Chp 347. 10 must have apps for GoaFest 2011

Ah. GoaFest. It’s that time of the year again when hundreds of Indian ad agencies’ who’s who and wannabes mingle and vie for a coveted Abby’s, be it gold, silver or bronze. The Emmy’s of Indian Advertising.

Advertising is not just about creativity. It’s about innovation. And this is uber important especially for those in digital ad agencies. Last year’s GoaFest saw a fair amount of people using Foursquare and other mobile applications during the award ceremony. But sadly, GPRS coverage at the venue (Cavelossim) was extremely bad, which in itself was an irony – It’s like going to a nudist colony that prohibits members from removing their clothes.

This year, GoaFest will be held at Zuri White Sands. It’s around 4-5 km away from the nearest beach (I checked on Google Map) unlike other years when the function was held right next to a beach. So hopefully there will be better gprs coverage this time (No 3G yet in Goa).

As we all know, mobile innovations have increased by multifold during the past one year, mainly thanks to Android’s astounding growth. Hence here are our top 10 apps that will prove to be most useful during the upcoming GoaFest 2011. Although the apps are mainly Android specific, most of them are available for other OS too.

Here’s our list:

1. FourSquare

Yeah I know. You’re grinning. Ok we know 4sq was a big hype and never made it big here in India due to so many reasons and bugs – sometimes you can check-in at a place or become a mayor without even being there. I should know. I became the Mayor of GoaFest 2010 last year even before I landed in Goa. But still, it is better than Facebook Places (so far) and it looks like it is still the only popular GPS based social network app us tech nerds can play around with. And who knows? Maybe you can finally earn your “Player Please!” badge if you check in with three other women from your friend list at the award ceremony!


2. Google Maps / Latitude / Hotpot

Alright, Latitude promised to be the 4sq killer, but still needs time to catch on. Google Maps is useful, especially if you use it to search for the venue of GoaFest 2011. All those mouth-watering ads we see about 3D google maps and street view are not available here in India yet, so the best we can do is check-in where we are allowed to. At least we will know where our colleagues are in the midst of hundreds of admen (and adwomen) at the venue.


3. Twitter

Twitter apps. I will not get into which mobile phone twitter app is the best because everyone thinks what they’re using is the best. Just make sure you have at least one of the popular twitter apps installed on your handset, and set an alert notification for #GoaFest. Because that is what everyone at the venue will be tweeting about. Last year I was invited to participate at a TweetUp, during the award ceremony! This year too, I am sure there will be such an event, so if you are an active twitterati, make sure you don’t miss the hashtag #GoaFest.


4. Twitpic/Twitvid

An easy to use app that uploads your pictures and videos via twitter. Need I say more?


5. PicPlz

Here’s an amazing app that will upload any pic you take directly to your twitter, facebook, flickr, tumblr, posterous, dropbox and foursquare accounts all at once! [hat tip: giddyja] The best part about this app is its geo-tagging feature. Hence if you take any pic at any location and sync with your foursquare account, it will not just upload the pic on your foursquare destination but check you in there automatically too!


6. Phone tracker/security

Last year, a friend of mine lost his phone during GoaFest. Not surprising considering the amount of alcohol he drank. Make sure you have one of those phone tracker apps installed. McAfee WaveSecure (Free 7 day trial) lets you track your phone via GPS, informs your friends if it is switched off or sim removed, remotely locks your phone and erases sensitive data etc. MobileDefense informs you when somebody who “has” your mobile has inserted his sim – you can know that person’s network, battery life remaining, etc. and even send him a message like “B@stard, I know you have my phone!” You can also make your phone play a loud irritating sound remotely, in case you have dropped it somewhere near the beach after dark.


7. Ustream

This little app is amazing. It lets you broadcast live events on your ustream channel directly from your phone. You can embed that live stream video anywhere – Facebook, Blog, etc. Only downside is, it works well with wifi and 3G. Since there is no 3G at the venue, our only hope is that the organizers give us free wifi. After that, you can video live stream anything you want from your phone.



8. Shazam

Another useful app for GoaFest. What is an advertising award ceremony without the wild after-party till the break of dawn? Dance till you can drink no more is our philosophy. And with the DJs churning out various hit numbers on the dance floor, you can easily note down the artist and track name using this wonderful app. Plus it can prove useful if you are trying to impress that cute client servicing chick from a competing agency with your knowledge on music.


9. Drunk apps

Make sure you have installed at least one of those drunk apps that prevents you from posting inebriated tweets and status updates on facebook, so that you don’t regret it the next morning amidst a pounding hangover. Yeah, GoaFest means lots of free booze. At the same time, be careful about what you say online once you start Bboying on the dance floor for the first time in your life. Other apps like AlcoMeter, DrunkMeter, AlcoDroid etc. measure your blood alcohol level. DrunkBlocker prevents you from dialing once you’re drunk. Another good app is the DrunkTracker that tracks all your movement using GPS and records them so that the next day you can know where all you went in your drunken stupor.



10. Google Translate (Russian)

Last but not the least, make sure you have a shortcut to “translate.google.com” on your mobile browser, whether you are using Opera Mini, Dolphin browser etc. And put the default settings to “Russian to English”. Or download a Russian-English dictionary app from the Android Market. You’ll never know when you need it. Trust me.


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Compiled by Kima (Samsung Galaxy S I-90000) and Vishnu Menon (HTC), @ Webchuntney.

Disclaimer: All these apps drain your battery life really fast.

Chp 346. Mumbai: Hike in liquor prices!

This morning, I woke up in such a good mood – I’ll be leaving for GoaFest 2011 tomorrow, which means beaches, fenny, a well deserved break, Ad fests, nominations for The Abby’s, creative awards, beaches, shacks, fenny, beaches, all-night parties, etc..

And then I read this morning’s paper and became depressed immediately. Borderline Personality Disorder? Blame it on the news.

Party pooper: Liquor prices to go up by 40-60% in Mumbai

Talk of high spirits — beer and hard liquor will cost 40-60% more in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra. The alcoholic beverage industry is reworking costs steeply following the excise duty increase in the latest state budget.

The price rise will be steeper for popular or regular priced brands. A nip (180 ml pack) of Bagpiper and Officer's Choice whisky will move up from Rs 65 to Rs 105, jumping over 60%. McDowell's No. 1 whisky is expected to see an at least 50% hike with nips moving up from Rs 100 to Rs 150. A quart (750 ml pack) of Royal Stag whisky will jump from Rs 425 to Rs 615, while Blender's Pride will soar from Rs 650 to Rs 870.

Totally sucks.

It’s not like I’m an alcoholic and I will die if there’s no alcohol. I don’t drink to get drunk (errmmm…) But we work hard, from 9 in the morning to usually 1-2 in the morning almost every day. That’s like 16 hours a day. And after five such days of continuous hard work, it is indeed good to relax during the weekend with a bottle of sweet intoxicant… keeps my mind refreshed and my engines running for the next upcoming week.

Call me an old fart, but that’s how I spend my weekends now – Away from the digital world. No emails. No Facebook. No blogs. Just me and my sweet bottle of rum, watching a complete season of the latest something, either alone or with my ahemz. Complete relaxation.

And of course, being in Mumbai, there’s always the occasional party for some occasion or the other. Birthdays. Promos. Reunions. Farewells. Kitty parties.

