gimme good reasons and you will be rewarded with points for your city! I know Chennai has an advantage of having more readership of my blog, But i am sure it will be a fair competition…

<> Let the battle begin! 😀 <>

Hello Bangalore …

Have been less than a week in Bangalore and already loving it! Well almost all of it, Except for the cut throat autowallahs and unbelievably narrow roads… No wonder Narayanamurthy was so upset with bangalore! Havent really been missing chennai except for the friends and family. People here are so helpful and friendly. I couldnt have survived in bangalore for the first 4 days without the help of numerous people around bangalore who helped us with routes, places and all other stuff… Hats off to them!

Talking of helpful people i came across this wonderful blog listing random acts of kindness by complete strangers towards other strangers or by the author himself, Do visit it at http://makeadiff.wordpress.com/ . Just spread the kindness around, and the world will definitely be a better place…

A big hi to regular reader friends….

Regards,

The LApstrE

Leaving Chennai, but leaving my heart behind…

Hello there,
Its been a long time … Have been busy with the exams. Glad that they are finally over. Now i can get back to what i do best – Day Dreaming. :p I've probably never in my ever studied so much as for these 2 xams in my life. My class test marks had me scared shitless about the exams! Anyways i was happy to finish off the final battle to end the 4 year long war. The battle of Anna University would doubtlessly remain one of the greatest battles ever fought in my life…

At this time of unbounded joy, came the unexpected news of the joining dates of my company…I was all ready for this, but then when i read the mail, i realised i was all but ready for it! I had been posted to bangalore! On one hand i was happy that i was finally getting a chance to prove myself, but having to leave dear old chennai to do that kinda lessened the joy of it! I was wondering what i would do, away from my friends, away from family, away from my hometown, without my faithful comp 😦 . Anyways It'd be a good challenge to move on to a new city and start working there, I'd have a doubt regarding full productivity though!

 I wrote the first paragraph sometime immediately after the end of the exams and the second para after i received the news about having to relocate to banagalore… I cant believe it's time to leave already, I have but probly 2 hours before my train leaves from chennai to bangalore, and i just wanted to thank all of you for being wonderful friends. Willl miss ya all…

Bye…

Vil Keep Blogging! 

Aint gonna vote next time – It spoils my finger nails

    After 20 whole years of existence i got my royal right to make a difference to the country's future. Ah yes!, The right to vote! After a big battle to get my name included in the voters list(It was missed last time by accident!), I finally got myself eligible to vote. The epic battle included an episode where i had to get outta bed in the bedroom and walk all the way to the hall where the ladies who had come for names verification were patient enough to ring the door bell a zillion times to get me to wake up from my beauty sleep (My beauty sleep = Terrible slumber – Snoring, also containing added qualities of kumbhakarnan). And so thus ended the terrible ordeal where i managed to get my name included for the voters list. I smiled at myself and went back to bed thinking the battle was won, little did i realise, the battle had just begun!

    Just when i thought i was all was set for me to cast my billion dollar vote to the party i loved ( Did is say love? I just love politics and elections, where else do u c such excitement, fury and mud slinging??? ), the big announcement came that voters couldnt vote without a voters id card. To get my voters id, i had to cross the seven seas and get to the distribution center on the auspicious day of fotonomaih divas, the day began as would any other, the only difference being the tense feeling that a part of my soul was going to be captured and trapped into a cage called the voters id…(Err, This is getting over dramatic, cut the crap and get to the chase.) Well!, i went, i got myself photographed, and before i knew it i was out again on the streets with a voters id in my hands. Frankly i was more than happy to have it done so quickly, i hate being in front of the camera and most of the time the cameramen end up making me so uncomfortable that i end up looking too cool on camera!

    As the day of the vote dawned, i waited until the mid afternoon to beat the crowds. Went right in to the booth with my grandpa and mom to cast my vote. Suprisingly, my grandpa was listed as already having voted early in the morning. We thought we would have to register an official complaint but the polling officer came up with another list and convinced us the first list was wrong. He let my grandpa vote, but the turn of events still look very fishy. As for me, I had no problems. I was happy to contribute to the great democractic process. You might be wondering to which party the billion dollar vote went to? I'll stop with saying, I dint vote for any of the major parties. The one i did vote for, probably woudnt even win, but i am happy i voted for a good person!

    Also that gives me the rights to complain, I can always say " See, thats why i didnt vote for this party!" If u ask if i would vote again? "Oh yeah, i would!", "Then whats with the title of the post???" u might ask, but then there is nothing like a controversial statement to pique one's curiosity! is there???