A weekend at London… April 28, 2007
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My camera was in London for the weekend. Yeah… it basically walked out on me, jumped into my friend Dina’s adoring arms and took off on a whirlwind trip to UK, while I spent a quiet weekend in good ol’ Muscat.
Dina’s back from her client meeting at British Airways and so is my camera. Not only has she got me a cute miniature London Transport bus (the red double decker one) from Harrods as a souvenir, but knowing my fancy for trains, she’s got herself snapped in front of a tube train. Merci ma amie… here are some snaps from her trip.
The longest moustache in the world April 26, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Pot Pourri.4 comments
Guess who I bumped into yesterday at Camilia, the Turkish coffee shop next to my office…The man with the longest moustache in the world! Mohammed Rashid, 66 from Turkey has a moustache that is an incredible 5ft 3ins (1.6m) long.
He is in Muscat as a part of a round-the-world tour where he’s charging people 3 Omani Rials (over 7 US Dollars) a time to have their photo taken with him.
I and my colleagues had a ball gawking at him, while the coffee shop made roaring business from the people who gathered to marvel at his manly ‘taches.
Moustaches seem to be a national institution in Turkey where to any discerning Turk, the shape and style of your whiskers defines your personality.
Put in the words of a Turk, “You can always tell a man’s connections by his moustache.”
Now here’s a man that can make us feel quite facially challenged!
Photo credit: Rajesh Rajan, Photographer, UMS, Muscat, Oman
50 things you have to know about me… April 25, 2007
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1. I’ve loved trains (the ones that run on Indian Railways) ever since I can remember.
2. I’ve always wanted to be a railway locomotive driver or a railway guard.
3. I believe that love can make or break you.
4. I love plum cake, banana chips, French Fries and cutlets like crazy.
5. I’m an absolute foodie, but I don’t do chocolate or most fruits.
6. Most animals take a liking to me, but that didn’t stop a dog from sinking its teeth into my thigh back in the days.
7. Most kids take a fancy to me, but I’ve lately noticed that ones I care about the most don’t return the same sentiment.
8. I absolutely adore my grandmother. I think she rocks!
9. I’ve wanted to get married ever since I was 8 years old.
10. I can wax poetic in my sleep; it’s a trait I picked up recently.
11. I’m truly addicted to blogging, and I especially dig keeping track of my blog stats.
12. I once volunteered in an elephant circus in Thailand. And then went on to bottle-feed a tiger cub.
13. I’m so near-sighted that it’s not funny. Exactly.
14. I used to be pretty good at making longggg PowerPoint presentations, but now I’m hooked onto Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.
15. I consider Guy Kawasaki among my few idols on Earth for this speech he made at a high school grad ceremony at Palo Alto, CA.
16. When I was a kid, I believed that the red zero-watt bulb in my room was the Devil’s Eye casting its evil glare over me.
17. Again when I was in La La Land, I thought that the rails moved and not the trains.
18. When I was 5 years old, I thought that clouds in the sky were continents with people living on them. I always wondered why they were not affected by gravity and did not fall on my head.
19. As a kid, my favourite lunch / dinner-time story involved a freight train with 100 cars carrying all sorts of food to treat me.
20. I’m very good at making conversation with walls & cats.
21. I still cherish the dream of being a bus driver.
22. I’m quite good at reading certain minds.
23. I believe in my heightened powers of ESP. Occasionally.
24. I go to sleep if I’m in a really bad mood.
25. I prefer to stand and eat than sit and eat.
26. I love evangelizing the merits of digital media to friends, foes and clients alike.
27. I think the quality of a man’s life is a lot defined by the women he associates with.
28. I’m quite good at picking up the right deals & bargains at the right time.
29. I think God’s love for me is unlimited and that he is doing a fantastic job of watching over me.
30. I wish I could draw well cuz as they say a picture is worth a 1000 words.
31. I believe in doing whatever my heart wants cuz I’m anyway gonna lose my mind some day.
32. I know that no human being can understand me quite well. Amen.
33. If you don’t find peace in your life, do visit this quiet railway station called Munrothuruttu in Kerala, India. You will find it there, like I did. Or, even try an early morning walk at the Miramar Beach in Goa.
34. Arunspeak: If it were not for women, life here would be a very boring affair.
35. I can brew a really mean coffee.
36. I’m absolutely plugged into music. I take turns doing justice to my desktop and laptop music players, portable mp3 player and Nokia N-Series Music Edition phone every day.
37. I want to retire from work when I’m 45. Now make that 40.
38. My dream home stands next to a railway track.
39. I believe that Creativity is one of the few avatars of God.
40. I’m an absolute cinema freak and I’ve had the pleasure of watching a lot of movies in cinema theatres all by myself. In Muscat.