Considering all that, and clubbing it with the high cost of living in Mumbai, life is definitely not going to be easy with such steep rise in liquor price. Vijay Rekhi, MD of United Spirits Ltd. whose Signature whisky jumped from Rs 650 to well over Rs 850 admitted that this is the biggest price hike he has seen in his career.

I’m a BLASINK – Bachelor Living Alone, Single Income, No Kids. With this 40-60% increase, my social life will definitely hit a sink hole.

I guess my lifestyle is definitely going to change in the next few weeks/months. With the only two options – either consume less of my regular brand, or shift to a cheaper brand, seem to be my main dilemma now. Well, at least thinking about Mizoram makes this pain less hurtful. The costs of illicit liquor and smuggled booze in Mizoram are still way more expensive than any other places in India.

This steep rise in liquor price is definitely going to affect the common man. But the worst affected will not be the consumers, but rather the small liquor business owners. I wonder how this will change the economy in the long run.

As for now, I’m training my thoughts on Goa. Letting this unhappy news slip by. Reach Goa. Have as much fun as possible. Drink, drink, drink. Cheap liquor. Cheap liquor. Cheap liquor. How I wish I’m a camel so that I can store some of the cheap booze in my body and re-consume them much later in Mumbai.

Ah…

Chp 345. April Fooled!

Every time you see an ad about a really good offer, the first thing that comes to your mind is, “Damn, this is too good to be true.” Because you know very damn well there’s always a hidden clause somewhere. The dreaded disclaimer. Always.

For example: An apparel shop that advertises – Buy 2, Get 5 Free! Good offer? Well, if you go to such a shop, you’ll discover that either the two items you have to buy (in order to get 5 free) are extremely expensive, or they are cheap but none of them fit you properly (factory defects).

Or a merchant that offers you Rs. 2000 gift voucher - Only drawback is you have to spend that within the next 2 days at the same store, and that too on selected items only. Or a free pitcher of beer coupon on your next visit, which sadly can be utilized only during the time of a day and week when no one, including you, would be visiting the pub. The list is endless.

I’ve written earlier about how a lot of showrooms and brands give huge discounts at this time of the year, and that one of the main reasons for such discounts is not because of their “end of season clearance” but rather because this is the end of the financial year, hence many of us do not have that much moolah due to tax and investments.

You’ll be really lucky if you can find a deal that gratifies you, you know, that feeling you get when, after shopping the entire day you reach home dead tired dying for a foot rub and you look at all the branded plastic bags lying on your bed and you think of all the money and energy you’ve just spent, but even then you have this large satisfying grin all across your face and you sigh “oh that was one hell of a an amazing shopping session! The deals I got were fantabulous!!! Now lemme put on my new “Ursula” Jimmy Choo spring collection and show off in front of my friends.”



Anyway I stopped being a victim of such discounts a long time ago, but last Saturday I was once again suckered into it.

An early April Fools Day for me.

So last Saturday, me and my *ahemz* decided to check out this full page “Big Bazaar” advertisement we saw on TOI.



Cool right?

I mean, how great was this campaign? Instead of offering just discounts, they were offering great deals - You could sell them your old newspapers, books, clothes electronics etc. and that too at attractive rates! Awesome!

Living in a city like Mumbai, newspapers (and “bottles”) accumulate faster in your house than “performers” running out through the back door when cops raid a dance bar. And I sell my old newspapers at 7 bucks per kg, while Big Bazaar was offering me 30 bucks per kg!

And that’s not all. The other exchange rates:

Old utensils – Rs. 150 per kg
Old shoes – Rs. 100 per kg
Old luggage – Rs. 100 per kg
Old clothes – Rs. 200 per kg
Old electronics – Up to Rs. 10,000 (depending on the quality)

FTW! Not only were we getting amazing exchange rates, we could get rid of all the junk that we didn’t need. Of course the catch was that we had to spend whatever money we received from our “sale” at Big Bazaar itself, which we really didn’t mind. Big Bazaar had a lot of household items we needed, especially when it was almost as if we were paying nothing.

And so, last Sunday we went to Big Bazaar with four heavy bags full of “stuff”.

Oh what fools we were…

Initially, everything went fine. I was a little bit embarrassed carrying all those heavy bags through a Sunday crowd in a renowned Mall (felt a bit cheap, hihihi).

But there were others there too, and an attendant started weighing our things. She noted down all our items category-wise along with their respective weights. I grew a little bit suspicious when she didn’t even bother to check the quality of some of the old clothes we sold, but I quickly brushed the thought aside.





Finally she gave us a receipt and we went inside Big Bazaar.

We submitted our receipt to another employee and she sat in front of her big computer while we waited in great anticipation. She kept referring to her notes here and there, and finally gave us our coupons. The total amount of items we sold was worth a whooping Rs. 3000! Bingo, Jack Pot!

Right then, it really felt good. Right then, I started believing in all those discounts offers again.



But sadly… our joys were short-lived.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out, there was indeed a clause. A fucking clause.

In the midst of our excitement, we failed to notice one very simple (and small) line in the newspaper ad: “Shop for 4-10 times the value of exchange coupons to avail the discounts.”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhhhhh!

On the coupons (worth Rs. 3000) that we received, the disclaimer was printed there more clearly. We had to freaking shop for a certain amount in order to use the coupons. For example, if an item costs Rs. 40, I could use Rs. 10 from my coupons and pay the rest using cash. Hence for a 40 bucks item, I just had to spend 30 bucks + 10 bucks from the coupons.

Hence in order to spend the Rs. 3000 coupon we got, we had to buy goods worth Rs. 12,000 from Big Bazaar. From the Rs. 12,000 total cost, we had to pay only Rs. 9000 and the remaining Rs. 3000 could be paid by the coupons value.

And this was only for categories where we had to spend 4 times the amount (fruits, sweets, toiletries etc). For new electronic items, we had to spend 10 times the freaking coupon value. Hence if I wanted to buy electronics and utilize my Rs. 3000 coupon, we had to buy electronics worth Rs. 30,000 and pay only 27,000 while the remaining 3000 could be covered by the coupons.

What a screwed up deal! It was then that we realized, it was much more profitable (for us) had we sold the newspapers for Rs. 7 per kg to our regular scrap dealer. At least his 7 bucks meant 7 bucks. No strings attached.

Yeah yeah, Big Bazaar, you got me this time. BB 1 – Kima 0.

But I will never forget this moment, BB. Nevaaaa! Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Anybody wants extra Big Bazaar coupons? They will expire this coming Sunday only. Feel free to ask me.

Chp 344. Why I don’t like cricket - II

India’s QF match was amazing. We won a thriller against Australia and there were celebrations all over India. Well done India! I’m so looking forward to Wednesday’s “Finals before the Finals” match against Pakistan. Comon Indiaaaaa!

Ok now on to part 2 of why I don’t like cricket

Like I said before, I will cheer for my country during the World Cup, but other than that I do not watch cricket anymore.

I did pour out a lot of emotions on my previous post. I’m sorry if that sounded harsh to some [which even evoked a response post], but that’s just the way I feel. I see things as they are and I don’t try to justify it with counter-reasoning or fervent mediocrity.

The next (and final) point is purely about the way we get to see the game, and not about the game or the fans.


Reason #2 – Why I don’t like cricket - Advertisements Over-Dose!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my main game was basketball. School and College basketball captain, University team member, played for various successful clubs in Mizoram and Tamilnadu, and even managed to qualify for an International level club tournament (where we got hammered by Mercantile Bank, Sri Lanka).

