Axe and his 'x'

Am I Evil?

2011-10-17T22:42:00.000-04:00

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist"

- The Usual Suspects (1995)

We're always trying to be good, nice, perfect, heaven-worthy, human...anything that shows we have intelligent control over our emotions. We're made to believe that we shall be rewarded for all that. We believe we don't believe in those rewards - we do it because we're good.

But, what good is intelligence if you can't test it? What good is anything if you don't have the courage to push it? If the fear of the rope snapping is keeping you from bungee jumping, can you really call yourself someone always up for challenges?

I challenge everything - my intelligence, my humanity, my "niceness". After all, had I not done that 26 years ago, I would not know how to crawl, walk, talk or hold a spoon. When is it that we start letting the fear of pain or non-conformity stop us from "trying something different"? So, I push myself as much as I can until I see where my limits lie.

How loud can I listen to music before I lose my hearing? How much weight can I gain before I get disgusted at the guy in the mirror? How much gore can I watch before I start feeling queasy? How much physical or mental pain can I take before I snap? How long I can I stay calm in a tense situation? How bad can my thoughts get?

Ever read about those people who put puppies in bags & drown them in rivers or those serial killers or people that keep others captive & torture them? Ever wondered what makes a person so evil? I have. But most of us stop there. I go further. I put myself in their shoes & wonder what would motivate a normal person to do that. Is it really a psychological condition? Is it some wrong signals in their brains? Then why don't we see that in apes or any other intelligent animals? If a cheetah can develop maternal instincts toward a baby baboon, surely she is intelligent enough to do something more sinister.

You put yourself in the shoes of "evil people" & you see things that you don't wanna know. You realize that any normal person could become like them & continue living like that forever without anyone finding out. Is it strange that most cases never get solved? If you believe that the world is what shows like CSI or Criminal Minds tell you, then this is your "Wake the fuck up & look around" call.

Of course, by now, you probably think I'm some kind of sick twisted person that should be put in a straitjacket & left to smear their own feces all over a room with padded walls and I don't blame you. Being brought up in a world where the only path you're taught to walk down is the path to conformity. As soon as you stray from it, you are labelled a traitor, a rebel, a crazy, etc - anything that will make you feel "abnormal".

What is normal? A set of rules defined by a set of people who believe they're right? So, those African cannibal tribes aren't wrong are they? Their rules state that they maintain the size and prosperity of their tribe by killing their own. Oh, but they're uncivilized, aren't they? Funny how we do the same in a broader sense and just call them "soldiers" and not "sacrificed tribesmen".

War is different you say. No one eats their own countrymen. Sure, we don't. The tribesmen sacrifice maybe one or two people and eat them. We sacrifice hundreds and thousands for our so-called freedom - an abstract emotion that only feeds our so-called minds and big egos. And we call ourselves "civil".

Talking about evil people, what do you do to a man who kills another man? You either lock him up for eternity or hang him. In both cases, you are eventually taking his life - a metaphor for killing. As Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". And that is what we have become - blind. We do not see what we have been told not to see.

Of course you want to "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" but there is no "Understand no evil". So, what happened there?

These are the questions I ask and those are the questions I try to answer. I'm pretty sure you've heard the phrase "Get to the root of the problem". Of course you can't do that if you don't dig deep enough. Not every problem is like a banyan tree - way too complex but with all the roots visible high above the ground. Instead, if you'd like to get to the root, you need to dig hard and deep and you will get your hands dirty and that is what I do.

It is only after you've dug deep enough and looked at every possible cause that you realize that the basic idea behind every evil thought and every evil deed is very simple. It is not a matter of motivation or psychology or a medical defect in a person. It is the basis of human nature itself that is the reason behind us noticing this behavior in human beings only: "Our ability to question"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is our ability to question that is the reason why serial killers are who they are and people throw puppies into rivers. It is the reason why people keep others captive and rapists do what they do. It is the ability to question that makes us want to harm someone else or get into fights.

"What? That makes no sense" is what you'll say and I agree because it's exactly what I told myself a few moments ago. You see, when I started writing this article, I was questioning myself "How deep can I go? How evil can I be?" and I came to the general conclusion that most people end up the way they are because they have control over who they want to be.

Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that every person has the ability to choose who they want to be. Of all those men and women having marriage woes, why is that man the only one that kills his spouse? Because he wants to and chooses to and that was going to be my conclusion: "I am who I am because I wish to be so" but then I realized that that couldn't be it. There must be a deeper motivation.

And when I asked myself "When I'm trying to be what I want to be, how do I choose which one?" and the question that came to mind was "What do I want to be and why do I want to be so?". It was then that I realized that it wasn't our choice that mattered, but the motivation behind that choice i.e. our ability to question that choice - something no animal is known to do.

Maybe that's why society asks us not to question anything. If we did start doing so, we may not stop and then we'll be labeled "evil" or "abnormal". But then you gotta ask yourself, if all of us started "questioning everything" and "understanding evil", would it still be called "evil"? More importantly, would we still be considered "abnormal"?

It is only after you've gone deep enough and understood all of this that you will (like me) sit back, look around, look at yourself and ask "Am I really evil?". And my answer will always be:

"Well, I don't know. Are you?"

In Sanity

2011-09-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

I was walking home today and I started looking at the people around me. Saw this guy on a bike get cut off by an SUV and glare at the driver. I wanted to throw him off his bike and remind him that he was driving on a busy street with no defined bike lanes i.e. he was on the wrong. Why are bikers so obnoxious?

So anyway, after I'd walked past this guy, I felt some kind of anger bubbling inside me and I just felt like punching the next guy I saw on the street. And that's when I started wondering what it would be like. If I was to punch that guy in the face, how would he react? Would he be surprised? Would he cry? Would he punch back? Would people grab me and start beating me up? Would someone call the cops? What would happen? If I was to grab the next woman that walked by and give her a big warm hug and a kiss, would she accept it? Would I be slapped? Would she call the cops? Will it make me feel better? What if I reversed the two - punch the woman and hug the man? Would the reactions be the same? And then I thought some more....

It's almost winter. When it does hit, all the coats and jackets will come out. All the bright colors...the reds, the greens, the blues...will be replaced by a sea of blacks and greys. If you saw two people in the distance, you won't know which is which, who is who...whether they're fat/thin, tall/short, male/female, pretty/ugly, etc How do you tell a person if they cover what defines them? Which brings us to sunglasses...

Sunglasses are the smallest and most convenient masks of our time. If I looked at someone and smiled, not only do I not know if they saw it, but also how they react to it. You know the saying "smiling with your eyes", sunglasses ruin it. In my opinion, a person wearing sunglasses is hiding something and that makes them cold and unapproachable. You know that cute guy/girl that you've always wanted to talk to but could never approach? Take off your sunglasses and try....Trust me, it'll help. And if it doesn't, don't end up feeling like the world's ending...talking about which..here's my take on the world ending...

Ever wish you were a superhero? Someone that had superhuman abilities? I have. I've always wanted to be able to control matter. I've wanted to move my hand slightly and control someone's car or just make it explode as I walk by. Would it not be cool to have the power of Moses where you could control the sea? Would you cause a tsunami just to experience it?

Talking about tsunamis, how would I react to the world ending? If the world is to end on Dec 21, 2012 and we're hit by a big-ass asteroid, how would I react? How would you react? Would you run and hide? Would you call your loved ones? Would you loot a store? Have sex with a random stranger in the middle of the street? Break someone's head? Commit murder? Strip naked? Kill yourself? Cry? Go spend all your money? Eat as much as you want to? Get a gun? Would you follow the rules or break them? If you looked up and saw a giant tsunami wave taller than the tallest buildings approach your city, would you piss your pants? If you were working in the twin towers and saw that airplane come right at you, what would your last thoughts be? If you worked on one of the higher floors, would you jump? I would.

I've never had anything too odd happen to me. No real stories to tell around a campfire. The last "exciting" thing that happened to me was when I was walking home around 2am and got attacked by a drunk kid (He was in his early 20s). I ended up grabbing him by his throat, tackling him to the ground and then - after listening to him moaning about being unable to get up - using his phone to call his girlfriend and then putting him into a cab to her place. That story excites most people until the part where I play "The Nice Guy" in the end. But, I have my own ideals...

You know how they say that you should give everyone a second chance? I give them three. Everyone can make the same mistake twice. But, if someone makes the same mistake a third time, it's no longer a mistake, it's a conscious choice and that's when they'll get my reply. When that guy attacked me, I warned him two times...the third strike is when I took him out. But when he was lying on the pavement, he didn't get up to attack me again or throw insults at me. Instead, he cried for help and so I helped him. Second chance.

Maybe it's my patience or my general obliviousness to life as a whole, but I try to remain calm. Reacting is not my style and that's why if someone was to punch me in the face or randomly hug me, I'll probably just smile and shrug it off or give them a second or third chance. Everyone makes mistakes...After all, the reason we exist in the first place is that only 1 out of 3,000,000 chose the right path....

Sometimes I wonder if I'm alone in this world or there are more out there like me. Do we have the same thoughts at the same time or different times? Do we have the same lives? Are we a highly dispersed cult that doesn't know it yet? Will I ever meet any of "the others"?

As for "the others", do aliens really exist? Do they care about finding us as much as we want to find them? Will they attack us or just be apathetic? Do they have a God and Satan too? Do they have their own version of heavy metal and Lemmy? Will first contact be in my lifetime? Maybe they're reading this right now and smirking at us..or maybe not.

Maybe you're still reading this..maybe you're not. Does it matter? Do we care? Does it change anything?

But then, does any of this? Maybe I'm talking sense or these ramblings really don't mean anything to anyone.

Sometimes I wonder if I am really (going) crazy...

But then, more importantly, are you?

Out of this world

2010-06-26T18:29:00.005-04:00

Greetings, Earthlings! I have decided to let you in on a little secret. Something sensational, something extraordinary, something not-so-fun-to-know. A lot of non-existent you have often wondered if your history really roots from beings out of this world; whether Lady Gaga is a man after all; and least importantly, if I am, after all, a being from outer space. I am very very sorry to tell you that though the first and third rumors are true after all, Lady Gaga really is one of our science experiments from the not-so-distant-past future that has somehow escaped from one of our low-security laboratories after promising impossible things to one of our junior scientists and then knocking him out cold with a frozen banana, which incidentally was supposed to be the young man's lunch the next day. (Yes, even in the future, those nerds will do anything to get laid. Don't even ask me to start off about the young man who we appointed to work in the cryogenic lab and found out later that he was a necrophiliac who thought he was working in a morgue. Messy business, I tell you.)

Anyway, back to the point: Yes humans, the Scientologists are right after all; you WERE descended from your distant cousins from the planet Rambakaltka which revolves around the star Zinkalagua in the galaxy WootWoot. Ask me this a while later and the information may change. You see, unlike you humans, we do not stick to the same old boring names; we change them every once in a while - where a while is defined as "the amount of time that passes before one gets bored of something and needs to change it". Why am I telling you all this? Because you are not only misinterpreting us, you are also blindly copying those misinterpretations and making them part of your daily life. Of course, we should be proud of ourselves for influencing the culture of our past-future generations; but frankly, it is irritating. By copying us what you are doing is getting us bored earlier than a while and so we have to come up with new terms to keep ourselves different from you.

Now, I bet a lot of non-existent you are going "What? What are you talking about? We are humans. We don't copy anyone! We come up with our own terms.", and I don't blame the ignorant lot of you. That's why we are your great grandchild-fathers after all. The terms I am referring to are all those terms that you like to consider "cool" (That was one of our terms) and "hip" (That too) and just plain "awesome" (We'll come to this one in a bit). Some of the terms we aren't proud of using ourselves, of course; the most well-known of them being "the F word". Now, let's start with a little future-history lesson.

Us Chinkolovians had always been a quiet race. Our voices always ranged between the 120 dB and 200 dB range and always hit the lower pitches. "Aha!", you say, "doesn't metal music cover the same ranges? No wonder it sounds so out-of-this-world to so many of us". Well, the answer is yes. We left everything behind on our future planet, but we couldn't leave our music behind. But most of the so-called metal bands are the Limbers who are trying to reveal "The Truth" to you i.e. what I'm telling you right now. Of course, considering that not many of you really read this blog and that none of you will really believe this post, I think the secret is quite safe that way AND out-there too. So, in the future, when the world starts crying foul and saying that they were never told of their impending fate, we'll just point here and say "Well, it was quite out-there, wasn't it? Not our fault that you didn't pay attention, muchinto." Of course your so-called metal bands are just some of us that want to enlighten you; the rest of us are just "fitting in".

But anyway, as I was saying, we were a comparatively quiet race that got/gets bored very easily. So, we decided to see if we could find another planet to spend a while or two (or three) on. Unfortunately, we loved your little blue-green planet so much that we've been here for some while here. Of course, with our discovery of the time machine, we decided to land here when your super-ancestors were about to evolve into - well - something completely different from what you are now. Unfortunately, we killed most of them when we landed in Babylon. Yes, Alexander was one of our biggest Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast. Explains why he was gay, doesn't it? Too bad our Persian crew were bigger fans of "Prince of Persia Multiplayer Edition" and always loved to play the bad guys. Sad ending to an even sadder life, I'd say. We did save a few specimens of your ancestors, of course, and we experimented on them in the future. We tried to speed up their development process to see how you would have looked in the next few thousand years. Unfortunately, a few accidents with a time machine and a very imperfect genetic replicator have lead to some of them ending up in different parts of your history. I can't really name a lot of them from your history, but they do seem to love your twentieth century a lot. To name a few over the last century: Adolf Hitler (the prick), George Michael, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and (we have reason to believe that this one's the youngest specimen yet) Justin Bieber.

