Omnium Gatherum

• Freebies
  These are good magazines but require passwords.
  Use these if you want to read them. India Today (NA edition, password - 19886) and Business Today (India edition, password - 37839)
  If these passwords belong to you, do let me know and I'll take them off this page.
  
  A more legitimate one. Here's a login (ppappu) and password (opener) for the London Times crossword.
  I paid 20 i-thought-it-was-worth-it pounds for this one, thinking that I'll recover the money in no time by winning one of the competitions.
  Now, I need a backup reason to explain this indulgence and hence the charity.
  
  
• Screenplays
  Yes, sounds weird, but let me assure you, screenplays are real fun to read.
  You notice a million things you missed in the movie and also realise that the real slog work goes on behind the scenes.
  
  Try this, American Pie and one of the best, Usual Suspects.
  
  
• Two music videos
  Basement Jaxx (Romeo). Don't let the name fool you. This addictive number's video is a saga of love lost and found,
  replete with action, emotion, commotion and lots of hip gyration. And oh yes! it also has a happy ending in true bollywood style.
  
  Some of my more devoted friends still carry their own cardboards to uptown clubs, ever since they watched Dirty Vegas ( Days go by ).
  Incidentally, this too is a tale of love - lost but not found.
  
  
• One token link
  This one is to increase the page rank of Tigle's music page . I've always maintained that the band name is too geeky.
  Personally, I think that band names should be a little arcane, preferably with a dash of latin, worthy of being used as the title of a chapter in one's biography
  and it also helps with the girls if the name is indicative of an intimate confession from one's dark past... wonder if there's something that meets all the criteria :).
  
  
• Lyrics and Poetry
  Not a big fan of poetry. Can't handle anything beyond Vikram Seth's simple verses written in the iambic tetrameter.
  But these are worth a link. Lyrics of Steely Dan's Gaucho , Jamiroquai's Feel So Good (au francais), Cocktails for two
  and (this one goes out to a friend) Rappin 4-tay's I'll be there.
  
  This one is for my hindi teacher in school. ( Arre' baba, open dee windows and let dee atmosphere come in) Harivansh Rai Bachchan's Madhushaalaa.
  
  
• In the News
  This one almost had me off my rocker. More so because, I happen to know the girl in the article. Ok, ok, she's a two hop acquaintance.
  But then, even J Lo is a two hop acquaintance of mine. (The hops being Sandy and Ja Rule!)
  
  Rumour mill has it that some cash strapped slimeballs are using these blueprints to further their entrepreneurial designs.
  
  
• Essential Slang
  Especially, when you really want to know what the other players in the basketball court are saying.
  
  
• White Paper
  Oh boy!, this one is a semi-tech whitepaper, a hard copy of which is with Sabeer Bhatia. The clincher, many honchos in the know have told me, is the logo.
  It was selected from 15 other entries and after about 7-8 revisions. A true mascot for the global brand it was to represent.
  Now, most of this stuff is on the backburner (stealth mode in startup parlance), so the uncharacteristic senti is not that inexplicable.
  
  I have some excel docs with cash flow studies and tech docs explaining the fundaes which I will put up once they have been sanitised and declassified.
  If you are still interested, I can show them to you, but then, I'll have to kill you.
  
  
• Norah Jones
  Not because she swept the grammys. Not because she has an Indian connection. Not because she's a pretty face (well, maybe).
  Not because of this or that.
  
  But, because of Day is Done (lyrics) from Songs from the Analog Playground which btw, is a CD nonpareil from Charlie Hunter
  and a must hear even for jazz lightweights.
  
  
• Juvenilia 1 (May, 2003)
  Stuff, I presumed, I would never put on the web. But lucky you! I stumbled on this nifty word and here they are, the first
  in a series of little somethings, I like to call (drum roll) juvenilia.
  
  
• On Star Wars (Jun, 2003)
  If I could censor three words from the web, they would be star-wars-trivia. Now, the movies are supposed to be good.
  Maybe so, maybe no. I haven't seen them.
  
  But here's a little segment featuring Conan's inimitable pet Triumph (Triumph visits star war nerds), reflecting exactly
  my sentiments on the movie and its band of acolytes.
  
  
• Tadasana Samasthithi (Jul, 2003)
  As you guys know, this is primarily an educational webpage. And from time to time, I try to put up information that
  yes, you dear visitor, can learn and use in your daily life, basically, to become a better person.
  
  So, here's a beginner's yoga posture that you can try practically any and everywhere.
  
  
• The Da Vinci Code (Good read. 4*s. Aug, 2003)
  Have you ever played that game where you need to spot ten differences between two seemingly similar pictures. No? Great.
  There's always a first time.
  
  Here are two paintings, both titled 'The Last Supper'. The famous one by Leonardo Da Vinci and another undistinguished one by Andrea Del Sarto.
  Besides the obvious differences, the keener eye (as opposed to the queer eye) will discern that the Da Vinci painting has an embedded secret code,
  a spectacularly flagrant oddity, a brazen thumbing-of-nose at history (as it is reported and believed).
  
  
• Stir the pot, of love (Sep, 2003)
  In the postscriptum of a book by a reputed author, I recently read that the title of a piece should have little or nothing to do
  with the actual content of the article. The idea is not to influence or constrict the expectations of the reader. Fundaa, if you ask me.
  
  I suspect, a few of you know what this entry is about. But, I'm willing to bet, the little spiel didn't prepare you for this .
  (Checkout the blurb below each item)
  
  
• All you who sleep tonight (Sep, 2003)
  I'm neither twenty-six nor do I think the world is too distressing (a wee bit, maybe). But I'm definitely in no mood for wit this afternoon.
  
  
• These came in the mail (Oct, 2003)
  Two emails, two songs and some fundaes. (1) (2)
  These were followed by more emails carrying - disclaimers ( don't mention my name - kind of silly ), corrections ( please use this
  grammatically correct version instead ), threats ( I'm gonna sue you for this ) and other related spam, which I promptly deleted!
  
  
• Jack and Karen
  The inimitable Jack shows how its done on the dance dance revolution pads. Too bad the video is clipped but still worth it. And another.
  
  
• An equal music
  My new favourite book and I hope to read it soon. Reputedly, a must read for the literarily and musically inclined.
  The clinching extract, "The refrigerator hummed irritatingly between G and G#". Need I say more.
  
  
• Making a short story long
  Here's another piece of juvenilia. I'm not too sure whether its fiction or non-fiction (you tell me!).
  I do know that it's a not-so-short story. But, if you are reading this, I'm guessing that you are also not-so-short of time. Enjoy!
  
  
• My two votes
  The greatest service that one can do for his country is to take an active interest in its politics.
  So, if you are going to be in India during the elections, please go and vote for A.B.Vajpayee's BJP and TDP.
  Phew! Did I just make my grandfather proud or what?
  
  
• A suitable plot
  I wrote this play long back, and later, to mark my return to sanity, I buried it under a heap of files and folders.
  To paraphrase Belbo, it was me trying to be funny or something. And it's embarrasingly bad.
  But I'm gonna share it with you, since, well, I got a kick out of it, so you might too.
  
  
• Bib No. 5004
  Some official (hence, the annoying copyright bands) pics from the St. Louis half marathon that I ran on 4/4/4.
  (13.1 miles ~ 21 kms ~ 1hr 57mins). Allegedly, if you have the time, you can spot me in all the pics.
  
  
• No holds barred
  Review of my recent ACM SIGCOMM submission.
  Looks like my thesis will *actually* make the world a better place.
  Denizens, this I swear, was totally unintentional and hope we can still be friends!