I was addicted to NBA back then. Never used to miss the Playoffs on TV as it usually took place during my summer vacations. I was a hardcore Jazz fan during the Jazz-Bulls rivalry of ’97, ’98. I hated the Bulls. Don’t get me wrong, Jordan was God, and the others like Pippen, Rodman, Kukoc, Longley were all good too. But John Stockton was my idol. I loved the Jazz team combo of Stockton, Malone, Hornacek, Ostertag, and Anderson. Simple yet effective, whereas the Bulls were more of a stylish one-man show.

I could relate myself to Stockton really well because he did none of the fancy superman stuff that Jordan did (which was awesome, but didn’t help me in my career at all as I’d never be able to do those stuff). Stockton was down to earth simple, yet lead the league when it came to assists and steals. I learnt a lot from him as I too was a play maker (ball-controller). Maybe that was why all my NBA idols those days were all point guards –Stockton, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Damon Stoudamire, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Avery Johnson, Penny Hardaway, Tim Hardaway etc. Short guys who could dribble, pass, steal, assist and shoot over big guys.

After the Bulls era came the Lakers and Spurs, and the Finals started becoming boring because whoever won the Western conference (either Lakers or Spurs) would usually go on to win the conference Finals.

But the main reason why I stopped watching the NBA playoffs was because I discovered football. I became an ardent fan of Arsenal during the early 2000s, and it struck me – watching football was wayyyyyy more exciting and interesting than basketball because of one very simple reason – lack of advertisements!

With football, I get 45 minutes + another 45 minutes of pure uninterrupted continuous joy. No advertisements except during half time.

With basketball, especially towards the end when there is just one minute left and the score is almost tied, expect the game to drag on for at least another 10 minutes or so with either coach calling a time out every 5 seconds, followed by yet another bombardment of advertisements.

That’s the same case with cricket. Too many advertisements. A couple of ads after every freaking over. And that’s not all - If an important wicket is taken during a match, instead of a slow motion replay or commentary from the experts – advertisements fill our TV screens. By the time the ad is over, the excitement about that wicket has all but fizzled down.

Imagine the same thing happening for football! An ad appearing every time the ball goes out or there is an injury or even during a substitution! Dayymmm. That would be the end of football for me.

You might find it a bit ironic that I am bitching about ads so much, considering I work in an ad agency. Well, a prostitute who sells her body for money does it for the money, and not because she enjoys having sex with different strangers. I roll out ads because it is my line of work, but watching football is my passion, and I wouldn’t like any ads interfering with my pleasure - my moment of solace.

Making ads is fun. Watching them while you’re in the middle of something else? Not so much fun. For the more mature audience out there, I’m sure you wouldn’t wanna be interrupted every 3-4 minutes during sex, would ya? Same thing with cricket - Why the interruption?

In cricket, just imagine a complete innings taking place without a single ad! After every over, instead of ads, imagine if they show replays of important shots or wickets, or stats of the players, strategy etc. by an expert commentary panel. Wouldn’t that be freaking awesome?

But then again, that will never happen. Cricket is an Advertising Heaven. That’s the reason why the media gives it so much attention – because of its huge potential as a cash cow. By giving the game more prominence compared to any other sports, more people are hooked to this game, ergo more money churning in. If you think this game is for the common man, do you even know how many tickets are actually available this World Cup for the common man? And the few tickets available are being sold in the black market at prices as high as 50,000 bucks! Yes, the perfect venue to mint cash while you are I lose out obliviously, like sheep to the slaughter.

One may argue with the chicken and egg theory – what came first - The cricket fan or the media buzz? But at the end of the day, what we get are ads after ads interrupting us incessantly during an exciting innings or over. It’s like hitting a speed breaker every time your adrenalin is just about to take off. But like it or not, that is what we get – more ads, less cricket. And nothing we say or do will stop certain people from getting richer even at the cost of our entertainment. Clearly at the end of this World Cup, the team that wins will not be the only winner.

Chp 343. Why I don’t like cricket - I

Well if you’re thinking this is just a rant by somebody who is crazy about football and doesn't understand the game of cricket, you’re mistaken. I was never born with a grudge against cricket – my dislike for the game grew through the years.

Here are the main reasons why I don’t like cricket -


1. The association of cricket with patriotism


Many of my friends do not know this, but back in school (Tamilnadu) I used to play cricket and was even a pretty good fast bowler! Surprised? Yeah its confession time I guess. Today I act like I do not understand the game at all, and even irritate my colleagues with moronic questions like “Which team is batting first? Ok. And which team is batting second?”

I stopped playing cricket in college as I concentrated on my main game – basketball. From school BB captain to college BB captain, I’ve never known a more satisfying pleasure than sweating it out on court every evening and converting a fade-away 3-pointer with a swiiiish. After college, I moved to Hyderabad where my good friend Pawan would come over during the cricket Asia Cup (2004) and we would cheer our asses out for our national team.

But it was there that I started meeting certain type of people who associated cricket with jingoism – the fanatics. Sure, when India is playing, I will cheer for my country. But why the eff should I watch a boring test match? And how does watching India play a test match make anyone more “Indian” than the other???

At first, I thought that was just the mentality of some people, but as I started traveling more around India, from Lucknow to Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, back to B’lore etc, this disturbing cricket fever (or should I say plague) has infected far more people than I feared. If you ever say you don’t like to watch cricket, expect people to stare at you in disbelief, some even going to the extent of calling you a traitor! And most of them even assume cricket is our National Sport! Lolz.

Sure our Indian cricket team has won more laurels than other Indian sports (if we don’t count the 8 Olympic gold and 1 World Cup title won by our hockey team of past), but nobody has the right to force anybody to like any sports. And I have never even hated this game in the first place – it was such people with their more-patriotic-than-thou bullshit attitude who kept spewing out their fucked-up ideology at me that made me dislike this game today.

Now, if India plays, I just lock myself up in my room and watch the game on my own, cheering for every six and four we hit or every wicket we take. But I will not become one of those obnoxious blockheads who are quick to judge anybody as unpatriotic just because the game of cricket doesn’t appeal to them.

If you don’t believe me, try writing a blog post about cricket and criticize it, maybe even calling it a stupid game – you will see lots of angry abusive comments about how you have no right to say such horrible things about cricket and your country, even though you have not mentioned India anywhere in your post, and that you should be lynched or thrown out of India for such a blasphemous post.

Such is the fanaticism. And such is the reason why I distance myself from this game today. It’s not the game. It’s the people. And the media just loves adding fuel to this fire, don’t they?

When our Indian football team plays against other countries in the AFC, or when our hockey team plays in international matches (there’s the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah cup tournament in Malaysia), or when Paes, Mirza, Somdev etc play a tennis match, I never accuse any of my friends who don’t follow such tournaments of “betraying India”, because interest in a particular sports has nothing to do with patriotism.

Yet, many people believe you either love cricket or you don’t love India. Just cricket, cricket, cricket. No other sports. Even when India is not playing! - WTF, I’ve been asked why I wasn’t watching the Bangladesh – South Africa match because every Indian should be watching it! I’ve faced similar questions last year during the IPL tournament too when my loyalty to India was questioned because I’d rather watch an EPL match than an IPL match. For fuck’s sake, an IPL team consists of many foreigners. Where’s the patriotism in that?