Then, of course, we moved to Rome and built our headquarters there (Hence the phrase "All roads lead to Rome"). But then some of our more adventurous morons decided to "look for new land" and ended up in the Carribean and named it after a country that's half-way across the world from there. Yes, Christopher Columbus, we're looking at you. Good thing our cannibals got to him before we did. Don't get us wrong though, we love adventure (We did come to your planet, didn't we?). What ticks us off is these unimaginative fools who want to be adventurous but do not want to accept change. Case in point: The city Rome. We used the phrase "All roads lead to Rome" because our headquarters were in Rome. But these morons! Just because they didn't want to let go off that phrase, they built a city called Rome on every continent! Do you realize how difficult it is for our Inter-galactic Positioning Systems to work with that? Why don't you try having two streets with the same name in your city and then drive with a GPS? Then you'll understand our frustrations.

Our history after our Roman settlement has (very accurately) been fabricated by our wonderful scientists and I don't think I need to repeat something you have libraries for, you lazy humans. So, let's get back to the main reason why I started this one-sided discussion: You're stealing our phrases! You have been stealing them all along and a lot more recently. And frankly, our dears, we do give a damn! What you have done is taken some of our scientific terms and memories of our home planet and used them in the most grotesque way.

Let's start with the most common one nowadays: Cool. This was one of our scientific terms. It originated from our cryogenic labs. When we said something was "cool", it meant that it had reached optimal temperature of sustained sustenance. So, when we labeled something as "cool", we meant to say that it was working like it was meant to. But now, you humans use it to mean everything.

Then, you stole our word "awesome". Funnily, you don't realize that "awesome" is the name of our favorite fruit. It tastes a lot like a mango, is shaped like a pear and looks like strawberries with thorns on them. Delicious! Why do we love it so much? Because it is so hard to get and eat (the thorns are razor sharp). So, when we said something was "awesome", we meant that it was not-easily achievable, but worth all the effort. Though you use it in the same context, it does sound funny. How would you feel if we said "That guy is such a banana"? Funny, right? So yes, we don't mind you using this one because it gives us another opportunity to laugh at you ignorant morons.

But, the most irritating copy is our word "dude". I mean, seriously humans, we're not as stupid as you. We do not go around calling each other "human". Why did you have to steal the term we used to refer to people from our race? You are not dudes!! You are humans! Get it? Humans, not dudes! Stop calling yourselves dudes! Else, we'll release another Paris Hilton on you...intentionally this time.

So yes, as your great grandchid-fathers, we want you humans to stop using our terms so that we can concentrate on more important matters at hand like inventing hoverboards for you. What you should be doing is coming up with your own original vocabulary.

Oh, wait a minute, one of my colleagues just informed me that you do have an original vocabulary. Now now, don't be too proud of it though. We've heard that you use words like "sick" and "wicked" instead of "cool" and "awesome" now. Considering that you don't realize that a few decades ago the terms were used to refer to something bad/in a bad shape, I believe there is no harm in assuming that you humans are just plain stupid and we really shouldn't expect much from you.

Now, I regret wasting so much time on this post and trying to explain such deep ideas with you. I guess we'll just silently watch you rot your stupid brains away. Carry on, humans. Make us unproud of being part of your future ancestry.

Maybe we should've let those iguanas evolve after all....

[Post Publishing: A lot of non-existent you have asked me to explain how "The F Word" was stolen by you morons. Well, "The F word" i.e. FUCK was actually a scientific term we used to say "Finding Unexpected Critical Korombos". Korombos are these really irritating bugs that end up making a lot of noise, but don't really do anything. We use the term for our experiments because they usually involve getting rid of some minor bugs that don't affect the system on a whole. Thus, the phrases "FUCK it" and "We don't give a FUCK". Too bad you misinterpreted it as "sexual intercourse between two human beings". Seriously, even the crocodiles could evolve into something smarter than you! :-| ]

A very Canadian reboot

2010-05-23T20:12:00.008-04:00

So, I just checked this blog after a long time and realized that I have been giving too much attention to my "Good Guys Always Finish Last" blog and this blog was feeling like a first-born child. Of course, if you're from an Indian family; the equivalent there is a daughter. Don't believe me? Ask my sister. She'll give you a course on "Why it sucks to be a girl in an Indian family". Anyway, I noticed that the number of posts on this blog have gone down drastically: 28 in 2007, 14 in 2008 and a miserable 3 in 2009. At this rate, this should be my final post for this blog. But, I promise you, oh non-existent fans of my wonderful, wonderful blog, that this beast shall rise again from its year-long slumber and basically..well..ummm..sit here and stare at you like those lions sitting at the steps of some temple I do not remember right now (and probably won't for a while now). So yea, once again..*heavily-used line time*.."here goes nothing":

Tomorrow is a holiday. Victoria Day in Canada. Officially, it is the last Monday before or on May 24th (Queen Victoria's birthday). Now, you must be wondering why we choose to celebrate it on the "first Monday before or on May 24" and not on May 24th itself, right? I bet that thought is followed by "Are Canadians as stupid as the Americans have us believe?". Yes, we know.

You see, Canada is a country where we spend 9 months of the year shoveling snow off our driveways and hibernating in our little igloos and playing ice polo on moose and polar bears. Yes, we know that ice polo isn't an international sport like curling, wife-carrying and, of course, government-bashing; and we like it that way. Now, stop crying! We know polar bear riding is awesome! That's why we invented ice polo in the first place!

Anyway, back to the point: Because we spend 9 months of every year covered in snow and super-chilly winds, we really like to enjoy the other seasons: 2 weeks of spring, 8 weeks of monsoon-summer and 2 weeks of fall. That is why we love our summer-monsoon weekends. After all, we'd like to see what the fuss is all about too. That is why during our 6 weeks of summer-monsoon, we try to cram in as many long weekends as we can. Unfortunately, since Canada Day (July 1st) cannot be turned into a long weekend, we decided to celebrate our late Queen's birthday on a flexible schedule (I bet she doesn't really mind right now).

The truth is that the late Queen's birthday is our first summer-monsoon long weekend. Though I distinctly remember it being quite cold this time last year. But hey, weather prediction does tend to get really boring when you have to keep saying "Tomorrow, we shall have snow....again!" all the time. All we really care about is the opportunity to stay home and try to be a bit like our tropical friends all over the world.

Talking about staying home, a lot of us Canucks like to refer to this weekend as the "May Two-Four" weekend and I assure you that is has nothing to do with anything but the fact that beer is available in 24-packs, which (going by our conservative Canadian spending habits) is much cheaper than a 6-pack and is much more beer than what we get at the same price at the local pub down the street. But yes, that is why we love the "May Two-Four" weekend even more.

Of course, we do toast our late Head of State and give her the moments of respect that she deserves, though I really cannot say for certain if we toast her more for being our late Head of State or for being born in the middle of summer. Officially, of course, it is the former and well, you know the real thing. We obviously do remember her the next day, when we get our hangovers.

Now, a lot of you may be wondering why we do not celebrate the birthdays of the other Kings or Queens. The explanation is: 1. Queen Victoria was our first "Head of State" when we gained independence on July 1st, 1867; and 2 The birthdays of all her successors were either too close to hers or in winter. Thus, as you see, it doesn't make sense to celebrate any of them as we simply would not enjoy the back-to-back hangovers and the extra days in winter. But, our current Head of State, Queen of Elizabeth II was born on April 21st, which is the beginning of spring and we really are looking forward to celebrating that one soon enough.

Unfortunately, since we cannot celebrate the birthday of a living Head of State (Who do we think we are? North Korea?), we can only keep singing the Sex Pistols' version of "God save the Queen" and wait for it to take effect sooner rather than later and we are allowed to bring out the beers (and bears) a month earlier. Till then, I guess we'll just get on with our seal rides in the ice-cold waters of the Arctic and tempting the Alaskans to secede from our wonderful neighbors down south and be right where they belong.

Happy Victoria Day! *hic hic*

Year Three

2009-09-15T10:23:00.003-04:00

Today is September 15th, 2009. I don't really need to tell you this because it shows up next to this post. Contrary to popular belief and urban legends, I am not stupid. I mention the date because it has a meaning. On September 14th, 2007 yours truly flew out of his home country to setup home in a foreign country. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 2 years and 1 day ago, I officially "moved" to Canada (I can't say I "set foot" here because of the simple reason that I had come here on January 23, 2006 to complete the final formality to be granted immigration to this country).

I realize that it's been 2 years since I arrived here. 4 days ago, I also completed 18 months with my organization. And like every other idiot looking back at the past 2 years, I'd like to say "It's been one hell of a rollercoaster ride!". Apart from the fact that I've grown 2 years older and am now a part of The Rat Race, life has been good and bad. But unlike my previous posts, I'm not going to put up a list this time. Instead, I'll probably make a kind of timeline. I know it's another way of making a list, but I guess that's what I'm good at i.e. listing things out. So, here goes:

28 Jul 2007: Convocation. Finally, an engineer.
14 Sep 2007: Arrive in Toronto, Canada. Stay with cousins.
29 Sep 2007: Move out of cousin's condo, move into a condo shared with 2 guys.
11 Mar 2008: First day at work.
Sometime in Mar 2008: Buy myself an iPod Shuffle. My first ever iPod.
11 Apr 2008: 2-day winter camping trip in Algonquin National Park with roommates and a friend.
Sometime in May 2008: One roommate leaves for India. Get another roommate.
18 Apr 2008: 2-day trip to Montreal with cousins to celebrate the birthday of one of them.
10 Jul 2008: Sister arrives in Toronto. Put her up with cousins.
17 Jul 2008: Sister moves in with me.
31 Jul 2008: Another girl moves in with us. 4 people in a 2-bedroom condo. It's still all good. Couch is my new best friend.
14 Aug 2008: Go to my first rock concert. Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam).
16 Aug 2008: Raksha Bandhan with sis after 5 years. Gift her an iPod Shuffle.
5 Sep 2008: Take sister to her first rock concert. Bryan Adams. Take roommates out as well. Celebrating 1 year in Canada.
28 Sep 2008: Get a 10-year multiple entry visa for United States. Very happy!
6 Oct 2008: Roommate leaves. I cut off all relations with him. He is a bastard.
26 Dec 2008: First Boxing Day experience. Buy 2 iPod Classics for myself and sis. Buy a Macbook and gift it to sis for her upcoming birthday.
14 Jan 2009: Sister goes to India to finish her exams.
18 Jan 2009: First and only weekend all alone in this country. Decide to have a blast.
20 Jan 2009: See Cradle of Filth in concert. Dream come true :-)
22 Jan 2009: Parents arrive in Toronto, Canada. They start living with me.
11 Mar 2009: Complete 1 year with my organization.
25 Mar 2009: See Prodigy in concert. Realize that techno concerts aren't my cup of tea/coffee. Concert ticket was a birthday gift for a friend.
29 Mar 2009: Celebrate aforementioned friend's birthday. Best day out with friends after a long time.
21 Apr 2009: Sister comes back to Toronto. Starts living with us. 5 people in a 2-bedroom condo. Nightmare come true. Couch becomes my best friend again.
26 May 2009: Take sister for Disturbed in concert. Last rock concert we've been to till now.
31 May 2009: Move into a bigger new 2-bed condo. Feel happy.
11 Sep 2009: Complete 18 months with my organization.
14 Sep 2009: Complete 2 years in Canada i.e. PR requirements completed. 1 more year before I can apply for citizenship.

I guess that's pretty much everything. Life's not been very interesting really. I've made friends, I've lost most of them. Life's been going on and on. If anything interesting happens, I'll let you guys know. Till then, have fun!

My Power Song

2009-08-06T16:34:00.003-04:00

I found my power song. It's called "This is Your Life" from the OST of the movie "Fight Club". Here is the video:

Here are the lyrics:

..And you open the door and you step inside
We're inside our hearts
Now imagine your pain as a white ball of healing light
That's right, your pain, the pain itself is a white ball of healing light
I don't think so

This is your life
Good to the last drop
Doesn't get any better than this
This is your life
And it's ending one minute at a time
This isn't a seminar
This isn't a weekend retreat
Where you are now you can't even imagine what the bottom will be like

Only after disaster can we be resurrected
It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything

Nothing is static
Everything is evolving
Everything is falling apart

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake
You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else
We are all a part of the same compost heap
We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world

You are not your bank account
You are not the clothes you wear
You are not the contents of your wallet
You are not your bowel cancer
You are not your grande latte
You are not the car you drive
You are not your fucking khakis!

You have to give up
You have to realize that someday you will die
Until you know that, you are useless

I say: "Let me never be complete"
I say: "May I never be content"
I say: "Deliver me from Swedish furniture"
I say: "Deliver me from clever art"
I say: "Deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth"
I say: "You have to give up"
I say: "Evolve, and let the chips fall where they may"

I want you to hit me as hard as you can!

Welcome to fight club
If this is your first night, you have to fight

:-)

Happy Fuckin' Easter

2009-04-18T21:42:00.002-04:00

Once again, it's been a loooooooooong time since I last posted out here. Sorry about that folks! (As if anyone even reads this. Haha) Anyway, I had to make this post because I'm back from my li'l hiatus from metal again :-)

On April 16th 2009, I went for a concert. A 5-hour, 5-band metal concert! Fuck yea! The concert was part of Lamb of God's No Fear Music Tour. The featured bands were:

Lamb of God (obviously!)
Children of Bodom
As I Lay Dying
Municipal Waste
God Forbid

I had floor tickets for the concert. This means that I could be right under the bands' noses (and I practically was). Personally, I believe it's no use going to a metal concert if you have to stand in the "seating area". It just doesn't feel right!!