41. I’m a rain freak as long as I don’t get drenched.
42. I want to go on a world tour some day. Some day!
43. Arunspeak: The only thing on Earth where you will find perfection is in a Lexus ad. In the tagline.
44. I tend to clown around a lot, especially at work, but that’s just an engine that gets me going.
45. I believe that words are like weapons, once lost they are never retrievable. I don’t follow it. Usually.
46. I hate the notion of buttoning up shirts, especially the one below the collar button.
47. My next blog is going to create waves.
48. I’ve a huge crush on high heels – always wanted to be a shoe designer.
49. If you’ve still made it through till this, you probably share my quality of intolerant patience.
50. I’m who I’m. 🙂
Movies in Muscat: Charlotte’s Web, The Naked Gun Trilogy April 21, 2007
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Charlotte’s Web (English)
Screen: Ruwi Cinema
Starring: Dakota Fanning
Voices by: Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric The Entertainer, Robert Redford
I watched Charlotte’s Web at Ruwi Cinema yesterday. Fantastic movie, and had me cheering and in tears at the same time. Charlotte’s Web is a live-action / computer-animated feature film, based on the popular book of the same name by E.B. White.
The movie is about the friendship between Charlotte the barn spider and Wilbur the pig. Born as a runt, Wilbur is saved from early death by a little girl named Fern (Dakota Fanning), who takes care of the piglet. However as he grows, he is taken into the Zuckerman farm where he is soon to become dinner. Charlotte groups other farm animals in the barn and saves his life, by convincing the world that Wilbur is a special pig and doesn’t deserve to be slaughtered. How she does that is simply magical – and you have to see the movie to find that out.
Charlotte’s Web tells us that friendships can make life not only beautiful but also enriching and convinces us to look to ‘ordinary things’ for extraordinary experiences. The movie enjoys an outstanding 78% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and is a definite must-watch. And yes, Dakota Fanning simply dazzles with her joie de vivre.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear & The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (English)
On DVD
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson
The Naked Gun trilogy hilariously chronicles the adventures of bumbling police detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen). The trilogy is replete with parodies of detective film clichés, featuring stereotypical characters, settings, and situations. Naked Gun movies abound in spoofs and gags, especially those related to current events and contemporary pop culture.Among the three, I would rate The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad as the cream de la crème of the lot. Leslie Nielsen is outstanding – everything goes wrong around him – and our man takes it upon himself to set things right. Pick up a Naked Gun flick if you are in some dire need of laughter pills – You will love it its off-the-wall, slapstick comedy, never-ending visual and verbal puns and gags.
Kodak Viral Video: Winds of Change April 19, 2007
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I really love this viral video from Kodak… It’s called ‘Winds of Change’ and talks about Kodak’s efforts to keep up with the digital landscape. I came across this viral first in YouTube and later found it on Viral Video Chart – a kewl website that lets you in on the virals creating the most buzz as you read this post!
Nike rides on Imus’ back… April 18, 2007
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I saw this Nike ad today and think it is a good example of situational advertising / advertising in context. Nike hopes that this ad will stir conversation about racism in America. It took out a full page ad in New York Times on 15 April 2007 and followed it up with banner ads in websites such as Flip.com, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and NikeWomen.com. The creative execution by Wieden & Kennedy, Portland indirectly thanks Don Imus for bringing the issues of race relations and sexism to the forefront. The copy on the print ad reads:
“Thank you, ignorance.
Thank you for starting the conversation.
Thank you for making an entire nation listen to the Rutger’s team story. And for making us wonder what other great stories we’ve missed. Thank you for reminding us to think before we speak.
Thank you for showing us how strong and poised 18 and 20-year-old women can be.
Thank you for reminding us that another basketball tournament goes on in March.
Thank you for showing us that sport includes more than the time spent on the court.
Thank you for unintentionally moving women’s sport forward.
And thank you for making all of us realize that we still have a long way to go.
Next season starts 11.16.07.”
Nike incidentally is the apparel sponsor of Rutger’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
If you still don’t know what’s all this ruckus about ‘Imus’, here’s a quick backgrounder :
On 4 April, ‘shock-jock’ radio personality Don Imus musn’t have thought that he had placed his head on the chopping block when he called the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” following their loss to Tennessee in a NCAA national championship game. A national uproar ensued with sponsors pulling out of his nationally syndicated CBS radio show and the TV simulcast on MSNBC. And led to Imus getting the boot from both employers.
And yes, Jon Corzine, the Governor of New Jersey, who was on his way to attend a ‘peace meeting’ between Imus and the Rutgers team, met with an accident – his SUV was going over 90mph & the Governor riding in the front seat wasn’t buckled up. Corzine broke his left thigh bone, 11 ribs, collarbone and chest bone. He also fractured a vertebra in his lower back. It seems till the accident, Corzine has been a proponent of seat belt usage. As a U.S. senator in 2001, Corzine proposed having the federal government direct states to pass laws requiring children under age 16 to wear seat belts. Bingo!