If you and I join this unruly crowd of delusional cricket lovers not interested in any other sports, then the day when India will not excel in any other sports approaches closer and closer. No viewers = No buzz = No sponsors = No tournament = No players. The death of all the dreams and hopes of every other Indian sportsperson whose only fault is because he or she was excelling in some sports other than cricket.

Now what is so patriotic about THAT?

I’m not saying stop watching cricket this World Cup. If India plays, I wish them all the best and will definitely be there cheering for my country. But if somebody shows no interest in the game, don’t assume it’s because that person doesn’t love this country – he or she just finds the game boring. Simple as that. I love physical sports but chess bores me to death. If there’s a World Cup for chess and India is playing in the “Finals” against, say, Russia, I will definitely NOT be watching the “match”. Doesn’t mean I’m unpatriotic. I’m just bored.

Why can’t some of you see it this way?


[To be continued - Reason #2. Advertisements and over-exposure]

Chp 342. Whatever happened to… Alizée?

Last night, completely out of the blue, I thought of Alizée! Remember Alizée? That cute young French chick so many of us had a crush on almost ten years ago? What the hell happened to her?



Flashback circa 2003. Some juniors from our college hostel campus managed to download the music video (live performance version) of Alizée’s J’en ai marre, and that immediately spread like wildfire in the hostel with everybody carrying their large IDE hard disks to various hostel blocks to copy the file, and every time we had to shut down and open up our CPU cabinet and attach the IDE cable and power cable, while rearranging the jumper if necessary, and doing the same thing again once we had transferred the file… ah those golden years. Lolz.

But it was worth it!

So I googled today and here is one of her songs we all loved those days – J’en ai marre. It’s in French. I studied French as a second language for six years in school. So I didn’t understand anything.



What’s so special about her? I dunno… She’s not the Megan Fox hot kind. She’s extremely cute and pretty, and yet has a slight charm of sexiness in her which she teasingly flaunts, but not very obviously. I think she was famous during the same era as the girl band M2M and in the same cuteness category, but they definitely didn’t come under “sexy” like her.

Trust me, I wasn’t into this kinda music. I was a death-metal loving hardcore grunger with tattoos all over my arm and ready to rebel about anything. I even made a “Kill Boyband” website on geocities those days. But one look at her (music video) and I was completely smitten. That doesn’t happen much, you know.

Her cover of Madonna’s La Isla Bonita isn’t bad either –



Here are the other music videos of J’en ai marre.

[French version]


[English version]



Listening to the English version, you suddenly realize, this song is not exactly “innocent” as you thought it was… bubbles and water, legs up for hours… I’m fed up… lolz!

Today I spent some time on Google researching about her, and looks like she is pretty much still around! But then her next two albums didn’t make much of a ripple at all in the music industry. Her two new albums Psychédélices [2007] and Une Enfant Du Siècle [2010] didn’t get as many hits as her pre-2003 days on last.fm, or on the global chart position. In fact she’s been written off by many critics as a cutie desperately trying to be sexy. Too bad…

I’m not interested in knowing how her two new albums sound like. I’m just posting this frivolous post to talk about a crush I once had.

Chp 341. Carling Cup Final

Testing "Cover It Live".

Carling Cup Final
Arsenal vs Birmingham
Venue: Wembley


Ok today is the day - The much awaited Carling Cup Final. Ever since "The Invincibles" days of longest unbeaten run record and total domination of the EPL, Arsenal has been going without a trophy for 6 years now. So many times we have come sooo close to winning a trophy, but eventually lose out in the end. This Carling Cup will be our first silverware in 6 years if we win tonight.

The AMSC (Arsenal Mumbai Supporters Club) are screening the match at Big Daddy's, Khar. 300 bucks entry, which includes two beer or two redbulls, and one starter.

Red + White jersey compulsory.

Apart from knowing a few members of the AMSC, I am going with Shruti, our new Art Director, and Nirav and his wife. All of us are hardcore Arsenal fans.

Fabregas and Theo will not be playing due to injury, but we have pretty good hope about winning. More than 150 gooners have already confirmed to show up at the AMSC screening, and that is excluding those who confirmed via emails and phones, so my friends and I are planning to reach the venue at least an hour early so that we'll have a good place to sit, lolz. But then again, I'm sure we'll be at our feet most of the time.

Meanwhile, I am just trying out this "Coveritlive" feature, embedded below. It may not even work, but in case it does, I'll try to update as much as I can from the venue. I don't even know how long I am allowed to cover the event. Anyway, let's see...

Cheers!

Chp 340. Testing Blogger Android App

Hello world...Update: Nice! Not bad at all. Editing post is also quite easy!Update 2: Ok linebreaks not happening. The Android editor is not WYSIWYG editor... :(

Update 3: Ok linebreaks and para happening only if I enter the HTML codes directly... Sad :(

Update 4: Testing image upload... ok no feature to upload pic in existing post. If I want to upload a pic, looks like it will become a new (separate) post...

Update 5: Testing comment... working well. simple and direct.

Conclusion- Overall, this app may be good for micro-bloggers or those blogging from a place abt breaking news etc... but definitely not recommended as a substitute for normal web version of blogger.

Even if I am going to blog from my phone, I'll still use the built-in Android browser or Opera browser to access and creat/edit a blog post rather using this Blogger-Android app. Sorry Blogger.

.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.2

Chp 339. Practical Facebook relationship statuses

Today, Facebook launched two new relationship status options - “In a domestic partnership” and “In a civil union” so as to make the world’s largest social networking site more LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender) friendly.

Mashable: Facebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options

These two new options should be rolled out to residents of other countries soon. In countries where same-sex marriages are already legal, these options will not appear. A Facebook rep told us in an e-mail, “This has been a highly requested feature from users. We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.”

Facebook already has the following relationship statuses:

• Single
  
• In a relationship
  
• Engaged
  
• Married
  
• It’s complicated
  
• In an open relationship
  
• Widowed
  
• Separated
  
• Divorced

Nowadays, it is no longer considered strange or awkward to shout out to the whole wide world whether we are in a committed relationship or have just broken up with somebody. Just yesterday alone, a man was arrested because he changed his Facebook relationship status! [Link] That’s the crazy world we live in today.

So if Facebook is trying to make the site more practical and provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships, I was thinking, why not add a few more relationship statuses, you know, stuff that actually happen in real life.

Here is my list of 20 Facebook relationship statuses that are totally practical today. Feel free to add yours at the comment section. I’ll include them in this post later.

1. Married, but ready to mingle.


2. Sugar daddy to …


3. Sugar momma of …


4. in a one-night-stand relationship


5. is currently cheating on …


6. is sleeping around with everybody. MYOFB.


7. in a Ménage-à-trois relationship with … and …


8. in a complicated love triangle with … and …


9. secretly fantasizes about …


10. is currently leading on …


11. is currently stalking …


12. is currently being stalked by …


13. answers …'s booty calls.
    


14. Open to wife/husband swapping.


15. concubine of … along with … and … and … and [limit: 300 people]


16. is faking a relationship


17. charges 1000 bucks for a good relationship, hourly.


18. virgin.


19. virgin, but not by choice.


20. in a relationship with my right hand.

Your turn :)

-----------------------------

• Live-in
  
• Friends with benefits

[Puia Hmar via Facebook]

• Born-again virgin
  
• Single parent
  
• Just playing around

[Aduhi via blogger]

• Cheating on my right hand with my left hand

[Samuel via Facebook]

• Cheated on by … currently rebounding on …

[Stephanie via Twitter]

Chp 338. The night every Arsenal fan will remember!