Anyway, since I had work till 5pm on that day and the doors were gonna open at 6pm, I managed to reach the concert only by 6:30pm, and so I missed God Forbid :-( But, I was right in front of the stage!! I was soooooo happy!! I stood right below the MASSIVE speakers! :-D Municipal Waste lived upto their name i.e. they sucked!! But As I Lay Dying was pretty AWESOME!! When Children of Bodom got on stage, I was just 10 feet away from Alexi Liaho at times. It was so fuckin' good!! You know the music is real fuckin' loud when the guitars for a song start feeling like they're coming from your head instead of the speakers!! When Lamb of God got on stage, you won't believe how the place erupted!! Every song was fuckin' AWESOME! It felt soooo good!! I had a silly smile on my face :-) I felt like this was it. The best day I've had yet.

Since I landed in Toronto, these are the artists I've seen live:

Eddie Vedder
Bryan Adams
In Flames, All that Remains, Gojira, 36 CrazyFists
The Australian Pink Floyd Show
Cradle of Filth, SepticFlesh, Satyricon
The Prodigy
Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, As I Lay Dying, Municipal Waste, God Forbid

Out of all these concerts, I thought Prodigy was the loudest as I was in The Pit for that. But the Lamb of God concert just raped The Prodigy repeatedly, killed it and then raped it again! It was soo fuckin' loud!! I could hear the Double Bass drum pound in my chest like it was gonna rip my heart out. I could feel the guitars in my head. I could hear the lead singer scream right in my face. It was insane! When I got outta the concert, my right ear was totally blown coz I was standing next to the speakers and looking left to see the stage i.e. my right ear was facing the speakers throughout. When I put my iPod in my ears and tried listening to Cradle of Filth on full volume, it felt like it was on 30% volume or something. I got home and tried talking to the building concierge and I felt like he was talking to me from across the lobby or something. I got home and went to sleep, texting a friend about how much louder this concert was compared to The Prodigy concer we went to and how great it made me feel. When she sent me a reply, I had the fone next to my right ear and felt like my fone was kept 20 feet away from me. I woke up in the morning, with the alarm on my cellfone sounding like it was still 20 feet away from me. On my way to work, I couldn't hear most of the people talking around me. It got worse at work coz I couldn't hear a thing all day. Only in the evening did I manage to start hearing better. I'm ok now. Though the whole concert gave me such a bad ear problem, I loved every bit of it. :-) It made me feel good, it made me feel alive, it made me feel invincible!!

During the concert (and like all other metal concerts I've been to), I realized once again that metal really is my religion. As a matter of fact, metal is my REAL fuckin' religion!! And this concert was my way of celebrating Easter. Just like Easter is celebrated to acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus, this was my way of celebrating the resurrection of metal. One of the things that the LoG lead singer talked about was how there was a time when Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax had played in the 80s or 90s once and sadly said "Metal is dead now". Then the LoG singer said, "Toronto! You prove to the world that metal is not dead yet. It's coming back! Thank you!" And I believe he was quite right! Metal IS making a comeback. (How else do you explain LoG's latest album debuting at No. 2 in US Billboard and No. 1 in Canada?)

So yea, Fuck you hip-hoppers and rappers! Time to pull up your underwears as high as you can, coz metal is coming back like fuckin' hell and it's gonna make you shit your pants pretty soon!

Fuck yea!! Metal forever!! \m/

Poem 1 - Livingness

2008-11-22T10:39:00.003-05:00

Wake up every morning,
Breathe in the fresh air,
Feels good to be alive
Feels good to know we're still there

I look out my window
The sky is covered by clouds
Who will watch the watchmen
Who will save them when they scream and shout?

Get ready and head off to work
The same old boring job everyday
Where are the angels that I was promised
Where is my sunshine when I wanna make hay?

Done for the day going back home
Time to unwind time to relax
I don't want to be myself no more
Gimme my money, gimme my six-packs

Chopping vegetables to make my dinner
Cut my finger there is some blood
Wish I could punch him between the eyes
Would love to see his body hit the floor with a thud

Munching on the same food that I have everyday
Changing channels staring at the same old crap
Is this the kind of life they wanted me to have?
When she left me, I wonder why I didn't give her a slap.

End of the day, on the bed, about to go to sleep
May sweet dreams come to me
Life will go on tomorrow as another day
Maybe, after all, this was how it was meant to be

23

2008-08-23T10:15:00.002-04:00

"I survived the world for 23 fuckin' years and I don't plan to give the fuck up too soon."

This was my motto on the 20th of August in the year 2008. That was 3 days ago. One more birthday, one more candle on the cake, one more chapter in the book of life. One less year to live, one less tension, one less part of life to look forward to.

Birthdays. One more reason for people to ask you your age. One more reason for them to ask you to take them out for a treat. One more reason for you to get gifts from them. One more reason to have cake. One more reason to "have your way for a day". As if!

I never really liked my birthday. I never like celebrating it. Why can't I just leave it as a day for myself? When all I want to do is be normal for a change? Let it be a day that starts and ends like every other day. It's just a milestone. All it tells you that you've survived another year and thus are one year closer to finally not surviving it. Anyway, for all those who want to know, this is how I spent my birthday:

Evening of 19th August: On my way back from work, I grabbed a cake from the local grocery store, for my colleagues. Then I went and got a take-out from Salad King (Thai food) and had dinner with my cousins. Got home and went straight to sleep. I didn't wanna talk to anyone. I wasn't planning on celebrating my birthday.

Midnight of 19th August: Arya calls up to wish. I'm sleeping on the couch, I wake up and answer the fone. My flatmates are making a lotta noise. Whatever happened to "basic decency to keep quiet when someone's on the fone"? Anyway, then they force me to cut the cake they've got for me. Get a call from parents. Call them back. Cut the cake. Flatmates gift me a Sony Cybershot camera and a set of Calvin Klein perfume and after-shave. I'm not a big cosmetics person. I don't think I'm using that too soon. But the camera is something I wanted for a long time. I thank them for that. Then we all pose for a pic. We go to sleep at around 2am.

6am on 20th August: I wake up. I get ready. I make tea for my flatmate. I leave for work.

Morning of 20th August: Work, work, work. Colleagues love the cake. Had to be. My choice. I always believe in getting the best. After all, I earn money to spend it lavishly on others. Get lotta fone calls.

Afternoon of 20th August: Met up didi for lunch. Had fish and chips at the li'l place near my office. The one my manager considers the 2nd best in the GTA. Didi loves it. I'm happy. Get back to office and then more and more work. Work's getting hectic now. It makes me feel good though. Keeps my mind off other things.

Evening of 20th August: I walk home. 12-13 kms, 2.5 hours. All along the lakeshore. It feels good. iPod in my ears, lake by my side, sun in the sky. This is the best part of my day. Smile across my face. I should do this more often. Maybe every Friday evening. Reach home, take flatmates out for dinner as they say they'll be all formal when we go out for dinner with my cousins. I'm sick and tired of Wheat Sheaf and Montana's. This time we try out Brazen Head, a pub near our place. Turns out to be a great choice. We play cards. I don't lose any game this time. Birthday Luck? I don't think so. We come back home and go to sleep.

Evening of 22nd August: Part 2 of celebrations. Taking cousins and flatmates out for dinner. Went to an Italian restaurant called Il Furnello on the Harbourfront. Next to the water. Nice place. Kinda classy. We were sitting in the back patio. It was nice. Went for Baskin Robbins after that. Walked home from there. Cousins gifted a $100 gift certificate for BestBuy (an electronics store). Thinking what to buy from there. Anyway, after coming home, went to sleep. End of birthday celebrations.

That's pretty much all that happened. Not that it interests many people. But just for the sake of it, I put it up here. After all, you needed a blog post, didn't you? So yea, Happy Birth-fuckin'-day to me! Bullshit!

:-)

Time Flies

2008-08-02T08:55:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems that it's been a looooooooong time since my last post.

*checks the date of the last post*

Hmmm, March 13th, 2008. That makes today exactly 4 months 20 days or 142 days since my last posted. Time does fly, eh? There was the time when I was posting 2-3 times a day. Well, maybe that's what happens when you're part of the Rat Race. The only time you get, you try to spend it in relaxing, and I guess I never reached the "Blogging level" of my boredom. :-)

Anyway, today is August 2nd, 2008. Yesterday was my grandpa's birthday. He would have been 85 years old yesterday. Too bad he passed away 6 years ago. Wow! it's been 6 years, eh? I still remember the day. I saw 2 of my mentors for the last time ever that day. 6 years is a long time indeed. So much has changed in the last 6 years. What was I doing on this day 6 years ago? I don't even remember. But yes, I do remember what I was doing on this day 5 years ago. August 2, 2002 was the day I reached my college. I stayed at a small hotel in Warangal, India. Then I went to college. I met my seniors, I was ragged for the first time. So many things change, so much happens in 5-6 years. I was 17 then. I will be 23 now. I left home then, I left my home country now. I met new people, I made new friends, I had fun. Oh well, I guess, that's changed a bit. But then, there are many things that haven't changed. And I'm glad they haven't.

Maybe I should note down things that have changed, right? (Yes, I'm an engineer. Lists DO help!) So yea, here's my list:

Things that have changedin the last 5-6 years:

1. I'm an engineer
2. I'm not in India anymore.
3. I got more close friends than I ever had.
4. I got my own iPod!! :D
5. I can spend money without thinking how much I'm spending. After all, it's MY money now!
6. I'm fatter, balder and uglier than before. :-)
7. I've done one of the things I had vowed not to do: I've smoked.
8. I've changed my musical taste to more soothing music like Pink Floyd and Radiohead and sometimes even dance music.
9. I've learnt that I can cook pretty tasty food :D
10. I've fallen in and out of love more than once, but still hated each of them after that.
11. I've lost my temper reeeeeally bad once. (I take pride in the fact that I can control my temper) But I still regret it. But the bright side is that it was only once :-)
12. I've started sleeping less. I sleep only 5-6 hours a day now.
13. I've improved my people skills a lot. I'm a bit of an extrovert now :-)
14. I've gone into the depths of music and explored the darkest side I could, and still survived :-)
15. I've had a near-death experience.
16. I've crashed 3 cars.

Indian Superheroes 2

2008-03-12T20:36:00.004-04:00

This is the continuation of my Indian Superheroes post. Here's the rest of my list of Indian Superheroes:

7. Inspector Steel - Unfortunately there is no wikipedia page on Inspector Steel, which is sad indeed. People should respect the Indian Robocop! He weighs approximately 450KGs and as far as I know isn't half-human half-cop who can change his mind according to his emotions. I haven't really read Inspector Steel comics, but what I can say is that "the only part of him that is human, is his brain, which is wired to the rest of his body" sounds like some kickass stuff to me. At least he has better weapons than Robocop (not just a stupid revolver).

8. Anthony - In a world where the dead are the bad guys and crows are terrifying, comes this guy who shows that it's just the mindset of people that terms these things "bad". Hats off to you, Raj Comics. How original a concept is making a dead man a superhero and his pet crow as the one who brings him back to life? And you thought a dead man with a pet crow was out to kill innocent people, eh? Think again. I can't stop praising the brilliance of this concept. It breaks all boundaries. An undead man who fights crime and cannot be killed. How superheroic/superhuman is that? Forget the Ghost Rider, Anthony is The Man (With the crow)!! Go Anthony go!! :-D

P.S. Anthony wears his underwear INSIDE his costume! :-P

9. Bhokal - In Indian culture, a teacher is considered equivalent to God. Bhokal shows that very respect. You may say that Bhokal is very similar to He-Man. Like He-Man, he is a prince and wields a sword that can cut through almost everything and also gains his superhero strength by reciting "magical words". The difference between Bhokal and He-Man is that Bhokal can fly, but only using shield (and not like Superman). The best thing about Bhokal is that he doesn't get his superpowers by taking the name of some stupid castle. Instead, he utters the name of his Guru (Teacher). Sets a good example to the kids, doesn't it? That's what Indian culture is all about, after all. Another thing about Bhokal is that he doesn't have a silly wimp of a tiger who turns into a roaring lion like stead, whenever he points a sword at him and screams, "I have the power!!". How immature would that be? :|

10. Shakti - Though there is a wikipedia page for Shakti, I found more info about her from the Raj Comics site. So, I have put that as the link for more info. Anyway, I don't know if there is a Western counterpart for Shakti. She's supposed to be the reincarnation of a Goddess. She possesses the "fire of anger of all the women in the world". She has a third eye that can release infernos to kill people. She can travel at the speed of light. She can melt all metals and use her mind power to mould them into whatever she wants. PHEW! I really wonder how anyone beats her at all, though I think they never do. After all, who can beat God(dess)?

11. Fighter Toads - Step aside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Fighter Toads are in the house. Masterr is like Donatello, using a pole (stick) to fight enemies. Cutterr is like Leonardo, using a sword to fight enemies. Raphael and Michaelangelo aren't there. Instead we have Shooterr who shoots arrows with cup-shaped or duck-feet-shaped arrowheads and Computerr, who is always hooked to a PC. Just like the TMNT, they live in the gutters and hide themselves from humans. As a matter of fact you can say they are VERY similar to the TMNT, the only difference being that their fights are funnier than those of the TMNT.

12. Chacha Chaudhary - As promised, the best has been saved for the last. Chacha Chaudhary is the most unique and most loved Indian superhero of them all. He is so unique that I don't think there are or ever will be any Western counterparts for him. With a "brain that works faster than a computer" and a super human alien friend with him all the time, he has to be one of the most physically weakest yet best superheroes of India. I don't know of one person who has read a Chacha Chaudhury comic and disliked it. It' just amazing.Chacha Chaudhury hardly uses force to defeat villains. Instead he uses the power of the mind instead of muscles. This is another good lesson for kids. The best part about Chacha Chaudhary is that he is shown as an old middle-aged man with a wife and no kids and living in a small town. He doesn't need to wear any stupid costumes or have elaborate adventures. He has shown that anyone can be a superhero if they want to. All that is needed is the ability to think logically and come up with solutions fast. I guess I can go on and on about Chacha Chaudhary, but that would take up a full post. So, I'll leave this description here.