Xerox Viral Video: Extreme Offices April 18, 2007
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Check out this interesting viral video from Xerox called ‘Extreme Offices’. It is about an office that is overly productive thanks to the boss’ adding something extra to the watercooler. Xerox agencies WPP Group’s Y&R and sibling VML created the work.
Sporty sets off… April 15, 2007
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Styris strokes Nel for a sparkling boundary,
As Proteas stoke in a stifling quandary.
The Kiwis speed forth to a victory,
Like a rocket bang on its trajectory.
I wither in despair, ready to pull out my wispy hair.
So I don the tracksuit and decide to hit the gloomy road.
The clock tower chimes midnight,
As I rumble past it on a lonely night.
Neon lights grimace. As a slovenly drunk staggers past.
I take a curve and head apart –
Puff and pant, heave and hove, curse be to all powers above…
As I drag me past the lamp posts and billboards…
Around the cinema and past the office towers…
Into the alleys and on to the sandy gravel…
All you hear is ‘thud-thudding’ on the road…
As ‘Sporty’ bundles and trundles along
In a bid to slice all the fatty tissue off…
Movies in Muscat – Shooter, Shakalaka Boom Boom April 13, 2007
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This is my first post after making the move to WordPress. It took me some time to sort out the name servers on my DNS control and then for the blog to come live, but boy it’s good to be home.
I’ve had a great weekend so far. Watched Sri Lanka notch up a comprehensive victory over New Zealand yesterday. Wonder what’s happened to Fleming’s boys, they looked so jaded on the field. I slept like a log, for over 12 hours, woke up way past noon, after seeing all kinds of dreams including a train ride.
Spent some time on TV, Asianet was showing ‘Varavelpu’ (Malayalam). Really love the story of an NRI who comes back to Kerala and puts all his money into running a bus service which hits rough terrain, when the ‘system’ in Kerala rears its ugly head towards the entrepreneur. He loses all he has made in life and then returns back to the Middle East to start from scratch. Seen that so many times in real life too.
Went for a movie in the afternoon, in fact let me quickly post you on the newly released flicks in Muscat – the ones I have seen in the last few days.
Shooter (English)
Screen: Ruwi Cinema
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Danny Glover, Ned Beatty, Michael Peña, Kate Mara
‘Yesterday was about honour. Today is about justice.’ Shooter is about rifle-totting heroics of Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg), a former United States Marine Corps sniper who is framed in an assassination bid on the President of the USA, and how he turns the table on those who frame him. Mark Wahlberg delivers a very restrained performance as the sniper on the run who uses his military training to get justice for himself in a world of corrupt, evil and powerful hotshots. Though Shooter has got the right mood and has its fair share of action sequences, you will find to your dismay that the ‘kick-ass adrenaline’ that usually flows through this kind of movies is in short supply in Shooter. Pitched between ‘The Terminator’ and ‘The Fugitive’, Shooter is neither there nor here, and that’s where it lacks. Makes up for passable viewing.
Shakalaka Boom Boom (Hindi)
Screen: Ruwi Cinema
Starring: Bobby Deol, Upen Patel, Kangana Ranaut, Celina Jaitley
Shakalaka Boom Boom is the story of the personal and professional rivalry between two musicians – AB & Reggie and how this rivalry shapes their life, love, music and destiny, before consuming them both. The movie gives you a sneak-view into the dirty underbelly of the music industry, where talent is often sidestepped and nipped in the bud by powerful connections and influence. May be Upen Patel’s character Reggie called for a lot of cheeky confidence and brashness, but I found his acting to be quite irritating. Even Bobby Deol gets garishly off-track at times. The less said about the leading ladies of the film, the better. SBB is not worth watching if you are looking for a good story or powerful acting performances, but then people have quite average expectations from a Hindi flick these days. Himesh Reshamiyya’s music for SBB is rocking – I love the title track Shakalaka Boom Boom and Namumkin. The music’s better than the movie.
‘Charlotte’s Web’ and ‘Lady in the Water’ are the other movies running in Muscat. I will be probably watching them soon. I picked up ‘The Devil wears Prada’ and ‘World Trade Centre’ from the video shop – two movies I’ve wanted to see for ages. Will come back and tell you about how they went.
A date with the H2 April 8, 2007
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Happy Easter, all ye brothers and sisters out there. I had a recent date with a Hummer H2 – here are a few snaps.
I’m looking mighty pleased posing in front of the irreverent Hummer. My growing paunch may be excused! I’m joined by Sharad Phalgun, a kingpin of Muscat’s advertising fraternity, with a very dapper look about him.
Arun Rajagopal 