Stayed up till 4am this morning. Back in office by 9am. Tired. Sleepy. Drained. Emotionally spent. Was it worth it? Of course it bloody was! Arsenal came back from a goal down to win 2-1, and played one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen!

Champions League "Round of 16" 1st leg. Arsenal versus Barcelona. Everybody laughed at us. Mocked us. Pitied us.

“Barcelona’s the defending champion,” they said.

“How are you going to beat Barca?” they asked.

“Will you have the guts to watch the match live?” they mocked.

“Remember last year when Messi scored 4 goals?” they taunted.

“Barca were recently on a 16 games winning spree, has lost only 1 match and drawn 2 at La Liga so far, and currently on top of the table of Spanish league”, they reminded.

“They thrashed Real Madrid 5-0!” they concluded.

Bookies placed the odds at 29-0 or something like that for Barcelona to win, I remember reading somewhere.

Barcelona-Lite, they called us. Rubbing salt into an injury that wasn’t even there yet.

Well, what can I say. A big fuck you to all who didn’t believe in us! We played amazing last night, and emerged the clear victor.

Of course it was just the first leg, I know, I know. But this result definitely sends a clear message to all our critics. DO NOT TAKE US LIGHTLY. We are the mighty Gunners. We will load our cannons and fire up your Arse. We, the mighty Arse.

Sure, last year too when we faced Barcelona at the Quarter Finals for the first leg at Emirates, the score was 2-2. And this year, it is 2-1. How different was it, you may ask?

Well for one thing, it was an entirely different game. Last year, Barca were up 2-0 during the first leg. They dominated the game and we were lucky they didn’t score more. With around 20 mins left, Walcott fired one home to make the score 2-1. And then Puyol got a red card so Barca was one man down. We scored a penalty and eventually the score was 2-2.

But last night, things were completely different. Arsenal totally dominated the second half! Oh the passes, the one-touch game, the combination, the execution, they were all perfect! And it’s not like Barca played badly. No, they played their usual beautiful game. Arsenal just happened to trump that and played better. I would have definitely enjoyed watching the match even if I was not an Arsenal fan.

Jack Wilshere was definitely my man of the match. The youngster is the next Fabregas, trust me. Szczesny too played a pivot role in this grand victory. Hats off to him as well. Kudos to Kos for making sure Messi doesn’t make a mess this time.

But what made this victory even sweeter for me was that, I can now show our “Mumbai Mirror” newspaper the big middle finger!

Yeah, for those of us Arsenal fans in Mumbai, nothing was more insulting than the newspaper mocking Arsenal on Wednesday.



And they even got the fucking Arsenal lineup wrong!



Former Barca striker Ibrahimovic is playing for Arsenal? The same dude who scored twice against Arsenal in the first leg last year? Hah, Mumbai Mirror, you really really should be more careful with your source.

This morning as I picked up a copy of Mumbai Mirror, I laughed at it. A deep condescending evil laughter. MUAH HA HA HA. In your face, Mumbai Mirror.


Looks like Barcelona will now be called “Arsenal Lite”. Bwahahaha!

Chp 337. Cheap Valentine

During my carefree and unemployed days, I used to love this time of the year – Jan, Feb, March. Not only is there a Valentine’s Day in between, but these three months are also filled with “End of Season SALE” at various showrooms and malls.

Now that I am finally working, I suddenly hate this time of the year.

Yeah, it’s only when you actually start earning and stop depending on your folk’s money that you realize this time of the year sucks. Uberly.

With the financial year coming to an end, you are either making desperate attempt to invest more in mutual funds, life insurance etc. or running around in the last minute to get your rent receipts or medical bills in order etc. or trying to build up a certain amount of savings that you can’t touch or getting a large chunk of your salary deducted due to tax because you didn’t invest enough etc. etc. Whatever be the case, you end up with hardly anything in your wallet.

And yes, every year since I started working, the same story repeats itself. Ah sometimes I miss the bliss and freedom of not getting paid…

Now you know why all these brands and outlets have humongous SALES and offers during this time of the year - Because they know most people will be extremely tight on their budget. Hah. End of Season Sale, my ass.

Seeing such ridiculous sales does not even humor me anymore. Like for example, this offer I saw at a Mall yesterday. Five years ago, I would be laughing at such a sign. Today, it is no longer funny.



Ok, I confess it does bring a small smile… but it’s not as funny as it used to be.

And it’s not just the malls and shops that are filled with such offers and discounts. Even our newspapers are blatantly covered with them. TV commercials and sms campaigns bombard you incessantly about Valentine’s Day specials. Seeing all these ads makes me dislike Valentine’s Day even more.

I don’t hate this day because of the Ads. After all, I do work in the advertising industry and it would be really ironic of me to do so. Lolz. No I hate this day because of the timing – why the hell does Valentine’s Day have to fall bang in the middle of tax season? Why not April to December when the cash flow is so much smoother then?

Did the evil old Emperor Claudius foresee all this when he killed Saint Valentine many years ago and said, “Years from now, young lovers will celebrate their love to commemorate his death, but this will also be the time when they’ll have to file for income tax return, submit investment proof etc hence making it difficult for them to buy expensive gifts. This will be the worst mental torture I can bestow upon them. Therefore as a super badass villain, I have just fulfilled my ultimate goal! Bwahahahaa!”

Maybe. Maybe not.

But when you see (or make) such ads shouting out to people that there’s only one way to prove your genuine love and that is by buying her a diamond ring, it kinda makes you cringe as you dig deep into your pocket.

And hell, it’s not just expensive gifts like diamond rings, pearl necklaces and Swiss watches. Today’s TOI frontpage talks about cosmetic surgery as the ideal Valentine’s Day gift!



Well I may be giving my girl a gift. Or I may not. That’s personal. But one thing’s for sure – I am definitely going to include one of those free coupons too, you know, the ones that say “This coupon entitles you to one free hug from me” or “This coupon guarantees that I will be at your beck and call any time of the day from 16 Feb to 25 Feb, 2011” types.

Sweet. Romantic. And cheap

Here’s one such coupon my girl showed me yesterday. As she showed me the ad, she did a slight “ahem” with her throat.



Quickly reading it, I turned the page doing a slight “ahem” with my throat too. She punched me.

But yeah I have to admit – I love this Ad.

At first I thought it was a public service message. And then I saw it was an ad for Nicorette - that TV Ad where the cigarette packet is stuck to the dad’s hand as he tried to throw it in a dustbin. Yeah, very clichéd idea *yawn*. But this new campaign (Quit India – Movement for a Tobacco Free India) is amazing and I just love it.

Upon further investigation, here is their website | Facebook | Twitter links. Follow them. I wonder which Agency made this. And why had there been no louder buzz regarding this campaign??? I really am contemplating about quitting… one day…

Maybe I’ll update my blog with those free coupons I was talking about earlier (free foot massage etc). But for a free coupon, this Nicorette campaign “I quit smoking for the one I love” Valentine’s Day coupon is freaking awesome. I love it! I think this coupon is way better and more precious than all the D’damas and De Beers gifts a guy can give to his girl.

Ladies, what do you think?

Chp 336. RIP - Zika

Just heard the shocking news this morning from my sister – Zika, a hornbill that had become a family to so many people, was brutally murdered on February 1st, 2010. The news of his death became public this morning, casting a dark shadow over my locality.