I hope all of you enjoyed the Indian Superheroes post. My personal favorite would be Chacha Chaudhary. I would recommend everyone read it at least one. There are too many comic characters that I haven't mentioned here. This si because I wanted to mention only the most common ones.Check out the next post, it may be a bit interesting too.

A Crazy Dream

2008-03-10T17:54:00.005-04:00

6:18 AM me: Holy shit

That was what my GTalk window said on March 10th, 2008. The person I was talking to was Veg (Vaijayanti Varma. Check her blog here.) Her reply was "wt?" She was shocked that I was still awake. I wouldn't blame her. Who stays awake till 6am anyway? Anyway, I told her that I had dozed off with my earfones on (as usual) and had just woken up from a crazy dream. I noticed that it was Rammstein - Benzin playing on my playlist. I told her so and all she could do was laugh away. She asked me to blog my dream. So, I realized it's a nice idea and told her I'll do it later on. Thus, this post. I know not many people are really interested in others' dreams. But hell, who cares, eh? I'm just putting it down for the sake of it. My dream was as follows:

I'm at home and I have my earfones on and there's Rammstein's Benzin playing at max volume on my MP3 player. I was chatting with Veg, but I'm too tired, so I just switch off my PC without saying goodbye. Then I head off to the kitchen and I get a pot just like I do at home to heat some milk to have before going to sleep. But in this dream, for some reason, I fill it up with a deep red liquid, more like oil. Then I walk towards the stove with the pot in hand, happily listening to my music. My phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I know someone's calling me but I can't pick up the phone because I the pot in my hands. I look at the liquid in the pot and then the line "Ich brauch Benzin" plays in the song. Literally it means, "I need petroleum". Then I realize that the liquid in the pot is some form of gasoline (I know gasoline is black but this is a dream, remember?). Then suddenly my mom rushes to me and takes the pot from my hand and asks me to take the call. I quickly take my phone out and see that it's actually 4 messages. Surprisingly, 3 are from a college friend of mine, Vaskar, which is odd because I never gave him my number. The 4th message is from Veg. So, I check Veg's message first. It says "Join some room right now." I guess that I hadn't said bye to her so maybe she there was something she wanted to tell me and wanted me to come to some chatroom (another odd thing as we never been to a chatroom). Anyway, so I immediately head off to get online, but instead I end up at the roof of my 5-floor apartment building. Then, somehow I'm looking at myself from third person view and I see myself look around totally zapped and confused and then all of a sudden, there's an explosion in the top 3 floors of the building and all the glass windows are shattered. I realize that my home is on the 3rd floor and I'm shocked to see just a few wall cabinets remaining there. All this time the Rammstein song is playing in the background.

At this very moment, I woke up and looked around me and heard the song still playing on my earfones. For a moment, I was stunned. Then I looked at my PC and there was the GTalk window with Veg and I came to my senses and put my fingers on the keyboard and typed out the words: "holy shit" on that window and pressed Enter. It reminded me of the time when one of my friends was high on weed and he came to my room and I was listening to Rammstein. He asked me to stop it after a few seconds. Said he was starting to "see scary shit like monsters and stuff". I guess Rammstein really is scarier than it sounds :-D But, all in all, I guess this will be one dream I will always remember.

Moral of the story: Do not listen to Rammstein when you're not in your senses ;-)

Indian Superheroes 1

2008-03-02T22:15:00.012-05:00

The credit for the idea behind this post goes to my good friend, Vineet Roy. Check out his blog here. Anyway, his latest post talked about how pathetic Smallville (TV Series) is. I have never really seen it, but after reading his post and the wikipedia page on Smallville, I don't think I even want to. I thought to myself how over-hyped these Marvel Comics heroes and DC Comics heroes are. Then I looked at the comics available in my country. When I was a kid, my parents didn't allow my mind to be "polluted" by "these silly unrealistic comic books". The only one I was allowed to read was one called Chacha Chaudhury. My parents, especially my father, encouraged me to read books and not comics. I respect him for that and thank him from the bottom of my heart for that. You're the best, Dad :-) Anyway, as I was saying, I checked out the superhero comics available in India. What I found was AMAZING, to say the least. Most of these comics are printed in Hindi, which (in case you didn't know) is India's most widely spoken language. So, I came across the masterminds behind these Indian superheroes, a company called Raj Comics. As I read more and more about their different superheroes, I realized how much better some of them are than their Western counterparts. I realized I HAD to share this wonderful world of Indian comic book heroes with all of you and thus this post. I must admit, of course, that I had gone through these comics MUUUUUUUUCH before this post. I had my first "experience" when I was in college and some guy brought a few of these comics on his way back from home. I still remember how much demand there was for those 2-3 books worth INR 60. It was amazing. The other reason why I am writing this post is because I was discussing about Indian comics with Vineet and he suggested that there should be a post on them in one of our blogs, and then said that he wanted me to do it instead. Thanks Vineet for letting me have the honour :-) Now, I give you some of the most important Indian superheroes, followed by a comparison with their Western counterparts. I haven't described them as that would take up a lot of space and time. Instead, I've put wikipedia links on their names. All you need to do is click the name and you can read the "Plot Summary" on wikipedia to know more about them :-)

1. Nagraj (Snake King) - Nagraj is very similar to Superman. He has the timid alter ego who can't be recognised just because he has a different hairstyle, wears a suit and glasses. He comes from a royal family while Superman was the son of an alien scientist. He even wears his underwear on the outside of his pants! BUT Nagraj is muuuuch different from Superman. Firstly, he doesn't wear a cape and fly (and "Thank God!" for that). The secret of his power isn't the fact that he's from another planet (Seriously, bullets would NEVER bounce off your chest even if you're on Jupiter :| ). Instead, the secret of his power is microscopic snakes in his blood instead of White Blood Cells (WBC) (Did I hear you say "Antibodies" and genetic engineering?) The only thing that weakens him is Serum (Anti-venom) and not a piece of his home planet. (Imagine a piece of Earth that could not only weaken you, but also kill you if encountered on another planet. Note to astronauts: Wipe your boots clean before you leave Earth.) The interesting part about Nagraj is that he wasn't always the nice guy, like Superman. He was initially a contract terrorist, before he was enlightened by a sage, so he knows what exactly a criminal mind is like. In addition to this, he is the real immortal. He is considered ageless. So, though Superman may eventually die someday and be replaced by his son (as shown in the movie, Superman Returns), Nagraj will never die and so will never need to be replaced. (He can choose to have sons nonetheless ;-) ) The best part of Nagraj, I save for the last. Nagraj can go INVISIBLE!!! (Beat that, Superman!) Though he can do it for only 3 seconds by breaking his body into atomic particles (using his microscopic snakes), but still, INVISIBILITY baby! Woohoo!

2. Super Commando Dhruva - Ok, so I couldn't really find a Western counterpart for Super Commando Dhruv. The nearest I could get to get to was Beastmaster, a TV character who could communicate with animals telepathically and see what they saw. I'm sure there is a superhero who is like Dhruva. I just need to search a little more. So, all I'm going to do is praise Dhruva here, without comparing with any other superhero. Dhruva is a simple guy. He is probably the most realistic of all Indian superheroes. The only superpower he has is that he can communicate with animals, and even that has a valid reason. He was born and brought up in a circus. This also explains his agility. Dhruva's greatest power is his quick thinking. He is known to use everyday objects around him to outsmart and capture the villains. The only hi-fi gadgets that he uses are his Star Line, Star Blades and Star Transmitter, which aren't that great if you look at them. Like all superheroes, he wears his underwear on the outside. Dhruva has no special weaknesses, he is a normal human being who bleeds when cut and feels pain when punched. The best part of Dhruva is that he NEVER kills the villains, unlike most superheroes. He always captures them and hands them over to the police. (Name ONE Western superhero who doesn't take law into his/her own hands) Thus, he is actually GOOD for kids. He teaches them that anyone can be a superhero and that eventually it's the police who should decide how to punish a villain. I don't remember seeing a single Western superhero who does this EVERY SINGLE TIME!

3. Doga -Doga is the most ruthless superhero ever produced by Raj Comics. He is literally kickass! The only Western superhero I found to be like Doga was The Punisher. Just like The Punisher, Doga became a superhero because his family was killed by goons. The other similarity is that both of them ABSOLUTELY HATE crime, no matter how small it is. Their punishment is usually the same, instant death sentence. Also, both of them use heavy arsenal to fight crime. How is Doga different from The Punisher then? Well, for starters, Doga doesn't have a lawmaker background. Doga is better physically as he is a body builder and martial arts expert. Unlike The Punisher, he wears a costume (Yes, the underwear is on the outside) and a dog mask. This makes sense actually. If I knew the face of the guy who kills ruthlessly, won't I either lock him up (if I was the police) or get him killed (if I was a villain)? So, The Punisher roaming around with no mask to hide his identity is basically a stupid idea. Then, there's Doga's superpower. He can communicate with dogs, which is a pretty reasonable idea as the popular Hindi saying, "har gully ka kutta" ("dogs of every lane") itself shows how big India's dog population is and how they bear witness to every crime committed. I would say the best part of Doga is his ruthlessness. He takes the whole superhero persona to the extreme, where the good guy is literally the bad guy's worst nightmare (But nowhere connected to Mr. Freddy Krueger though). As wikipedia claims, he is slowly becoming the most loved Indian superhero (Violence sells in India too :-D )

4. Tiranga (Tri-color) - And here is India's reply to Captain America. Tiranga wears a costume which is a tri-color (Indian flag). His cape is the Indian flag. He is VERY patriotic and punishes whoever insults the country in any way. How does he differ from Captain America? Well, for starters, he doesn't have ANY superpowers (He definitely cannot fly. The cape is there so that when he stand on top of a building, his fluttering cape looks like a fluttering Indian flag. Innovative, eh? :-D ). He wears a bi-colored mask and not a stupid mask with wings on it. The best part about him is that unlike other superheroes, he doesn't wear the typical underwear on the outside. Instead, he wears a traditional Indian underwear called a langot over his costume (Talk about patriotism to the core :-P )

5. Bheriya (Wolf-man) - Though many people would like to compare Bheriya to The Astounding Wolf-man, the only similarity between them is that they are wolf-based superheroes. While Wolf-man is a werewolf, Bheriya is from a tribe of wolves who could walk upright and wear a pair of trousers and have a wonderful hairstyle. He only protects his forest and it's residents. The best thing about Bheriya is that unlike all other superheroes, he doesn't he have an alter ego. Instead, he has a completely different entity known as Kobi, who is a much more violent version with Superpowers.

6. Parmanu(Atom) - As the name suggest, Parmanu can very easily be connected with Atom. Both of them wear similar costumes and have similar powers. They use the power of atoms to fight villains. While they are VERY similar, there are differences nonetheless. The first one I would say is that Parmanu is VERY realistic, compared to Atom. He uses the power of the atom to fight villains. His most famous weapon is the atomic blast. All this seems very believable to me, at last. What I don't understand is how a man can shrink himself and others "using atomic power", like Atom does. That is something Parmanu neither attempts to nor needs to do. The best thing about Parmanu is that he flies, and that too without a cape! Now, that's harnessing atomic power right there. He also keeps an eye on the whole city not by just flying over it, but by placing cameras all over the city and connecting them to a robot who tells him every time a crime is committed somewhere. (Talk about technology! How's that for common sense?)

I've realized that this post has become too long and I'm just halfway through. Besides, it's 2:45am here and I need to get some sleep. So, I'm dividing this post into two parts and will continue the second part of this post later. Keep looking forward to it. The best is yet to come ;-)

Really, who are you?

2008-03-01T12:56:00.006-05:00

Hola amigos and amigas. Como estas? (This is the only Spanish I know other than "Buena" and "Gracias", so don't act smart and try replying in Spanish. Don't make me Google Language Tool your reply. It's too much work :-D ) If you liked the "Quote your status" post, then you may like this one as well. So, read on.

Now, if you've read the "What does Axe do when he's bored?" post, you'll know that at times I social networkise. The other day I was orkutting and I saw my "Recent visitors" list. There was this "thing" there. It went something like "Life's like a black man's left arse..". Believe me, I was intrigued. Who is this creature? Where is he from? etc. So, I clicked on that "thing" and I saw this profile. The "About me" section said something like, "..neither is it fair nor is it right". Really interesting, eh? NOT AT ALL! Why not? Because I still couldn't make out who this person was. So, I looked at the top of the page and I see that this creature is on my friend's list. WOW! Who is this creature? How do I know it? So, I checked the albums. Ahhh the first one is full of Pink Floyd pics. Nice, but useless right now. So, the next one has pics of cars and bikes and, ahhh yes, there he is, bare-chested without a great physique. Oh yea, this guy went to school with me. Now I remember who he is. How wonderful. I had a good mind to scrap him about this and let out all my frustration. But then I realized, it could be worse. Like so many others that I've seen on orkut, he could very well have not put up his pics at all and used an e-mail address that was no way connected to his real name, and I would have to do a complete Sherlock Holmes on him. Anyway, so I decided the only way to let out my frustration was to blog this. So, here I am.

