S Anand

This is the park in front of my office in the evening. Fog completely covered London this week. Visibility: 200 ft. Hypnotic.

This is the fourth of 15 articles titled Classical Ilayaraja appeared on Usenet in the 90s. I’ve added links to the songs, so you can listen as you read. You could also try my Tamil song search. Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan is a very popular carnatic violinist. He is one of the successful rebels in the field. His katcheris are a mixture of classical and commercial blend. In his classical concert he will play kallum muLLum kaalukku meththai (Iyyappa song) and in the end say ‘samiyae saranam Iyyappa’ in his violin. If you go to his house he will say ‘vaanga saar vaanga, enna sappidaringa? Kaappiya, teaya?’ in madhyama sthayi in his violin. If you say tea then he will turn inside and signal his wife in the kitchen ‘adiyae… saarukku oru cup tea konda’ in thara sthayi, of course, in his violin! He doesn’t talk much, you know…. Only his violin….! ...

Windows has a “Yes to all” in some of its dialogs – for example when replacing files. Here’s how you can simulate a “No to all”. (Just shift-click the “No” button).

xRez has some stunning, large (gigapixel-sized) panoramas that you can zoom into using the Google Maps interface. It’s similar to the Gigapixel project, I think.

Tom Mabe likes playing pranks on telemarketers while recording the call. This is a recording of a hilarious telemarketing call. Tom: Hello? Mike: Yes, can I speak with Tom Mabe? Tom: Who’s calling? Mike: This is Mike (beep). You’ve been selected to receive a complete digital satellite system for free. With this, you’re going to… Tom: Um, let me ask you something. Did you know Tom Mabe? Are you a friend of his? Mike: No, I’m not. I’m just calling to… Tom: Hold that thought… hold on one second, alright? (off phone) Hey guys, get really good pictures of the body. Yeah, dust everything down for prints. (on phone) Are you there? Mike: Yeah. Tom: Let me bring you up to speed. You have actually called a murder scene and Mr Mabe is no longer with us. I’m Officer Clarke. I’m conducting a homicide investigation. I want to ask you a series of questions. Firstly, what was the nature of business you had with Tom Mabe? Mike: I, uh, had no business with him. I’m… I’m sorry to have bothered you… Tom: No, no, no hey hold on look, I want to ask you to stay on the phone. This call has already been traced and we may need to you to come here for further questioning. This … Mike: You see, you don’t understand. I’m just calling … Tom: No, no, look, you don’t understand. Unless you want to be charged with obstruction of justice it’s imperative to keep your ass on the phone, Mike. Mike: Or, how about you just talk to my supervisor then? Tom: No no no no we’ll get to your supervisor in a second. Now, give me your whereabouts. Mike: I’m at work. Tom: You’re at work? Mike: Yes. Tom: You being a smartass? Mike: No, sir. Tom: Let me put it to you this way, Mike. Say I want to mail your ass a letter. What would I have to write on the outside of that envelope to ensure that the mailman will deliver it right to your ass? Geographically speaking, Mike, where is work? Mike: 40 West (beep), Middleton, Colorado. Tom: Hold on, that’s 40 … Mike: Yes sir. Tom: Michael, hold on one sec, alright? Mike: Yes sir. Tom: (off phone) Get the Middleton homicide department on the phone. Yeah, give them this information. Tell them there been a talk in connection with a fatal shooting and aggravated robbery. (on phone) Mike, how did you know Mr. Mabe again? Mike: Wait, you’re calling the Middleton police department? I’m hundreds of miles away! I don’t even know the guy… I’m in Colorado! Tom: No, no, it’s not that scary… that’s just a formality. Tell me, have you been to any place other than work, then? Mike: No! Tom: OK, and tell me again what, where were you last night for twenty hours after eight and ten? Mike: I’m not feeling really comfortable with any of this. Tom: Have you even ever spoken to Mr. Mabe, Mike? Mike: No I haven’t. I don’t even know the guy. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Tom: OK, very good, calm down, calm down, look, I’ve got one more question for you, Mike. As you well know, I’m sure, Mr. Mabe was a flaming homosexual. There’s no easy way of asking this, I don’t want to embarrass you or nothin’, but, were you his gay lover? Mike: What!? No… what kind of a question is that? Tom: (you just have to hear what he says!) ...

This is the third of 15 articles titled Classical Ilayaraja appeared on Usenet in the 90s. I’ve added links to the songs, so you can listen as you read. You could also try my Tamil song search. Subhapanthuvarali is a ‘bayangara soga’ raagam. If you hear it you will cry; I will cry; ‘saraa log’ will cry. Given the conditional event of Rajiv Gandhi or Indira Gandhi’s death occuring, Subhapanthuvarali played on the radio or TV by some ’thenga moodi’ bhagavathar during the days of mourning will make even those music insensitive Indira Congress leaders shed at least ‘crocodile tears’! Can you imagine this raagam being used in the cinema for a sexy scene like that in ‘Hot Shots’ in which the hero Charlie Sheen fries eggs on the heroine’s umbilicus as though it was a bunzen burner?! Yes, there is a song in Subhapanthuvarali for a situation like the above said, in the movie Getti Melam. That was the first movie in which director Visu joined Ilayaraja, starring Karthik and Sasikala. Visu had tried some sexploitation in that song sequence by bringing Sasikala in swimsuit for few minutes, Karthik grazing over her all the time! The song is dhagamae undanathe, thindaaduthe manamae. That was pure Subhapanthuvarali. Maybe it evoked sexy mood. Maybe not! Neither the movie nor the song was a big hit. Perhaps the failure was only due to the ineptitude of the raaga selection. Visu never joined with Ilayaraja after that! ...