Zika was not just another hornbill. He was extremely smart, friendly and not at all intimidated by humans. He frequented my locality (Chaltlang) a lot and everybody called out his name whenever they saw him, right from the smallest children to the oldest grandpa. In fact, many people who visited my locality would hope to see if they were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Zika in action.

He was extremely popular because, after all, you don’t see any hornbills in the city, and even if you do, they’ll fly away immediately due to their natural instinct. Zika on the other hand, would directly approach you, look at you questioningly as if he’s trying to cheer you up in case you were feeling down, or just give you company because he thought you’re lonely. That is Zika.

He would fly from house to house, and everywhere he flew, people would feed him or chat with him. He would listen to you attentively, and at the same time he loved the attention he was getting from everyone.

He would watch people play football and sometimes even try to take part in the game whenever the ball was kicked in the air. He would greet school children going to school and sometimes even looked like he was trying to help them cross the busy dawrkawn road. And sometimes he would just sit at Chaltlang (dawrkawn) bus stand, greeting people who got down from the bus, as if say, “Welcome to Chaltlang”. Yes, and sometimes he would actually travel with the people inside buses or taxis!

He was truly the people’s bird.

Here is a video I took of him just barely a month ago. I did a little editing on the video and sound. I can’t believe he is no more…




According to report from The Aizawl Post newspaper, around a week ago, Zika flew to Zemabawk, a neighboring locality. He usually doesn’t venture that far from Chaltlang but this time, I guess he wanted to explore the area a bit more.

When people from Zemabawk locality saw him, the community leaders immediately announced on public loudspeakers that the bird was not to be harmed in anyway.

But then, when Zika didn’t come home to his owner’s house, Pu Zairema Sailo from Laipuitlang locality, for almost a week, they started having a bad feeling. Zika always return home and was not the type to run fly away from home or spend the night someplace else.

So when the owner started looking for him, they eventually discovered that two people from Zemabawk who apparently did not hear the announcement on the public loudspeaker saw him… and killed him.

As of today, the two culprits are booked and face possible imprisonment of 3-7 years as the hornbill is under Schedule animal 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

I really don’t wanna talk about how he died. It’s too painful. I feel sad to know we’re going to miss such an iconic bird. And I feel sorry for my two nieces and so many other children of my locality who have looked up to this bird as their role model and hero – A mascot of hope.

RIP Zika.

Chp 335. Advertising and stereotypes - where do we draw the line?

These past few days, I’ve been watching a lot of TV. And every time the new Frito Lay’s cricket World Cup ad comes on TV, I cringe a bit. I find it quite irritating and always end up changing the channel whenever this ad comes on.

I know this is trivial. You can just consider this post a rant if you want. It may not even be racism, but it is offensive nonetheless. I can’t believe an agency like JWT would stoop this low to produce such cheap humor.




0:15 minute of the ad is what I find tasteless.

I mean… where’s the humor? That the guy who’s supposed to be a Nepali was so stupid that he didn’t even know Nepal’s not playing in the cricket World Cup?

Anyway, here is the gist of the campaign - Frito-Lay India Pvt. Ltd. has just launched their new commercial this month entitled “Kaun jeetega World Cup”. Six new flavours were launched - India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, England and South Africa.

Australia’s Herb ‘n’ Lime
South Africa’s Peri Peri Sauce
Sri Lanka’s Sweet Onion Sauce
England’s Grilled Cheese
West Indies’ Hot & Sweet Chilli
India’s Magic Masala



Pepsico launches six new Lay's flavours for the ICC World Cup

"We are the global snacks partner with the ICC World Cup in 2011. That's why we are building on this relationship. As a global snacks partner, we are leveraging the association to give consumer experiences and build our brand image," Pepsico Foods India Marketing Director Vidur Vyas told reporters.

The TVC script followed the usual routine without straying from the branding - Cast your brand ambassadors together, introduce the six new flavors, add elements of surprise, play the patriotic card, and so on and so forth. I have no issue with the ad, except for the one part mentioned above.

So everybody started shouting the names of different countries they support for the World Cup (which you realize later is actually the names of the flavors). And then one guy shouted Nepal, to which another person from the crowd slapped him and told him Nepal is not playing in the World Cup, in a very condescending tone.

I noticed it right then the dissimilarity in flow. The guy who shouted Nepal had mongoloid features, hence anybody would immediately assume he’s a Nepali. So I guess people of different nationalities were rooting for their respective countries. But the others who shouted England, etc do not look like people from such places at all. In fact they were all Indians.

In advertising, to make it easier and simple for people to understand, we usually feature stereotypes in our ads. This is definitely the part of my job I am not that proud of. When we do that, we are treading on very thin ice, especially when it comes to cultural identification in such a diverse country as India.

So many questions came up from the above incident alone. Why couldn’t it be somebody with an “Indian face” who shouted “Nepal”? Why did it have to be Nepal? Why couldn’t it be foreigners who were cheering for England etc?

And the most important question of all – why include that part in the first place? What did it achieve? It humiliated the guy and made him look stupid so that we could all laugh at him? The same way we always laugh at people with mongoloid features and call them watchmen, kanchha, momo? Humiliating people of Mongoloid origin is not something new even today.

And here’s one of the biggest misconceptions about Nepal. So many of them do not have mongoloid features at all. Nepal is a beautiful country, rich in culture and diversity. You will not be able to differentiate between many of them and “typical Indians” who are of the Aryan-Dravidian stock. But in many of the North Eastern states like Mizoram, Nagaland etc, the majority are of the Mongoloid stock. They are all Indians, but ironically, they’re the ones called Nepalis by others. If you’re from the NE, you would have definitely heard your fair share of crude “watchman jokes”.

See, I am not trying to stir up a worm’s nest or open a can of hornets here… whateva. I’m not going on a protest or hunger strike protesting this ad. I’m just trying to see it from a different perspective here, the way someone who is not from Nepal or the North East would see it. But if you’re from those places and you see this ad, those are the first thoughts that come flashing through your head. Not a very pleasant sight indeed.

Working in an ad agency, I know we have to do a lot of stuff we don’t particularly enjoy doing. For example, suppose you strongly believe that people should not be discriminated based on their skin color, and then comes along a cosmetic brand with pockets full of money. No matter which concept you give, the client will still want a concept that talks about how “being fair” is more beautiful than being dark-skinned.

Even if you refuse to touch the account due to your strong beliefs and principles, there will always be many others who are willing to take over and leave you behind in this dog-eat-dog world. One thing I have learnt from working in an agency – it is not for the meek at heart.

Don Draper from Mad Men puts this across beautifully. Season 4 Episode 9 – One of their main clients is Filmore Auto Parts. America at that time was still recovering from its dark history of discrimination. When Peggy and the others handling the account learnt that Filmore Auto Parts does not hire colored people, they approached their Creative Director Don Draper asking him why they are doing business with a racist company.

Don Draper replied, “Our job is to make men like Fillmore Auto, not Fillmore Auto like colored people.”

Deep!

Likewise, maybe it’s not JWT’s fault that the ad came out like this. Maybe it was the client who insisted on using that person to ridicule. Maybe it was just an innocent mistake – that they wanted to ridicule somebody but unfortunately that person happened to be somebody who had already been ridiculed almost every day of his life.