I wonder what these people are really thinking when they come up with such ideas to change their profile names. I understand that you got a nice nickname that you REEEEEALLY like and would like to share with the world. But c'mon, at least think of those who have to think so much to just know who you are. If your name is "Life is like a black man's left arse..", then what am I supposed to make of this? Your first name is "Life" and your last name is "Arse" and "is like a black man's left" is your middle name, I suppose? Or if you're a South Indian, your first name is "Arse" and your last name is "Life"? Well, then I don't see any reason why you should be offended if I call you "Arse" or "Black man" (Though I would stick to "Arse" because the other one is definitely racist while I'm not). I mean, seriously my friend, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? Isn't your given name enough for you? If you don't like it that much, why don't you really get your name changed to "Arse"? I am sure you'll love it when people refer to others by your name, eh? Doesn't matter if it's used in an insulting way. We use Shakespeare's name to insult people with good vocabulary, don't we? I really don't understand why someone would want to name himself/herself after a quote. Would you really introduce yourself as "Opinions are like assholes"? "Hi, my name's Assholes. Opinions are like assholes" (In James Bond style). I wonder what your parents would really think if they saw that. Anyway, besides that, how do you expect your long-lost friends to find you on these sites? I would NEVER in my wildest imagination, think of looking for Mr/Mrs. Opinions are like Assholes, or Mr. Life is like a black man's left arse, when I want to to know if my friend is on orkut. This bring us to the other kind of name changers who are a lesser nuisance. They are the ones who use special characters to write their names. An example, Mr. /-\|\|/-\|\||). (Mr. Anand, in case you can't make out). WOW, Anand, you can use symbols to type your name! AWESOME! But, what if I'm your long-lost friend who wants to get in touch with you? Am I supposed to dream up that you mentioned your name on orkut that way? Of course there are worse cases too. The ones who delete all their scraps, remove all their pics (even the display pic) and change their name to some thing like ". ." Why the hell do you need to change your name to an unpronouncable symbol? Who do you think you are? Prince? Absolutely stupid and unworthy of remaining on my friends list, I would say.

Then comes the other fun part of their profiles. The "About me". In Mr. Left Arse's case, it read "..neither is it fair, nor is it right." So, that's your "About me"? Here's what I could make of it: You are not fair and you are not right. Let's take the first one, "Not fair". Does that mean you're dark? But your pics say otherwise. So, I guess it means you're unfair i.e. a cheat. Remind me to delete you from my friend's list, "pal". I don't befriend cheats. Then there's the other part, "Not right". Does that mean you are always wrong or that you a leftist (communist)? I don't mind your political opinion, but if you're wrong, then DEFINITELY remind me to delete you from my list. I don't want a cheat who is always wrong, as a 'friend". And if you aren't one of these or this isn't what you meant, then why didn't you think before you put it there? Then there are those whose "About me" is 2-3 pages long. I agree I had Marilyn Manson lyrics in mine once. I am guilty as charged, too. But that was waaaaaay back. I was stupid too. Anyway, now I know how painful it is to scroll through 2-3 pages of lyrics that are supposed to tell me about someone. In addition to that, some people put the names of each artist they listen to and each movie that they like even remotely. I've done the artist thing myself, but then I realized, isn't it easier to just mention the specific genres and some of your favourite artists? 5 or 6 sounds good. Not a 100! Funny thing is that I see this list most in those who love rock and metal. As if the more bands you listen to shows how big a fan you are. I am a rock and metal fan too. I mentioned them too. But I guess now I understand how much of a nuisance that is. As for movie lists that resemble IMDB's Top 250 list, I don't think I need to comment on them. :-)

Another pain-in-the-wrong-places thing is when people fill their albums with pics that have NOTHING to do with them. I understand those who put pics of their room, their surroundings, pics taken by them, etc. They are related to your life, so it's ok. But c'mon, pics of celebrities, bikes, cars, etc? You put a pic of Tom cruise as your profile pic. Am I supposed to think that you look like Tom Cruise? If you like Aishwarya Rai, put her poster of her in your room. I don't wanna see her pic that you downloaded from Santabanta.com or Indiafm.com, in your album! If you don't like to put your pics in your album, then please don't put ANY! We aren't forcing you to. Please don't waste our time with those.

My last resort when it comes to finding out who the creature is, is to check the e-mail address they are using to log into orkut. It gets extremely frustrating when even that isn't connected to their real name. Then, I'm totally lost. Unless I remember the address, I have no idea who the creature is and how I know it. Why can't you leave at least some part of your profile to help me identify you? If your name, pics, "About me" and e-mail address don't give me any idea about who you are, then I don't really see a reason why I should keep you on my list, because technically, you are a stranger to me, and strangers are never "friends".

I guess a lot of us face the same problems that I have mentioned above. Unfortunately we can't do anything about it, as some of these people are our "friends". I just wrote this post, so that someday if Mr. Left Arse or Mr/Ms/Mrs Opinions reads it, they'll know exactly how we feel about it. Ahhhh, now I feel so much better. Thank you for bearing with me and my frustration :-) Keep reading on for the next post and pray it's a bit more interesting ;-) Ciaoies amigos and amigas (Don't even think about it!The Spanish thing, I mean :-P )

Stereo Types

2008-02-24T19:45:00.005-05:00

Listening to Q107 Classic Rock FM station online. The show is called Psychedelic Psunday. Nice stuff. You can listen online too. Just visit http://www.q107.com/ and click on "Listen Live". Pretty neat eh? Anyway, I was just listening to it and they just played Pink Floyd - Money. Ahhhh bliss! The first sounds of the falling coins and cash registers scream out aloud that it's Pink Floyd - Money coming up. So, I listen to this song and I think to myself, what good is Psychedelic Psunday with no Pink Floyd? Then I realized how I'm being stereotypical. Pink Floyd isn't the only psychedelic band in the world. Maybe the most famous, but not the only one. And I thought to myself, how true is it, when we think of certain genres of music, we end up thinking of just one particular band or artist first. So, I decided to come up with this post listing out the bands that I think of when I hear the name of a particular genre. It may be that I'm not right about the genre in most of these cases, I don't really go by genres. I believe all music is equal and dividing it into genres is like dividing it into races. Of course, in that case, I'm a racist of sorts as I can't stand pop, hip hop, r&b and rap :-D Anyway, here's my list of genres and the bands/artists that I associate with them.

1. Psychedelic rock - Pink Floyd. This is a clear winner. Anyone who knows psychedelic rock, HAS to know Pink Floyd. I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me that when they think Psychedelic Rock, they think Pink Floyd.

2. Thrash Metal - Metallica, Megadeth. Though I usually associate Metallica only with Heavy Metal, I know it comes under Thrash Metal.

3. Black/Death Metal - Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir. Ok, so I have no idea which is which. But these are the two bands that always come into my mind when I think darker side of metal.

4. Shock Rock - Marilyn Manson. This guy feeds on Shock Rockism.

5. Industrial Metal - Nine Inch Nails. I don't know why, but that's the band that comes to mind.

6. Heavy Metal - Metallica, Black Sabbath, AC/DC. Black Sabbath, we all know are the Fathers of Heavy Metal, so no comments about them. AC/DC and Metallica, I dunno just come to mind.

7. Pop Rock - Bryan Adams. I used to think he was soft rock, but I now think otherwise.

8. Hard Rock - Guns N Roses. With stuff like Sweet Child Of Mine, I don't think I need to tell you why.

9. Blues - The Doors, Dire Straits. I'm not sure if they're Blues are not, but they come to mind.

10. Country - John Denver, Bob Dylan. I don't really like Country music, but I know these two for sure.

11. Techno - The Prodigy. That's all I can think of, really.

12. Trance - Paul Van Dyk, Chicane, Paul Oakenfold. I'm not sure if they really belong here.

13. Pop - Used to Backstreet Boys, now Britney Spears. Don't really need to tell you about it.

14. Rap - Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, DMX, Eminem. These are the four rappers I've heard and I know.

15. R&B - Alicia Keys. I had no idea what it was till I heard her. So, she's my R&B example.

16. Classical - Enya, Yanni. These two are amazing

17. Grunge - Nirvana, Pearl Jam. I guess all of us would agree that Grunge was Nirvana and Nirvana was Grunge.

18. Punk Rock - Sex Pistols, Green Day. I don't really like Punk rock much, especially not Green Day.

19. Soft Rock - Bon Jovi, Def Leppard. I somehow always thought these two bands to be soft rock.

20. British Heavy Metal - Iron Maiden, Judas Priest. Somehow, whenever i hear these 2 bands, I'm reminded of this genre instead of vice versa.

21. Progressive Metal - Dream Theater. This band is one of the best progressive acts around.

22. Rock n Roll - Elvis Presley, The Beatles. I guess Elvis was the King of Rock n roll, so it's fair. Somehow, The Beatles also qualify as rock n roll for me.

I guess that's the list as of now. WOW! I didn't know that there were 22 genres that I think of. Anyway, do leave comments and let me know which ones I'm wrong in, so that I can correct them both here and in my head ;-)

Songs 2

2008-02-18T16:30:00.002-05:00

11. U2 - With or without you

12. REM - Everybody hurts

13. Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the sky

14. Blue Oysters Cult - Astronomy

15. Celtic Frost - Dying God coming into human flesh

16. Amon Tobin - Verbal

17. Paul Oakenfold - Ready, Steady, Go

18. Apocalyptica - Faraway

19. Cradle Of Filth - Nymphetamine

20. Bruce Springsteen - Streets of Philadelphia

What has Hollywood taught me?

2008-02-15T20:19:00.007-05:00

Ok, here's the deal. I absolutely love Hollywood movies. There are sooo many actors, directors, etc that you don't get to see the same one in half a dozen movies every year, playing every role imaginable, which is the case of Bollywood movies. 90% of Bollywood movies have one or more famous actor out of the top 10, which sucks. Anyway, I'm not discussing Bollywood here. I'm going to discuss Hollywood. Today, I was sitting in the subway and thinking about how wonderful this country is and then for some reason I got reminded of Borat and how he made fun of U.S.A. and the Middle East. Then it struck me, what if the not-so-literate people of the world had all their knowledge about the world from Hollywood movies? How would they look at the world? So, I decided to come up with some of the things that they would assume:

1. Big American cities are frequently attacked by monsters and aliens, especially New York.

2. The monsters and aliens love to destroy the American monuments, over and over again. Still, the Americans keep rebuilding them.

3. No one calls 911 when a man kills someone in the middle of the street, especially if it's the hero.

4. If you are chasing someone and you make a jump that is supposed to be very difficult, chances are that you will make the jump and not fall to your death.

5. It's very easy to steal a car. Especially when it's owner is standing beside it and the keys are inside. The owner never hears you open or close the car door. and yea, the hero always steals a car with no alarm in it.

6. To save the world, you need to be perfect. You should be good looking, perfect driver, good shooter, good kicker, hot girlfriend, etc. But you must always stay in a shabby apartment and be almost broke.

7. All the super heroes of the world , only look after one city and the villains somehow always attack that city.

8. You can shoot a gun even after you're shot in your arm and kill the other guy with one shot in the stomach.

9. All the people in Middle East wear loose fitting clothes and drive dusty old cars. People in India are always labour class people or villagers. Middle class doesn't exist and definitely not the Higher class.

10. In the future, all cities will have REALLY high buildings and cars that fly in lanes and somehow never seem to need to stop for traffic signals or fuel. Also, the "ground level" will be full of slums and homeless people and dirt all around.

11. All robots can TALK and give better advice than humans, but they can never save the world.

12. If you go out driving at night, your car will always screw up in the most deserted part of the highway.

13. Wherever you walk, music plays around you and it changes according to the situation you are in.

14. While cracking a password of a system, it takes lesser time to tell you that the password is incorrect than to tell you otherwise.

15. Americans hardly brush or take a bath before they leave their home. While out of home, they hardly eat as well.

16. The police never fine you for breaking traffic rules or blowing up cars or destroying public property. Also, the police are very easy to fool and usually miss when they are shooting.

17. The villain hardly has any family. The hero almost always does and the villain always exploits that.

18. You get to kiss your girlfriend passionately only after you have killed the bad guy.

19. If you are weaker than your enemy, you will definitely win.

20. The bad guy may kill your whole family, but never kills your pets. Also, even if everyone dies, a dog or a cat is always saved in the end.

21. If you are playing a game against someone, you will lose to them initially and then start catching up, making the winning shots only few milliseconds before the game ends.

22. If you are trying to break into a bad guy's hideout, then the security will be the last thing you need to worry about. The bad guy chooses the most stupid people in his gang, people whom you just kick once to stop them from shooting at you. Also, to dodge their bullets, all you need to do is run straight.

23. If you wake up in an Intensive Care Unit, the first thing you should do is tear off all the sensors and drips that are placed on your body and then scream and walk out of the hospital, beating up everyone who tries to come in your way, no matter how weak you are.

This is not the complete list. I will add more and more as they come to my head. Funny, how we make fun of Bollywood movies, when the great Hollywood movies are no different. Of course, I will be posting about Bollywood soon. But that list could probably turn into a book :-P
Hope you enjoy this list and next time you see a Hollywood movie, you'll probably notice these things. :-D

Quote your status

2008-02-12T00:31:00.001-05:00

ABC XYZ online. Status Message: "The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called FAILURE, a loop called CONFUSION, speed bumps called BAD FRIENDS, red lights called ENIMIES. But there are caution lights called FAMILY , green lights called FRIENDS and if you have a spare called DETERMINATION , an engine called PERSEVERANCE , Insurance called FAITH, a driver called GOD ...You can make it to the place called SUCCESS".