I've jumbled up pictures of 5 highly paid Hollywood actors. You can move the jumbled blocks around, like a jigsaw. Can you guess the actors and the movie? Comments Vikas 16 Mar 2007 12:18 pm: nice one Sashi 21 Mar 2007 10:51 am: cheers kas 15 May 2007 10:01 am: who is da 3rd actor? C.S.Damodaran 26 Jun 2020 5:15 pm: What are the answers if we are not able to turn it to green

From Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. These are the quotes I found most… how shall I put it… eye-opening. Paradigm-shifting. “..the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury found it advisable-” “Found WHAT?” said the Duck. “Found IT,” the Mouse replied rather crossly. “Of course you know what ‘it’ means.” “I know what ‘it’ means well enough, when I find a thing,” said the Duck: “it’s generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?” ...

This is the second of 15 articles titled Classical Ilayaraja appeared on Usenet in the 90s. I’ve added links to the songs, so you can listen as you read. You could also try my Tamil song search. There are very few instances in which the identity of a rare raaga in a cinema song is so well handled and shown (to the extent that) we could even use these songs as good a reference as keerthanas for those respective raagas. To quote a few, K.V.Mahadevan’s paattum naanE (Thiruvilayaadal) in the raagam Gowrimanohari, M.K.Thiagaraja Bhagavathar’s soppana vaazhvil magizhndhu in the raagam Vijayanaagari. These are uncommonly sung raagas. It is true that there are excellant keerthanais like gurulekha (Gowrimanohari) in these raagas. But to a common rasika, it could be gone ahead and suggested paattum naanE to understand Gowrimanohari, because KVM has handled it in splendid form. The way T.M.S starts the song in thara sthayi rishabham with his perfect voice and renders it, it is like eating a ’nila pournami’ feast in the banks of kaveri. That song has become an absolute reference for Gowrimanohari. The question is: Has Ilayaraja any such ‘reference’ songs to his credit? Yes. Many! ...

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk on education is brilliant and funny. Some quotes that struck me: If you think of it, children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue, despite all the expertise that has been on parade the last four days, what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary. ...

I watch a lot of movies. Over the last year, I’ve watched over 250 movies (and read 50 books, but that’s another story). Other than making time to watch movies, my biggest problem is figuring out what to watch next. The IMDb top 250 is a good guideline, and I’m running my way down the list. Twofifty.org has been useful to track what I’ve seen as well. But I have interests outside of the IMDb Top 250, and I need a way of tracking these. ...

This is the first of 15 articles titled Classical Ilayaraja appeared on Usenet in the 90s. I’ve added links to the songs, so you can listen as you read. You could also try my Tamil song search. Recently, I watched the movie Chembaruthi on video. One of those unethical, “kuppai” screen printed video cassette, you know, that gives you a vision like that of a “soda-butti” watching TV without his spectacles! Ilayaraja has done a fantastic job in that movie. Though I had heared all those songs many times while I was in India, watching that movie created a reminiscent train of thoughts in my mind, about Ilayaraja, his music, the dramatic change he brought about in Thamizh cinema. I thought that it would be worthwhile to discuss his music, particularly the CLASSICAL aspect! I am aware that it is not possible to write about all his carnatic oriented songs, about how he has handled those raagas, how he has deviated from the classical style etc. But it would definitely be interesting to pour out our ideas once in a while in a random order of the raagas covered by him. ...

Comments Chitra 14 Dec 2006 2:51 am: Hmmm…very busy view…. Anamika 12 Feb 2012 10:35 am: Oru yenthiratha pola ada ingey ulla vaalkai Ithu yengey poi solla, manam ishtapada villai Nam oora pola ooru illai…!

Joel Spolsky on why you need to be alone to be productive. You build up concentration for 15 minutes, and you lose it in a second when interrupted.

Pegasus on why Even numbered booths in toilets are better. This is one of those things I’ve endlessly thought about, but never got around to writing about. Comments pegasus 8 Dec 2006 2:29 pm: Hey thanks man :) ritzkini 9 Jan 2007 9:49 am: Same here !!! thought abt it so many times !!

If you have a bunch of projects you could do, and want to decide which ones to take up, I was taught a rule: if a project has positive net present value, do it. That is, find out how much money you have to put in (& when), and how much you’ll get out (& when). Adjust for money today being worth more than money tomorrow. If it makes a profit, just do it. ...

Based on advice from Thomas Knoll, Michael suggests overexposing digital camera shots. This is because the on the CCD of digital cameras, the bright tones have the highest colour resolution. So you can darken images later and retain the colours well, but you can’t brighten without losing data.

Video demo of Sony’s digital desktop. This converts your physical desktop (you know, the one where you keep paper and staplers) into a digital desktop. You can drag and drop on to the physical desktop. You have to see it to understand!

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan, Dec 1998. I was on a project with Honda R&D at Utsunomiya, Japan. And I’m vegetarian. The next day, Yoshioka-san – our counterpart at Honda – took us to the canteen and introduced me to the chef. Knowing that “vegetarian” in Japan includes eating fish and birds, I took the chef aside. “I’m vegetarian,” I emphasised. “Hai. Vegetarian.” “I don’t eat fish.” “Ah, so. No fish.” “I don’t eat chicken. No birds.” ...

Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better. Normally, I don’t like 77 tips (as opposed to just 7). But these are very good. Comments Sheila Topstone 5 Dec 2006 7:28 am: Top Consolidators is a new group of student loan experts dedicated to getting you the best rate, or the plan that best fits your financial goals. We are the most aggresive Student Loan Consolidation Company on the web. ILMA 12 Dec 2006 4:37 pm: Hi! My name is ILMA. I study in class 7. I have a problem. Previously I was able to learn everything faster, but now it became difficult for me to learn faster and better. Please tell me any trick/tip for this problem.I will be very thankful to you.