As an agency, where exactly do we draw the line when it comes to stereotypes? Yesterday it was about people with darker complexion and Sardarjis. Today it is about people with small eyes. Tomorrow… who knows? Of course if you ask the people involved, it usually leads nowhere -

Ask the ad agency why they are using such stereotypes and they will probably reply, “Look boss, I too want to change the mindset of the people and move away from all this stereotype bull$hit, but it is the client who wants it like this and there’s nothing we can do. If we don’t do it, he doesn’t pay us. It’s as simple as that. I’m sorry.”

Ask the client why he insists on this, and he will probably say, “You know how that hurts me too. But from our marketing research, that’s what people want to see. How can I show something that does not appeal to the people. If they don’t like it, they don’t buy my product. It’s as simple as that. I’m sorry.”

Ask the people why they want to see that, and they will probably reply, “Hey don’t blame us for having such a biased perception about people. It’s because of all those damn advertising agencies that keep feeding us with such nonsense.”

Ah… see? It leads to a three-way “chicken or egg” rhetorical circle, with no one knowing who lit the first spark. I’m just wondering how much further we will go before all this blows over. Rather than play the blame game, maybe it’s high time we draw a line somewhere. I don’t know how, I don’t know where.

Anyway, racial discrimination or not, this ad still makes me pretty uncomfortable and it is my prerogative to change the channels whenever this ad comes on. This action seems to be the only solution for now.


I’m ending this post with two beautiful music videos I came across yesterday –

One is called North East Star. It’s like the North East India version of an “Incredible India” ad. Awesome it is.




The other is called “Silent National Anthem” by Mudra. This is freaking amazing! Kudos Mudra. (Plus it sure feels good as hell to know one of my friends was one of the main brains behind this idea!)




Have a great weekend.

Chp 334. Football and sexism... again.

First of all, let me begin by saying I find women attractive, just like how most men do. Secondly, a personal fetish of mine – I find women in uniform to be extremely hot, especially if they are wearing football jerseys. If that is a crime, sue me.

Last Saturday, I’m sure many of you football fanatics were watching the Liverpool-Wolves match. I watched in great anticipation because Liverpool was on a L-W-L-D-D-L-W-L-L-D streak in their last 10 EPL games, and with the Arsenal-Wigan match right after this match, watching the Liverpool match was like a warm-up exercise.

Liverpool played brilliantly and eventually won 3-0, but the talk of the match was definitely the lineswoman female linesman – Sian Massey.



Yeah, everybody was talking about her on twitter and various football discussion forums as the match started. She performed really well and she definitely won my admiration. Man, she is so hot running around in that uniform and raising her flag when necessary.

Now comes the crux of this topic – sexism.

Ok fine, like most men I was fancying her and might even have objectified her. And like many men, I do make the occasional sexist joke or laugh to one, especially when I am with a bunch of guys.

But two renowned Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray and Richard Keys have taken it a bit far. Their unaired comment about Sian Massey was leaked to the press, and apparently, they said stuff like:

Richard Keys: Well, somebody better get down there and explain offside to her.

Andy Gray: Yeah, I know. Can you believe that? Female linesman. Forget what I said – they probably don't know the offside rule.

Richard Keys: Course they don't.

Andy Gray: Why is there a female linesman? Somebody's fucked up big.

Read about it here [dailymail.co.uk] or you can download the audio file from here.

The Guardian too reported that they are in the firing line as criticism pours in.

Sky Sports was under pressure last night to discipline its top football presenting team, Richard Keys and Andy Gray, after they were recorded making sexist remarks about two female match officials and a leading female football executive.

And my favorite Arsenal blogger Arseblog too came down heavily on these two Sky Sports commentators, adding his trademark sarcastic criticism:

Morning all. And welcome to Arseblog now owned by Sky Sports. Gentlemen, you may proceed as normal to the blog. Ladies, please proceed single file to the classroom where you will be taught the offside rule, the difference between a ‘number 10′ and a ‘false 9′ as well as the difference between Djimi and Armand Traore, how to titter in agreement with the menz and, of course, when to make a cup of tea (with biscuits and/or cake).

…………

It’s no real surprise to be honest, they’re a pair of smug, cocksure know-it-alls who think that they’re somehow important in the grand scheme of things. They’ve been doing Premier League football for a long time now, too long. They are outdated, half-witted dinosaurs with a bit of technology at their disposal. Their caveman attitudes are fairly typical and without wishing to go too far off point if this is the way they think about female officials (and the general understanding of the game by women).

In the football world, men making fun of women for not knowing the offside rule is probably one of the oldest and crudest jokes by men. Even I too may have written such kinda stuff many years ago –

But then as you progress, you become wiser. You stop generalizing. You start realizing what a douchbag you used to be. You discover more and more women who know a lot about football, sometimes even more than you do. And most of all, you realize sexist remarks are as bad as racist remarks.

Two of my favorite Arsenal bloggers are women: ladyarse and Sairax from ArsenalOffside. I follow them closely on twitter too. They too have written strongly against this incident.

At the end of the day, sure the number of women who know football as much as men do is still lesser, but times are a changing, and making fun of women especially about the offside rule is prehistoric and done to death.

Some men argue that their comments were just personal remarks made off the record and were not even aired. Hence they don’t deserve to be crucified for that, after all, many of us say a lot of stuff we don’t say in public or on our blogs. Well, I leave that judgment up to you. What do you think?

To make you understand my point better – picture this. The next match after this was between Arsenal and Wigan. We witnessed A LOTTTTT of wrong calls by the linesman. On many occasions where Arsenal could have scored, the stupid linesman raised his offside flag. TV replays clearly showed that Arsenal players were not offiside again and again. Even the commentators said the errors the linesman was making were too much.

Yes. $hit like this happens in football all the time. To err is human and linesmen make the wrong call frequently and we just abuse them. And then we move on. Now imagine the linesman in that Arsenal match was Sian Massey from the previous match. Would we still say “stupid linesman” or would we be using a different adjective and pronoun and stereotype? To err is woman?

Sometimes, a little introspection can reveal a lot of things we don’t know about ourselves.

Football – Say no to racism. Say no to sexism. Spread the love.

Chp 333. Mizoram trip - in motion

I’ve been extremely engrossed in this new passion of mine the past one week – editing videos! This week, I’ve been going home every day after 2am because of this extra-curricular activity as I have to balance my workload too.

I always find editing movie files to be extremely fun and engaging. And by editing, I of course don’t mean the high-end professional editing with 3D graphics and Maya FX etc. I’m talking about the amateur time-pass editing

Some of you may know about the Zahminga Fanai “Angel” music video I remade around 5 years ago . Shot, directed, edited and produced by yours truly (I even starred in it, lolz). Unfortunately, the owner of the song (the guy who composed the song for Zahminga) didn’t allow the file to be uploaded on YouTube when Zahminga and I asked him for permission. So that was the end of it…

I was using a Sony Cybershot digicam then to record the music video, and Sony Vegas Pro 6.0 to edit it.

Right now I have a pretty damn good phone that records video in HD, and I got the latest Sony Vegas Movie HD Platinum 10.0 recently. So my passion has definitely been rekindled.

But it’s not an easy task. Platinum 10.0 is wayyyyy different from the Vegas Pro 6.0 I used to know. I mean, it’s like a complete new software. No similar tool, function, layer etc. I remember how long I took to learn some of the basic stuff on Vegas Pro 6.0, so I was a bit hesitant about venturing into this new version. And the people in my agency who do this kinda stuff all work on post-production tools like Combustion and Smoke. Nobody has worked on this tool before.