PHEW!!! See the above paragraph? Yes, boys and girls, THAT Insanely huge thing is the "Status Message" of one of the people I have on my GTalk list. Whenever the guy comes online, the notification itself fills up the entire right part of my screen. Beat that! I'm not even gonna mention the times when he's got a bad connection and gets signed in and out every few seconds. I leave that to your imagination. ( I refer to those times as the times when I can catch glimpses of the right part of my screen) Anyway, nice way to let everyone know that you're online, eh? Whenever I see a HUGE GTalk notification, I know it's him. I don't even need to check the name. Of course, it's a different thing that I always abuse him in my mind when I see his "Declaration of Presence" and am always thinking whether or not to go ahead and block him. (I hardly talk to him anyway ;-) )

I remember the good old days of status messages. There were those few that you could choose from: Available/Online, Busy, Not at My Desk/Away, Stepped Out/Out for Lunch, etc. Then there came the custom status messages, where people would put stuff like "Can't wait for so-and-so event", "Happy Birthday *blah blah* ", etc. Those really were the golden days of status messages. Now, look what's going on. I remember when I was a kid and there was no internet, you had to read books from the library to look for quotes and motivational stories or hear them from people around you. Then came the internet and with that came e-mail, which brought along with it, "Forwards" which gave birth to Chain Mails, etc. I'm not gonna discuss Forwards (Leaving that for a different post ;-) ), but status messages. Anyway, so forwards and chain mails and some websites (including blogs) were where you would look for quotes and motivational stories. Now, it seems, as they say, the world is becoming a smaller place. So all that stuff has decided to shift itself to Status messages. Now, instead of knowing if Mr. ABC is busy or at work or planning a trip for the weekend, I get to know the secret of success. And since he comes online everyday, I get to read it everyday and get inspired, right? WRONG! I'm more bugged by the whole thing than inspired by it. Why would I want to know what the responsibilities of a man are with respect to his family and friends or if life is like a box of chocolates or a bunch of stale cookies that look great but follow the age-old law of "looks can be deceiving"? Why, may I ask, should I be the victim of someone's opinion about how I should treat life and family and friends? I really don't understand what a person is trying to say with a status message that says "Everything has been figured out, except how to live". Is he trying to tell me that he has figured out everything, except for how to live? What am I supposed to make out of it? It's weird the way the world is going. It seems no one is taking things literally anymore. Everyone wants to use every possible place to "express themselves" without really thinking for even a minute whether it is the right place to do so.

It seems MSN saw this problem, or maybe they were just trying to make the most out of it and so unlike other messengers that I know of, they decided to let the users put up quotes by placing a "Personal Message" field in their messenger. I never really understood what that was all about anyway, and I think nor did many other people who use MSN. I mean, am I supposed to put a Personal message up there? Is that supposed to be a message from me to some particular person, but viewable by everyone on my list? Or is it supposed to be some kind of message from me to everyone on my list. I think they wanted people to put messages like "Happy Birthday" and "Going for a trip to ______ " in there, but of course people put quotes there. Then they allowed custom nicknames and people put quotes there too. I have a friend on MSN whose nickname is supposed to be "Men, it has been well sed, think in herds; it wil b seen dat dey go mad in herds, while dey only recover their senses slowly 1by1" which in proper English would be "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one". I just asked my friend, "What am I supposed to call you? Men? Herds? Senses? Men-quoter?" and my friend just laughed and said, "You call me by my real name". Sure, I did that. But what about those who don't know the real name? What do they do? But of course my friend didn't think of that. And we think we are smart. *SIGH*

After reading all this, I'm sure all of you would agree how annoying those status message quotes are. I mean, really, if you want to share a quote with me or think I should know some morals, then mail them to me or send them as a chat message to me, that I can delete and forget if I want to. Spare me the agony of having to know that you're online by seeing half of my screen covered. I would prefer knowing about YOUR STATUS than some person's thoughts put into words. :-) I would like to end this post with one of my status messages on GTalk when this status quote phenomenon started:

"A status message is not the place to look for quotes" :-)

P.S. For all those of you who think I'm just preaching and not practicing, here are my "vital status-tics":

Current: Listening to....*Artist Name* - *Song Title* (I'm using HyperIM status changer for this)

GTalk previous ones:

1. A status message is not the place to look for quotes
2. Send a message only when the dot is green

Yahoo previous ones:

1. Sleeping..zzzzzz
2. Not at home...
3. xx Years of nothingness.. / Happy Birthday to me!! (My birthday messages)

MSN:

Nickname: Nobody
Personal message: If the message is supposed to be personal, then why should I type it here for the whole world to read?

:-)

What does Axe do when he's bored?

2008-01-27T19:51:00.001-05:00

Yes yes yes, Axe does get bored. It takes a loooooooooooooooooong time for Axe to get bored of something, but when he does, it takes the same amount of time for him to get un-bored. So, what does Axe do when he's bored? Good question. Here are a few things Axe does when he's bored:

1. He chats with other people. Axe uses Google Talk, Rediff Bol, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. Axe has tried out IMVU (It was cool till Axe realized that a lotta goths turn up there and that all they do is try out the different tricks their avatars could perform :-| Axe got bored), ICQ (Axe liked ICQ till some moron decided to hack his password just coz he had left it as his DOB :-| ), Second Life (Axe really could never understand how a person could fly in any life. REALLY! :-| And the people were scarce and all Axe could do was roam around like an idiot and get more bored. Also, the program ate up Axe's CPU and RAM and internet speed).

2. He social networkises. (Axe does "networkising" and not "networking". That's his way of doing it. Now, stop whining about grammar, will you? Freakin' Shakespeare descendant!) Axe uses orkut and Facebook now. He has accounts with hi5, Zorpia, Neatvibe, Friendster and Ryze. Of course, he just uses his hi5 a/c out of all of these and that is only in PEBs (Periods of Extreme Boredom).

3. He watches videos on youtube and Stage6. Axe doesn't like Google Video.

4. He watches a movie. Axe loves to watch older or cult movies more than the latest movies. This is because he is a bit impatient at times and wouldn't want to waste 2-3 hours of his time just to find out in the end that the movie basically sucks.

5. He BLOGS!!!! (Phbbbbbbbt!!!!) Yea yea, I know, you thought he blogged for fun. No, he doesn't. He blogs when he's bored and has nothing else to do. And yes, this is one of THOSE times. (FYI: The haircut post came a week or 2 AFTER the actual haircut :-D ).

6. He reads a book. Axe prefers reading any book that he can get his hands on. He likes books with real characters and about real life, not fantasy stuff like Harry Potter (Axe ABSOLUTELY hates Harry Potter) and Lord of the Rings. Axe prefers reading an e-book over a paperback. this is because, it's easier to "turn the pages" and you don't need to hold the book all the time. Besides, Axe can easily listen to music on his laptop while reading an e-book.

7. He gives missed calls to people he knows expecting them not to pick up and just missed call him back. In case you are one of those weirdos who does pick up his calls, you are dead the next time he meets you, even if you know that he's just being a bit dramatic right now.

Now, all of you who are wondering why Axe didn't mention listening to music, read carefully. Does he mention that he breathes, drinks water, takes a bath, etc? Does he need to? Of course not! That's because he does all this on a normal basis, just like he listens to music :-D He doesn't listen to music when he's BORED!! He listen to music, as much as he breathes. You should have known that if you read this blog. :-) And to end this post in a very fitting manner, Axe has a special message for you :-)

BLAH BLAH BLAH!

:-P

Songs 1

2008-01-24T20:37:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I haven't put a post naming songs I like. Metal and Rock are like religion and oxygen for me, respectively. Anyway, here's a list of songs I've loved, liked, got stuck in my head for a while, blah blah blah. The songs are in no particular order. Keep checking these posts. You may find some good songs out here that you never heard before. :-)

1. Pink Floyd - Wish you Were Here (My all time favorite song :-D )

2. Radiohead - Creep

3. Cradle of Filth - Hallowed Be Thy Name

4. Mogwai - We're No Here

5. Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You

6. Korn - Blind (Live in Woodstock 99)

7. Queens Of The Stone Age - In My Head

8. Marilyn Manson - Beautiful People

9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

10. Apocalyptica - Nothing Else Matters

YAY! A haircut!

2008-01-11T22:11:00.001-05:00

So yes, the author of this blog got himself a haircut (at last). I don't even remember the last time I had one. Anyway, now I did. YAY for that! I dunno if it looks cool or not or whether I look more bald than before. All I know is that it feels good to have short hair again. I was planning to shave my head, which is why I wasn't having a haircut for quite some time now. But then, I just decided to get one. I like it. Makes me feel a bit light-headed :D My flatmates say that it makes me look a bit younger and less bald. Ironically, according to them, I look more bald when I have long hair. Anyway, I do agree that when I had longer hair, I used to look like I was over 30. Now I look like I am 26 or 27. (Psst, I am 22 right now :P ) But still, pretty good for me, eh? I wish I could put up a pic, but that's one thing I am trying not to do, turn my blog into an album. Maybe, I'll try to get just my hair :P Let's see. Keep watching this page.

Who the hell is Katherine Bell?

2007-12-30T16:16:00.002-05:00

Recently, a very good friend of mine, Katherine Bell, put up her website. I really liked the site and decided that I needed to share it with you people. It's so simple. I wonder why they don't make sites like this. Nowadays, all these sites have so much info on them. It comes at you like a rain of bullets. BAM BAM BAM! This site is simple and nice to go through. Do go through it at least once.

How do I know Katherine Bell? Well, I was getting bored one fine day and decided to try out this new 3-D messenger called IMVU. I tried a Random Chat and ended up talking to Kathy (that's what I call her and she hates it :-P ). We ended up adding each other on MSN and have been chatting there for quite some time. Though, I've never met Kathy in real life, I can say she is an interesting and fun person to talk to. :-) She loves everything Indian. I guess in a few years, she'll be more Indian than I am :-D She is very interested in knowing about other cultures and languages. I dunno how many languages she really knows. I can go on and on and on about her, but then I would fill up this whole blog. Besides, you can know a lot more about her from her site. I suggest everyone go through it at least once :-) Here's the link:

Who the hell is Katherine Bell? (Now you know where this post really gets it's title from)
(http://www.whothehelliskatherinebell.com)

Do leave your feedback about the site, here or there :-) Hope you guys like it.

Little Things 8

2007-12-18T00:49:00.001-05:00

71. I sleep on my stomach and holding my pillow with both my hands and usually with my hands below the pillow.

72. I like typing without looking at the keyboard. I try to do it as fast as I can.

73. When I am watching a movie in a movie theater, I tend to keep my feet up on the seat in front of me.

A beat apart

2007-12-14T04:01:00.001-05:00

4am on Dec 14. I am watching Apocalyptica videos on Stage6. There is this concert video with all these metalheads headbanging to Apocalyptica covering Metallica's Enter Sandman. For all of you who don't know, apocalyptica is a band of Cello players who are famous for their versions of famous heavy metal songs on Cello, especially Metallica songs. The songs are great if you hear them.

Anyway, when I was watching the video, I thought, "Look at these guys. Who would have thought that playing the cello would be cool?" And seriously, if you look at those guys, you will at first wonder why they have Cellos instead of those sleek V-shaped guitars in their hands? They got long hair. They are shirtless. They love Metallica. Typical metal band description? But then, they play cellos. I really wonder what went into their mind when they decided to learn how to play that and then cover metal songs. As if looking like a metal dude but playing a cello wasn't enough, they decide to cover Metallica songs on cello. How ingenious is that? I really respect these guys for challenging the whole "Metal = heavy guitars and vocals" idea.

The cello. An instrument I never thought could be termed as cool. It was always a nerdy instrument. Now, for a metal band, it's cool. How weird is that? I know bands like PArikrama use a violin lead in their songs, but then that's not really metal. Metallica did it's S&M concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Deep Purple had a show with an orchestra. So many bands played with orchestras. But the orchestra was just there as an accompaniment. I really respect Apocalyptica for what they are doing. I don't know of any other bands that do similar stuff. Would be glad to try them out if I find any. Let's see.

The Santoor is the only classical instrument that I love. It's so sweet. I want to see a band that plays with the Santoor. Rahul Sharma has done a good job with the Santoor and Techno beats. But I want to see other types of music using it. Hope someone experiments with that type of music as well.

If anyone knows any bands that use such instruments, please let me know. I would like to try them out. :-)

My wishlist 1

2007-12-13T20:23:00.001-05:00

Everyone wants things in life. I want them too. I am human after all. There are so many things I want. I am just going to name a few of them. I am not going to say things like "People around me to be happy" and stuff like that. This is a list of the material things I want.

1. My apartment (read "My Apartment" post)

2. A yellow Lamborghini

3. A red Ferrari

4. A black SUV like the Honda CR-V

5. A Motorola A780 (I love this phone)

6. A Bose Home theater system

7. An Apple iPod with the maximum amount of space.

8. A silver BMW M5!!! (Hell yeah!)

Asswipe

2007-12-13T11:59:00.001-05:00

I know the title is a bit gross, but that's what I would like to call it. So deal with it. What is Asswipe? Why Asswipe? So many questions. All your answers follow.

I was checking my mail today. Another social networking site invitation. Which one is it this time? WAYN? I am so sick and tired of these invitations. Orkut, Hi5, Facebook, Zorpia, WAYN, Friendster, Netvibe, Ryze, etc. PHEW! All of them are the same. Still we join most of them. The funniest part is that people join groups on these sites and never post on them. I am no exception, of course. I am a member of so many communities on Orkut. I used to have over a 100 at some time. Of course, now I cut them down to 23, in which I post in only 6 or 7. Some of them are there just because I want to show that it is a part of who I am, like my school communities, etc. I was a member of hundreds of music-related communities, but was active only in Pink Floyd India Fan Club, where I was a moderator. Of course, I left that community now. It totally sucks now. Anyway, that's not what this post is all about. I am just writing this post to make fun of those social networking sites. Simple as that. Still interested? Read on then.

