Framed

After having been tied down for the past 6.5 days, I finally managed to squeeze in some time to upload the pics from the blogger's meet - Blogout.

The gang roll call is available at Arnab's blog post And for write ups about the trip, check out sumans writeups and also the compilation of entire list inthis article by AnitaBora.

Meanwhile let me share some pics (rest are reserved for my photoblog) down here.

Flagged off:

Thats the railway station in the background.

Toy Train:

Slow but an enjoyable ride.

Touch me not:

Its a living creature...

Royal Welcome:

Sathish, Adel and Kavitha being welcomed by the King and his knight

Should we trust this king?

That is the expression of Ganesh, Anuja, Anjana, Satheesh, Senthil and Venkat.

So what if you are the king?

Venkat, Anita, Adel, Rupa and Tulsi

Trying to stand in a straight single line circle:

Kripa, Chander, Nithya, Suman and Vasu.

Base camp:


View from the Base camp:


Honnemardu Lake:


Backbenchers?


Carocling:






The Knight:

He was with me and Ganesh in the same Carocle.

Food Court:

Never knew that I would enjoy Sambar rice so much.

Camp:


What?

Can you guess the conversation based on the facial expression of the subjects?

Partin memories:

Left with heavy hearts (soaked to the bone)

Talagapa:

While we were waiting for the connecting shuttle to Shimoga, I sneaked out for a breather. It was worth it.

The snap in this SudaSudaCoffee post was taken at Talagapa only.

Till I get some time to pen things down, let me sign off (literarily and literally)

- Dheepak Ra

Bloggers Meet

Ooh. What a weekend this has turned out to be!

I wish I had some time to blog about it. But I am putting in 20 hour shifts for a particular deadline. So bear with me till I upload all the picts, give more details and blog roll you all.

Few close up shots of this are available but then its better tocheck out Arnab's post for list of bloggers.

Catch you all in a day or two.

P.S: I have smudged the email ids for privacy reasons. After all, those who need to know the email id must be already knowing it......

Yet another tag

I am tagged yet again this time on books by Ansh.

Total Number of Books I Own: Got a decent collection stretching from classics like Pride and prejudice in the north, modern Robin cook's Shock in the south, Russian classics in the east to the Enidblyton of the west. But I am not able to quantify them.

Last Book I bought: The monk who sold his ferrari (First time I bought a book purely on my friends recommendation)

Last Book I was gifted: Abdul Kalams work

Last Book I read: Michael Crichton's TimeLine

I am currently reading: Planning to start on The Last Don (Better late than never)

Five Books that mean a lot to me:

Let me modify this tag as the "five non-fictional books"

1. The Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh
This book succeeded in rekindling my interest in Mathematics where 12 years of heavy books and lectures had failed.
2. The Code Book by Simon Singh
Well it taught me in two days the world of cryptography which would have normally taken me two semesters to acquire. Simon singh is perhaps the only non-fiction author whom I recommend for everyone. His works are not only inspiring, but the way he dissects and exposes the subject for the common man that makes me rank him higher.
3. The World's 100 Most Influential People:
Is it a beautiful book? May be not.
Did it influence me? May be yes.
This was the first book which I had recieved as a gift some 15 years back. It has left a subtle impression on me......
4 and 5 - cant recollect off hand. May be its bcoz I spend most of my time immersed in fictional stuff.

As usual let me leave it to the readers discretion whether they would like to continue this tag or not.

Tagged......

Folks,

It seems as if Ashish has caught me. So here it goes: "a list of things that i'd like to do for the earth"

As usual let me start with the cribs first, the requirement wasnt too clear. Was it what I would like to do (just idealistic), or what I can possibly do (more realistic) or what I will do. (more probablistic).

What I currently do:
(The first 5 things which pops into my head)
1. Switch off the lights/fans whenever it isnt essential (Hey not in home. In office too)
2. Use both sides of paper.
3. Close the taps. (Not all taps have been retrofitted with sensors. Atleast not yet)
4. Use public transport system (Let me admit, I dont have a car right now)
5. Buy fountain coke instead of PET bottled cokes.

What I can/would do:
1. Use solar power in my home.
2. Spread the goodness of OTEC (I should have written under previous 5 points but just now it struck me)
3. Reduce Alkaline battery consumption (I use too many) - Need to stick only to rechargable batteries.
4. Reduce the amount of water, I consume during hot shower. (I can learn this by spending a fortnight in Chennai)
5. Reduce the plastic bag consumption. Currently on average, I am using 1 per day :-(

What I would like to do: (but most probably wont)
Well its same as what everyone writes about. You dont want me to repeat it here.

BTW I am supposed to tag a five more. However let me leave it open ended. By reading this post, you are accepting that you are tagged (similar to EULA of software - by opening the package, you are accepting the terms and conditions. Though the terms and conditions are available only within the package). Do write about what you do or what you would like either yourself or somebody else(say govt) should do to improve the environment. Most importantly leave the link in the comments.......

- Dheepak Ra

Movies worth watching

Here are some of the few, I had watched recently in theatres:

1. Flight of the Phoenix: (2 out of 5)
Its about how a flight crashlands in a desert and their successful attempt to make it flying again. Well nothing great about this movie. Not worth shelling out 150 bucks for this.

2. Kingdom of Heaven: (3 out of 5)
This is better than the previous one, yet it doesnt make it to my must watch list. If you have time to spare, you can goto this movie. As long as you dont have much expectations, this wont disappoint you.

A few in CDs:

1. Schindler's List: (4.5 out of 5)
No wonder spielberg wont the oscar for his performance. A beautiful, touching movie based on true story and novel which preceded it. I am falling in love with period films (like Aviator, Finding Neverland and now this one)

2. Man on Fire: (3 out of 5)
A typical story of revenge, set in Latin America. Sleek editing, nice shots and very good acting by Denzel washington. First part is slow and second part is fast (atleast supposed to be fast). However the movie as such is still just ok. But you can afford to watch it once though.

3. Seven Seconds: (1.5 out of 5)
Wesley snipe's stars in this movie which is best avoided. Its not even worth a review.....

Nope. There is no hindi rating down here. Its intentional. Except for Bunty Aur Babli (which i m planning to watch this weekend), there isnt one good movie for quite some time.