But then, thanks to the internet, I was able to find relevant tutorials on YouTube whenever I was stuck.

Hence I am uploading two videos I’ve been editing the past 2 days. They’re nothing great, no special effects jhing jhang bursting out from here or there or fancy flashing thingie falling from the sky etc. Just a normal video. But it has allowed me to do exactly what I wanted to do – label with names during the movie, and blur some faces as they don’t want to reveal their identity.

--------------------------------------------

Christmas Feast.

In Mizoram, everybody comes together at their respective Church in their locality during Christmas for this giant HUMONGOUS feast [Ruaitheh]. The feast is prepared by the people themselves. Groups of volunteers [hnatlang] gather on the morning of the feast and are divided into different task-groups (usually based on age and sex).

Some construct the feast area, others fetch vegetables and livestock, others chop the vegetables or cook the meat etc etc. And by 4pm, the feast starts. We all sit together and eat together as one. Such bonhomie you will not find anywhere else. This is a short video of the Christmas feast held at my locality – Chaltlang South Presbyterian Church.



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Meeting online friends.

Apart from spending time with my family and friends, I also got to meet my online friends during the holidays. These are the people I met online and it was really good to see who they really are in real life. We all knew each other pretty well from all our interactions online, so none of us felt like strangers.

Here is a video of some of my online friends.




So that is it for now. Back to the video editing software for me, and hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead.




--------------------------------------------


UPDATE: Ok looks like YouTube might remove the audio of my second video upload due to some copyright violation bull$hit. Anyway I googled and found ways to bypass this – I can also avoid this by changing the frequency and tempo of the audio file so that their tool does not detect/recognize it… I’ll do this from my next upload onwards. As for this video, don’t be surprised if the audio is suddenly muted by YouTube.

Chp 332. The Enigma of Role Playing.

I used to be an MMORPG addict. And believe me, that’s bad. For the uninitiated, Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game are games where people all over the world come together at the same platform and you fight them or become allies etc.

Even after I started working here, I was a slave to browser-based MMORPGs such as TribalWars, Travians, 3Kingdoms, Ikariam etc. You would have seen me dedicate many posts to such games here on my blog too.

Many of you play MafiaWars, Farmville etc. on Facebook. I have never joined the bandwagon because of one reason – I know I’m going to get sucked way deep inside if I ever join.

So I just watched my friends play the whole day, forgetting their work, life and wife. As for me, I promised never to touch the forbidden fruit again... until a few days ago.

Well, it was like this – having such a great phone as mine I told myself the other day, what the heck, lemme download one of the Storm8 games I always see whenever I visit the Android Market.

And the ball never stopped rolling since then.

To begin with, I think we all know what Zynga is - developer of popular social network games like MafiaWars, FarmVille, CityVille etc. Well, I don’t think it will be wrong to say what Zynga is to Facebook and MySpace, Storm8 is to iPhone and Android phones.

Most of Storm8 games are on the top 10 downloads of iPhone and Android app stores – Ninjas Live, iMobster, Pets Live, World War, Kingdom, Vampires, Zombies, Rock Battle and Racing Live.

I eventually downloaded Ninjas Live. Within 2 days, I am now a level 15 assassin with 4 clan members and max defense. FTW! Ok stop grinning if you are a level 300 Ninja with 1500 clan members reading this post. I just started playing ok I love this game because I can play it right from my phone, wherever I am. The connectivity is amazing, whether I am using wifi (from office) or gprs (from home or while travelling) to play this game.

I am now equipped with all the top defensive points weapons, techniques and spells from my dojo that a level 15 Ninja can have, with 600+ Yakuza gang members as extra defense. Nobody can attack me because nobody in my level can penetrate my formidable defense. People with higher levels cannot attack me because I don’t appear on their attack list. The only way I can be attacked by a higher level person is if somebody puts a bounty on me, and nobody would do that because I am not attacking anybody to piss them off. Lolz

Had I been playing the other MMORPGs I usually play, I would have already been raped by other players had I taken any break to build up my resource instead of defense/offense. Sometimes I would stay up the entire night when we had one of those all out world wars between top tribes and clans, defending our kingdoms, sending reinforcements, counterattacking, sending fake nukes etc etc.

Though such games are way different in terms of game-play from games like MafiaWars and Ninjas Live, the main similarity between such games is – it is pointless. So you just keep expanding and expanding and expanding. And then what? Ah the proverbial question. So you have reached a level 250 mobster or you now reign over 200 Kingdoms with a billion Heavy Cavalry at your disposal. How does that exactly help you with your career or make this World a better place to live in? No answer.

And yet, we still play knowing that sooner or later it is going to become pointless. I guess that is the psychology of role playing. What attracts us to these games is the fact that we can be somebody we are not in real life. An IIM-A grad working at India's premiere Share Market & Financial News and Services Portal, is suddenly a level 300 mob boss. An HR manager working at a marketing firm is a fearless vampire warrior by night. A call centre executive who is extremely shy in real life with hardly any friends, is also known as the Dark Lord with over 1000 other warriors around the world under his command, each of them respecting him deeply and ready to go to war on his command.

Role playing makes us somebody we fantasize about so that we can be that person even if it’s not the real world. For me, it’s a ninja. Oh yeah! And the fact that we are interacting with real people around the world makes it even more exciting.

If you take a look at all Storm8 games, you will see that they are extremely similar in terms of game play. Take away the names and you will not know which game is which. But the fact that each game has an extremely high number of players means that there ARE people who love the respective characters. A vampire freak will play the Vampire game, a zombie fanatic will play the Zombie game, a person who loves reading about wars and weapons will play the World War game, a rock music fan will play Rock Battle Live and so on.

That my friend, is the power of role playing. And here you are, thinking role playing is just about sex. Games like these sometimes deliver more satisfaction than sex, some people say. Cheers!


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Here are a few screenshots of Ninjas Live. If any of you play this game on your iPhone/Android, do lemme know (though I am not looking forward to expanding my clan right now as that would make me visible to players with bigger clans. lolz).

[Screenshot source]

Chp 331. Happy New Year!

Back in Mumbai, welcomed by the sweet smell of hectic urban life and Raj Thackeray

Saying I’m going to miss Mizoram is futile, as it’s not going to change anything. This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made – continue working in Mumbai on a job I am good at and be overwhelmed with a sense of achievement, satisfaction and pride every night, or stay back in Mizoram looking after my folks while doing almost nothing else.

I guess this is one of the many crossroads many of you would have faced in your life too. And it gets harsher especially when there is guilt weighing you down as you journey across the road less taken.

But enough of this for now. Let’s look at the New Year ahead of us!


Unlike last year, this year sees a lot of National holidays that DO NOT fall on a freaking weekend! Wooohooo!!!!

And while I was at home, I realized one thing – 2011 is a carbon copy of 2005!



I bought this banner cum calendar right after the 2003-04 Invincibles era of the greatest football club on Earth – Arsenal. And now I can use this banner again for the year 2011. Sweet!

And hey, if you think using a recycled calendar is not awesome, then let me tell you that I have a 2011 Arsenal calendar too!

Yup, a surprise New Year gift – A calendar of the greatest team on earth, from the greatest person on this planet. Muaaah*



So here is to a great year ahead, and wishing you all the best in all your endeavours. Looking forward to another memorable and exciting journey of interesting blogs and comments. Cheers!