I want to make a social networking site called Asswipe. Why Asswipe? Asswipe = Toilet Paper. And the "pages" of this site will be full of shit as well, just like all other social networking sites. Here are some of the features I would like to add.

1. There will be three lists:

a. People I hate
b. People who hate me
c. My enemies

The third list will have all the people common to the first 2 lists. If someone becomes common to the first 2 lists, he/she is automatically moved to the third one.

2. Instead of having "Pokes", we'll have "Punches".

3. Groups shall be renamed as "Gangs"

4. The Wall / Scrapbook will be replaced by "The Pot". You can send all your shit there.

5. All profile pages will be limited to 2 printable pages. If you can't explain yourself in that space, go write an autobiography.

6. You won't be allowed to add more than 50 people to your "People I hate" list. If you hate more people than that, your place is in a mental institution, not this site.

7. You can be a member of not more than 5 gangs. If you don't post in the gang for more than a month, you are thrown out of the gang.

I'll put in more features as and when I get them. :-)

Little Things 7

2007-12-12T13:28:00.001-05:00

61. I finish my drinks really fast, hot or cold.

62. I love it when my hot drinks are boiling hot.

63. I mouth the lyrics of songs when I am in public. I sing them out aloud only when I am alone or with my closest friends.

64. I love my glasses and prefer them over contact lenses.

65. I love walking over the snow and like it when chunks of snow are crushed under my feet.

66. I don't like it when people assume stuff about me or my life. Just coz I don't show some stuff, doesn't mean it's there or vice versa.

67. When I'm serious, I'm serious. Don't crack jokes or say that I'm never serious.

68. I love my uniqueness and I try to keep it that way. The way I spell my name isn't the only thing about me that is unique. :-)

69. I like to sit with my legs up when I am relaxing whether it's just chilling at home or watching a movie.

70. When I am sitting normally, I fold at least one of my legs and sit on that.

My To-do List before I die 2

2007-12-12T13:21:00.002-05:00

11. Skydiving!

12. Shoot a gun (Not at someone :-) )

13. Drive a car off a cliff without worrying about it.

14. Learn how to tango.

YAY!

2007-12-11T13:25:00.004-05:00

Here's some good news, folks. This blog finally inspired someone. :-D I feel so good. A very old friend of mine, Tripti Mathur, had a blog but she deleted it sometime back for reasons that are for me to know and you not to find out. It seems she read this blog and really liked the idea and decided to revive her blog. I am really happy to hear this :-)

Tripti Mathur's blog: My Vivid Coloured Dreams
(http://vividcolourpalette.blogspot.com/)

If you got time, check out the "Guess who's back!" post on her blog :-D

Welcome back, Tripti.

This is the title.

2007-12-10T19:45:00.009-05:00

This is the post.

This is bold.

This is italic.

This is colored.

This is the link.

This is left-aligned.

This is center-aligned.

This is right-aligned.

This is justified.

These
are
numbered
bullets

These
are
unnumbered
bullets

"This is a quote."

Tattoo

2007-12-09T01:23:00.001-05:00

I wanna get a tattoo. I've always wanted to. Not only coz it's cool, but coz I want to pay tribute to some parts of my life and let the world know about them. I want the following tattoos as of now:

1. I want a lion face on my right arm, near the shoulder. I want it to be a full face but a serene one. This will be a tribute to the fact that I am a Leo. :-)

2. I want AXE to be tattooed at the back of my neck, just like Vin Diesel in the movie XXX. I want the X to be the most prominent part and thought it would look good if it was like the XXX tattoo. After all, the X is the most important part of who I am. :-) On second thought, I'm thinking of getting a simple AXE with the X made using 2 crossed axes facing away from each other.

Movie Idea 2

2007-12-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

Sitting online, I realized that you can do everything online nowadays. Education, buying groceries, etc. Everything! My second idea came from this.

The story is set a little bit in the future. There is a guy who decides to lock himself up in his apartment and start off an alternative personality online. He starts with a baby who's birth certificate he gets online. He gives a name to the baby and fakes it's fingerprint by using softwares like Photoshop. Then he gives the kid a full education online, upto an MBA. He gets all the pics by making them using Photoshop. He gets the identity a job as one of those online jobs, like a call center employee, etc. He orders his groceries online, does all the official documentation online, etc. After so many years, he makes all his friends through chatrooms and other social networking sites. He gets so much into this alternate identity of his, he gives up all his real friends and start living that life. Then as usual, the identity falls in love with a girl online. They talk all day and night. He uses voice editing softwares for voice-chatting with her. Then one fine day, she asks if she can meet him up. This hits him like a punch in the face. He hasn't gone out for such a long time and he has this identity that is in no way what he is. He has a kinda internal conflict with himself, about meeting her.

There are 2 endings I can think of:

a. He decides to meet her and tell her the whole truth and of course be rejected by her. So, he musters up all his courage and goes to meet her. He meets her and sees that she is the same age as him and has been doing the same thing that he's been doing for so long, living with an online identity. So, they laugh it off and live happily ever after.

b. He realizes that he's taken this thing too far and decides to kill off his online persona. He powers down his computer and walks out of his apartment after almost 25 years.

Movie Idea 1

2007-12-07T19:05:00.001-05:00

I've always wanted to make a movie. I've got very few ideas in my mind that I want to see come true on the big screen. I am not sure if they will be very successful, but still I want them to be out there for the world to see. If someone reads these and plans to make a movie out of it, please just let me know. Maybe I can help you develop it further. I don't want my name out there, but I sure would love it if you would tell me that you are using my idea, before I have to find it out from someone else. :-) So, here's idea # 1:

The human brain is said to be capable of a lotta things. They say that we use only a certain fraction of the full potential of our brain. They also say that Einstein used a greater fraction of his brain than a normal human being. What is there was a man who could managed to utilise the full potential of his brain? What all could he achieve? We all know how that all matter is basically made of electrons and protons, the basis of electricity. The human brain works with electric currents in it. What if that man could use the electric charges in his brain and play with matter whatever way he wanted.

The story will be of a man who manages to harness the full potential of his brain. He manages to learn how to control matter. He can be all that you read about only in comic books. He realizes that he can do everything with matter, change the very atoms that make up everything, whichever way he pleases. He realizes his powers and starts believing that he is the closest you can get to God. Since people's thoughts also originate in the brain, he ends up changing the same. He starts living a perfect life, just the way he wanted to. He gets all the money he wants, all the things he wants. Initially, he tries to steal the money and all, but when he realizes that he can change matter itself, he starts making his own money. He knows that he can work on people's thoughts and so doesn't need to pay at all for what he gets, but he realizes that it'll only result in chaos when his purchases create a void of unaccounted-for money. So, he always pays for whatever he gets. For years he lives his life like a king and enjoys it the way he wants to. One day he meets this woman and he plays with her thoughts and makes her fall for him. One day, while out on a date with her, he makes everything go perfect as usual. But after the date, the girl has an accident and dies. It comes as a shock to him. He goes into depression. He starts getting angry. He starts destroying stuff. He becomes really aggressive. Then one day, he's sitting with his head in his hands and crying over his loss and he asks himself why he couldn't prevent that. He was God. Why couldn't he prevent that? It's then that he makes out that there is one thing he can't touch and that's time. He looks around and thinks to himself, "That's where God has an upper hand over me" He hates himself for it. He has the power to do everything except manipulate time. This revelation opens his eyes and he realizes that all these days he was using his powers just for himself and was being selfish, when he could have used them for the good of humanity. This gives him the idea that he could be a real superhero if he wanted to. So, he decides to be that and continue so for as many years as he can. He knows he wouldn't die. He can prevent the wear and tear of his body due to his powers, so he can easily live for thousands of years without having a single problem. And so, with this idea in his head, he sets out as a normal man who just stops all kind of problems from plaguing the people around him.

I know this whole story sounds too much of a fantasy and very unbelievable and too typical. I agree. The basic idea I want to portray is that the man could do whatever he wanted to by using his brain and uses it for his own selfishness initially but then realizes he can put it to better use. That's it. The story is just an example of how this can be shown. Better stories exist of course. Anyway, I suck at stories. I am better at theories.

Video 1

2007-12-07T01:31:00.002-05:00

My favorite videos will be put up in this list of posts.

This one is the final scene from a documentary called "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" by Sam Dunn. Check out their website http://www.metalhistory.com . The documentary basically deals with the whole idea of why metal is what it is and why it is stereotyped so much. I love this scene. It summarizes the whole thing. Especially love the final dialogue before the credits start rolling. I am quoting it below.

"You either feel it or you don't. If metal doesn't give you that overwhelming surge of power and make the hair stand up at the back of your neck, you might never get it. And you know what, that's ok. Because judging by the 40,000 metalheads around me, we are doing just fine withoutcha."

\m/ \m/

Quotes 1

2007-12-06T10:50:00.001-05:00

6th December, 2007 10:52am. I was just checking my mail and there above the first message in my inbox, I saw this ad from google for a site called http://www.dead.is and I visited it out of curiosity. It seems to be a site by Jón Sæmundur, an artist from Iceland, who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1994 and got his art degree in 2001, which shows he pursued art only after he found out that he was gonna die soon enough. Anyway, what does this have to do with "Quotes 1"? Well, his website logo is a skull with the following words written around it in a circle: "HE WHO FEARS DEATH CANNOT ENJOY LIFE". I read this and thought to myself, "How true" and decided that I needed to put down all this quotes that I like. So, now you know what this series of posts will be dedicated to. Quotes, quotes and more quotes. As a tribute to Jón Sæmundur, I put his quote as the first quote. Kudos to you, Jón. :-)

1. He who fears death cannot enjoy life.

2. When you reach the top, be prepared to be replaced by someone else. That's how you got there in the first place.

3. Life is a maze. Keep to the right and you'll come out successful.

4. Necessity isn't the mother of invention, laziness is.

5. The most creative person is the one who can hide his/her source the best.

6. Better to be a wise man than a wise guy.

7. Woman is God's greatest gift to man, after the Ferrari (Kidding. I'm not an MCP)

8. Sometimes you need to give a fuck without expecting one back.

Websites

2007-12-06T01:50:00.001-05:00

It's almost 2am right now and I am not sleepy. I am listening to Come Clarity by In Flames and also watching HD videos of Animusic on stage6.divx.com. It's a good bunch of videos. At the end of the video, they put up an advertisement for the Animusic DVD and their website (http://www.animusic.com). It was then that I thought, "Why not make a list of websites I visit regularly? That would be fun." So, here's my list of websites that I visit regularly. Hope someone likes it.

1. Gmail [E-mail]
(http://mail.google.com)

2. Yahoo! mail [E-mail]
(http://mail.yahoo.com)

3. Rediff Mail [E-mail]
(http://www.rediff.com)

4. Orkut [Social Networking]
(http://www.orkut.com)

5. Facebook [Social Networking]
(http://www.facebook.com)

6. Youtube [Streaming Video]
(http://www.youtube.com)

7. Wikipedia [Online encyclopedia]
(http://en.wikipedia.org but I usually just type "wikipedia *topic*" in the Firefox address bar and it takes me directly to the Wikipedia page for *topic*)

8. Google web definitions [Dictionary]
(Search for "define: *term*" in http://www.google.com or use the Google field in Firefox)

9. Blogger [This place ;-) ]
(http://www.blogger.com)

10. Stage6 DivX Videos [DivX Video Streaming and downloading]
(http://stage6.divx.com)

Little Things 6

2007-12-05T22:17:00.001-05:00

51. I like sleeping on the couch :-)

52. I wanna own an SUV. I don't like small cars.

53. If given a choice between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, I would choose the former.

54. I stereotype all bright colored clothing to be gay.

55. I like it when someone ruffles my hair.

56. I hate the fact that I am losing hair.

57. Biting my nails helps me concentrate more.

58. I like watching videos in Fullscreen mode and not in a window.

59. I rarely use the buttons of my touchpad. I use the double-tap instead.

60. I love listening to songs on full volume. The louder it is, the better it is.

My Perfect Weekend

2007-12-04T12:40:00.001-05:00

Here's how my perfect weekend would go:

6:00am : Wake up

6:00am-8:00am : Freshen up, go gymming and then for a 2km jog.

8:00am-9:00am : Get ready, read the papers, make my breakfast of milk and cereal.

9:00am-11:ooam : Do my laundry, clean up the home a little.

11:00am-after midnight : Leave home for a day out. Whether to the mall, to some other place, anywhere. Enjoy myself. Have lunch and dinner outside. Come back late at night and then go to sleep.

My Perfect Weekday

2007-12-04T12:21:00.001-05:00

You must be thinking, "Why is this guy making such useless posts? How does it matter to us what he likes and dislikes and what his dreams are?" I agree. Why should it matter to you? But then, I am putting all of these down so that I can look at them later and chuckle to myself about what dreams I had and what dreams I achieved. :-)

Anyway, this post is about my perfect day. How I would want to spend my 24 hours. I used to ask this question to my friends and I noticed most people want their perfect days to be such that they can live it once and only once in their lifetime. I want to live my perfect day everyday and that's why it may sound very ordinary to many people but this is what I would call "perfect". So,here's how it goes:

4:00am : Wake up.

4:00am-6:00am : Freshen up, go gymming, go for a 2km jog.

6:00am-7:30am : Get ready for work, read the papers, have my early morning cup of coffee with 2 pieces of buttered toast.

7:30am-8:30am : Drive to work.

9:00am-5:00pm : Work.

5:30pm-6:30pm : Drive home from work.

6:30pm-8:00pm : Go gymming and another 2km jog.

8:00pm-10:00pm : Freshen up, cook and eat dinner, listen to music/watch a movie/do some work.

10:00pm : Go to sleep.

My apartment

2007-12-03T20:29:00.002-05:00

I am sure most of us have dreamt of having a home. All of us want our homes to be some way or the other. And most of us have a kind of layout in our minds. Here I tell you how I want my home to be. As is evident from the title, it'll have to be an apartment. I prefer apartments over houses, I don't know why. Maybe it's because I've always lived in one. So anyway, here's my idea of how my apartment will be like.

There will be the following rooms:

1. A double bedroom - This room will be for my guests. It will be able to cater to a couple with 2 kids. It will have an attached bathroom with a bathtub in it. The room will have a king size bed with a super soft and comfortable mattress and pillows and thick warm blankets. There will be a flat-screen TV on the wall facing the bed and a study table and a PC as well. There will be a big closet in another wall.

2. A single room - This will be my room. It will have a single bed with a soft comfortable mattress and 2 pillows and a warm thick blanket. I will also have a closet in one of my walls.

3. An entertainment room - This will be my special room. It will have just one nice big couch in the middle. It will have a Bose Home Theater system installed and a Projector to which I can attach a laptop or a cable connection directly. This room will be sound-proof and for the purpose of watching movies, listening to music and sometimes working on a bigger screen.

4. A small kitchen - My kitchen will be good enough for me to cook and eat.

5. A drawing room - The drawing room will have a 3-seater couch in the center and 2 single-seater couches on the sides and a center table made of glass and stainless steel. The couches will be very soft and comfy with the velvet touch to them. There will be a flat-screen TV facing the couch.

6. A dining room - Glass-top table with stainless steel base and 6-8 chairs of stainless steel and velvety material to sit on. That's it.

7. A common bathroom - This bathroom will be for my use and for the use of my guests. It will have a shower room and a mirror big mirror above the sink, but not a full-size one.

8. A balcony - I want my balcony to overlook a busy street and the city skyline. I want a balcony that is both wide and long, not one where all you can put is a chair and sit down.

9. Other features - The apartment will be on a very high floor, but not too high. I want it to be so high that I can't hear the noise of the street when I see it. All the walls of my apartment will be painted white. All the furniture will be stainless steel. I don't like too many mirrors, so the ones in the washrooms and on the closets will do for me. I want each room to have surround sound speakers in it and the option of playing your own playlist in your room.

Well, that's about all I can think of now. Will let you people know more when I can think of it. :-)

Little Things 5

2007-12-03T17:16:00.001-05:00

41. I can't stand strong smells like strong perfumes and strong-smelling food.

42. I don't like to eat food that's gooey like seafood. If it's too soft and doesn't melt in my mouth and I need to chew it, I prefer swallowing it as is. I also don't like chewy crusts like the skins on sausages.

43. I am camera-shy/camera-conscious when someone else is taking my pics.

44. I hold my cup and feel it's warmth when I am having any hot drink.

45. I prefer jackets over sweaters.

46. I don't like to wear any jewellery. No rings, bracelets, lockets, etc. The only thing I like is a watch on my wrist and that too a simple one, no fancy dials and features and the same goes for my belts.

47. I prefer deep voices when it comes to slow songs rather than shrill voices. I prefer male singers over female singers.

48. I prefer cars and bicycles over motorcycles, cars being my top priority.

49. I can't work without music playing in the background, whether it's cooking or cleaning up the home or just studying. I work best when I am grooving to the music I am listening to.

50. I use certain words a lot when I talk to people. Words like "like", "actually", "totally", etc.

Little Things 4

2007-12-03T17:02:00.001-05:00

31. I am very patient in whatever I do.

32. I prefer the snow over the rain. I like walking when it's snowing.

33. I don't like running for anything. I would walk faster but rarely run.

34. Summer or winter, I love sleeping under a blanket.

35. If I am really sleepy, I can sleep anywhere in any position.

36. I daydream a lot, but not in vain. I only dream about stuff that's possible and can actually happen to me, not impossible stuff.

37. I keep playing with numbers in my head. If I see any number, I find out all it's prime factors. Whether it's a car's licence plate or a bank account number.

38. I like playing with words, breaking them into syllables and making them up again with other words to make them still sound similar (like interesting = in-too-roost-ting). Sometimes I also try to find why a word became what it is by breaking it into syllables (like beware = be aware).

39. I prefer jotting down my thoughts rather than speaking out loud. My fingers work better than my tongue (No pun intended :-P )

40. I have a quiet sneeze. I go "Cheee" instead of an "Ah-chooooo".

Little Things 3

2007-12-03T16:47:00.002-05:00

21. I love talking in double meaning.

22. I love cracking jokes and making other people laugh.

23. I HATE watching porn. How can you keep watching the same acts being done by different people? It's like watching the same movie with different actors. Sucks (No pun intended)

24. I love talking in a sleepy/drunk voice. (For the record, I don't smoke, drink or dope)

25. I like being extreme in whatever I do. I can't stop midway. Whether it's the way I dress or the way I talk. If I am to dress formal, I make sure I look like an executive or something. Ask me to dress casual, and ripped jeans and band tees with sneakers are in.

26. I never go by fashion. For me, a good tee with a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers is always IN.

27. I absolutely HATE wearing anything shorter than a pair of trousers (except my underwear, of course ;-) ). No shorts, three-quarters, etc for me. Even at home I wear a pair of track pants.

28. My wardrobe is full of black clothing. I love that color. Half my tees are black.

29. I prefer playing PC games using the keyboard and mouse over gaming consoles like Playstations, X-Box, etc.

30. I love being dramatic while I talk. :-D

Softwares

2007-11-26T14:04:00.002-05:00

Here's what I plan to do with this post: I am going to list out all the software that I use on my computer. The operating system I am currently using is the Windows Vista Home Premium on a Sony Vaio VGN-C25G/B.

I love using free software. So all my softwares are downloadable from the internet for free. I am also mentioning the link in case you do want to download them. I have divided them into groups for convenience.

Utilities

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1.1 [Document Reader]
(http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)

2. Ares Galaxy 2.0.9 [P2P Software]
(http://aresgalaxy.sourceforge.net/)

3. AVG 7.5 Free [Antivirus Software]
(http://free.grisoft.com/)

4. Daemon Tools 4.1.0 x86 [Virtual CD/DVD client]
(http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php?mode=ViewCategory&catid=5)

5. Flash player [Content Viewer]
(http://www.adobe.com)

6. Java [Content viewer]
(http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_manual.jsp?locale=en&host=www.java.com)

7. OpenOffice 2.3.0 [Office Suite]
(http://download.openoffice.org/index.html)

8. Picasa 2 [Photograph Organizer]
(http://picasa.google.com/)

9. Spybot - Search and Destroy 1.5 [Anti-spyware]
(http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10743107.html?tag=lst-1)

10. uTorrent 1.7.5 [Torrent client]
(http://www.utorrent.com/download.php)

11. Winrar 3.7.1 [File compression/decompression software]
(http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm)

12. ZoneAlarm 7.1 [Firewall]
(http://www.download.com/ZoneAlarm-Windows-Vista-/3000-10435_4-10710111.html?tag=lst-7)

Net

1. Firefox 2.0.0.12 [Internet Browser]
(http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/)

2. Flashget 1.9.0 [Download Manager]
(http://www.flashget.com/en/download.htm)

3. Google talk [Messenger]
(http://talk.google.com/)

4. HyperIM 2.1.4 [Status Message Display]
(http://numedecod.ro/HyperIM/take.php)

5. IMVU client 387.0 [3-D Messenger]
(http://www.imvu.com)

6. MSN Messenger 8.1 [Messenger]
(http://get.live.com/messenger/overview)

7. Rediff bol 7.0 [Messenger]
(The latest is 8.0 and is available at http://messenger.rediff.com/newbol/)

8. Second Life 1.18.4.3 [3-D Messenger Client]
(http://secondlife.com/community/downloads.php)

9. Skype [Messenger]
(http://www.skype.com)

10. Yahoo Messenger 8.1 [Messenger]
(http://messenger.yahoo.com/download.php)

Entertainment

1. Apple iTunes 7 [Media player]
(http://www.apple.com/ca/itunes/download/)

2. Divx Package [Divx player and codecs]
(http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/)

3. Jetaudio 7 Basic [Media Player]
(http://www.cowonamerica.com/download/)

4. Real Player 11 Beta [Media player]
(http://www.real.com)

5. VLC Media Player 0.8.6c [Media Player]
(http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html)

I have not mentioned softwares like Windows Media Player 11, as they come bundled with Windows. I hope this is of some use to someone.

Little things 2

2007-11-21T22:20:00.001-05:00

I realized it would be easier for everyone to keep track of the Little Things posts if I broke them into parts and updated the same. This way you won't need to keep checking that post all the time.

What I am going to do is put only 10 things in each part of the Little Things post. Everytime I cross this limit, I'll put it in a new post. Hope you people like this idea. Enjoy 11-20 now.

11. I love listening to screams and growls in music. It makes me feel all the evil. I like it for some reason. I listen to the loudest song I have, when I have a headache. It somehow calms me down.

12. I prefer shoes over sandals and I don't like slippers.

13. I love the number 13.

14. I keep running my hand through my hair and brush it back a little.

15. I play with my nose while I talk to people.

16. I like to wear my watch a bit loose. I love metal straps. I hate leather straps.

17. When my drink is almost over, I usually move the glass/cup in circles, as if I am trying to mix whatever settled at the bottom (even if there may be nothing there). I have my last gulp while the liquid is still swirling in the container.

18. I love breathing out during the winter and watch the mist form when I do so.

19. When my hands are idle, my fingers keep probing my fingernails and if there is a rough portion, I end up biting my nails then.

20. I love classic rock more than I love metal.

Little things 1

2007-11-17T12:45:00.001-05:00

Recently, I have started noticing silly little things about me. Things that I notice that I do though I am unaware of them. I know it's not gonna interest anyone. But still, let me list out a few.

1. When I am on an escalator, I stand with my ass touching one of the sides of the escalator. If the escalator has a brush-like thing running next to the steps, I like to let it rub on my shoe.

2. I always wash my face after I brush my teeth. Even when I am about to go to sleep.

3. I don't like it when my friends call me just Axay. They must add something to it or change it altogether i.e. Axay Kumar, Axy, Axey, Axe, etc

4. I type with just a few fingers, and mostly it's my 2 index fingers.

5. I prefer wearing earphones over headphones.

6. I love grooving to music, when I am alone. People make me conscious.

7. I love standing in the sun at times and actually expect it to "warm my bones".

8. I look away from my computer screen every now and then and look at something or someone in my room.

9. I always minimize all my windows when someone comes and talks to me.

10. I always end up taking a lot of Ice in my drinks (I'm a non-alcoholic) and then love munching on the Ice after I finish my drink.

There are so many more. I'll jot them down as many as I can as and when I remember them. :-)

My To-do List before I die 1

2007-11-16T19:54:00.002-05:00

Here's something I had put down earlier but I tried dividing it into 2 posts and my 2nd post replaced my 1st post. ARGH! So I am going to try and recall what I wrote. This is a list of things I want to do before I die. I will try to mention when and how I accomplished some of these when I manage to do the same. :-)

1. Get drunk or high or both and lose all my soberness.

2. Stand in the middle of nowhere and scream my head off.

3. Hug someone real tight.

4. Own a Lamborghini and a Ferrari.

5. Make a music video.

6. Write a bestseller.

7. Be the frontman of a rock or metal band and play a concert in front of thousands of people.

8. Learn how to play the guitar and drums and also learn how to play Pink floyd's Wish You Were Here, which happens to be my all time favorite song.

9. Have a few million dollars in my bank account ;-)

10. Use the following pickup lines:

a. "Wanna buy me a coffee?"

b. "You smell kinda pretty. Wanna smell me?" (Johnny Bravo style and laugh like crazy after saying this)

The Title (again)

2007-11-16T19:45:00.001-05:00

Well, why "Axe and his 'x'"? Here's why.

My parents, Anup and Ashu, wanted their son to have a 4-letter first name starting with A, just like them. There were choices actually. Ajay was one of them I guess. But, of course, too common. Then Dad got this great idea (Kudos to you, Dad). If Laxmi can be named with an 'x' and so can be Dixit, why can't Akshay be renamed as Axay. So, that's how Axay got his name.

Throughout my life, people have asked me why I have this unique spelling, when it's supposed to be spelt as Akshay. I have always told them the same story that I just told you. Of course, people usually don't end up pronouncing it as Akshay, it's usually an Uck-suy or an Axe-aye. the only good thing about my name is that I always catch the attention of the person who finds out the spelling and that I get a unique username and password everywhere I sign up.

Anyway, so this spelling has been the most unique part of me and I think shall remain so forever. So, I thought that since this is the most important part of my life, something that's always set me apart, made me unique, why not pay tribute to it in a way and acknowledge it's significance. That's how this blog got it's name.

Of course, the "Axe" was chosen over the "Axay" because that's the name people refer to me by :-)

WTF? @ Title

2007-11-16T19:38:00.001-05:00

WTF?

That's what most of you will think when you probably read this title. I realized that all 3 of my blogs are in some way tailored for an audience. In case you didn't know, I have 3 others.

The Island of Life - http://island-of-life.blogspot.com (Philosophical blog)
The Junkyard Treasures - http://thejunkyardtreasures.blogspot.com (Technical blog)
Good Guys Always Finish Last - http://goodguysalwaysfinishlast.blogspot.com (A Story blog)

As you can see, none of the above three are really much me. This will be a blog about me and how I really feel and how my days go by. I am not really expecting people to read this, there are millions more out there like mine. But still, I need a place to put things down.

So, let's begin.