Allo Allo ...

At long Last, BBC entertainment has finally started telecasting Allo Allo. For those of you who don't have the slightest inkling of what I am talking about, It is a comedy that used to be part of the erstwhile english Star Plus's (when it still telecast English programs) British comedy line up.

This is the funniest british comedy barring Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister. (to be fair I haven't seen much of monty python).

Rene is the owner of a small tavern situated in a villiage in German occupied France during WWII. He just wants to survive the war. He is recruited by the resistance to hide 2 british airmen shot down by the Germans. A german Colonel siphons a painting ( the fallen madonna with the big b00bies ). The painting is coveted by the fuhrer himself and he sends a member of the gestapo to the village to find it. The colonel on learning about this gives the painting to Rene, and threatens to shoot him if he does not hide it.

Hilarity ensues as Rene skirts around trying to keep the gestapo at bay, and helping the resistance with the help of the German Colonel.

I m so glad BBC ent has started to telecast allo allo. Specially since they finished the Black adder series. Tv would truly be magical if they started telecasting Yes Minister.

Sure there are shows like modern family and Glee, that cater to laugh riots, but there is something truly nostalgic about these satirical comedies that deal with issues that are still relevant today.

What will this world be with satire,

Cheers ...

My Tattoo(s) ...

Valentine's day was last week. I have/ had this tattoo of a previous girl friends name on my back, that i had gotten quite a few valentines day ago. Although she never said anything to the affirmative, i got the feeling, anu didn't like it too much.

I had decided a few years back, that i wouldn't get it erased. The tattoo, like the girl friend had caused me a some pain, and heck, what was the point of getting a permanent tattoo, if I was only going to have if erased.

Moving on from a relationship is very hard. I used to bump into this ex, a few times, and our break up was on very good terms, only when i would see her, i would get this rush of all the good times we'd had, and for subsequent weeks, when ever i saw the tattoo, I'd get reminded of her.

It was a great help, that the tattoo was on my back, and So was not usually in my line of sight. Someone or the other would point to it, when they did see it, and i would have to explain, who she was, and relive the painful break up story.

I never felt the same way about women for sometime after. In fact, why anu puts up with me sometimes is a question that baffles a lot of people. I never thought after the heart break that i'd truly ever "LOVE".

Call it early onset of mid life crisis, but recently, I have been taking stock of my life. I quit smoking, and am making a few changes to feel and be healthy. In that spirit, I decided that I don't need reminders of past relationship pains.

So here is my new tattoo, a symbol of a new beginning.

The Buzz Killer ...

Do you know how internet sites make money ?

They rely on traffic, users coming to their sites so that they can pawn off lucrative real estate on their websites, to advertisers, who will pay, sometimes obscenely large sums of money, depending on the demographic of users who visit your site.

Enter Google Buzz.

Its just like twitter, only you can do a lot more. You can link with youtube, blogger, picasa, and a whole lot of other sites. only you videos or blogs will show up, in their entirety as a Buzz. Its a great Idea right ?

So you have a youtube channel, or a blog that a lot of people read. YOU have adsense or some other advertising program. It seems like a great way to get eyeballs. Only your entire content is hijacked ( Stolen) by the great non- evil doer GOOGLE.

poeple reading you post or seeing your video on Buzz ( i don't know if you can do that yet ) have no reason to visit your page. They get access to your content, in this case your blog or video, and can like, and comment, much like the actual site.

Only the author, looses revenue because eyeballs on the actual site is less. It is more convenient for gmail users to check their Buzz. So far all the sites that are buzz enabled are google sites. So Google may not care if youtube or blogger gets a few million hits less as long as gmail / buzz gets those hits, but there is no incentive for independent sites to integrate with buzz.

I wouldn't be ranting about this if there wasn't a certain allure or degree of convenience to buzz. Publish a blog post, and automatically have people who follow you be notified. Upload a photo album and have all your friends see it. Google however has to find a way to share revenue, so that sites like Myspace and Facebook can integrate with buzz and then we can truly have some fun.

I don't Still LOVE buzz, but i'm getting there ... :D

Reason to Quit .

I have / had been an avid smoker for about a decade. I just recently quit, and this time I plan to stay quit. A lot of my peeps find it hard to believe that I finally did it. ME, Smokey Smokerson Quit.

One dude even told me recently, (you know who you are) that When he comes to chennai next, and I still didn't smoke, he'd quit too. Now I am not offended. A lot of smokers quit. but very few stay quit. It is hard.

The only thing that keeps me going, is the fact that I am doing this for me. I didn't quit to please my spouse, or my parents or anybody else. I quit because I wanted to, and it makes all the difference in the world.

Now a number of things transpired in the recent past that made me realise it was time.

One was this whole No Smoking in Public places law. When i was smoking, this was the bane of my existence. Having to look over my shoulder to light up. Hiding my cigarette when i was on the road. Not that I, or anybody i knew ever got busted smoking on the road. The novelty lasted maybe a week, then we all started smoking anywhere we wanted, The road, The beach, outside the cinema. But there was this thought in the back of my head, that told me maybe, someone might object.

This Law also made it illegal to smoke in bars, and coffee shops. The joy of Drinking, and lighting up at the same time were stolen from us all.

It just didn't seem right. It was a sign. The universe was telling me to quit.

I started smoking early, and I smoked Navy cuts (Wills). When i started, they were 22 rs a pack. I must have smoked Wills ( Navy Cuts) for about 6-7 years. Eventually, as I started earning, I graduated to costlier brands. I smoked Kings (Gold flake) for sometime, before a couple friends of mine told me that I should switch to milds. Milds contained less nicotine, tar and other chemicals, and were healthier according to them.

I don't doubt this to be true. Milds did live up to their name.

what I didn't understand back then, was i was how nicotine addiction worked.

http://whyquit.com/joel/ntap.pdf

I was used to a certain amount of nicotine, and I wasn't getting my fix with milds. So I started smoking more. I was going thru one sometimes two 20's pack a day and before i knew it spending 100 to 150 a day on smokes.

If I think back to why i started smoking, I still can't put my finger on one solid reason. Maybe it was peer pressure, maybe i was a rebel, My dad smoked, and maybe i just wanted to be cool like him.

but there is only one reason to stop.

Don't put Harmful and Hazardous Chemicals into your body, and slowly kill yourself and people around you.

cheers.

.

Why did i smoke ?

As I was explaining to a friend recently, I seem to have a lot of time on my hands now that I stopped lighting up. when I did smoke, I was smoking, not thinking or worrying or multi-tasking in any way, just smoking.

I am happy to report that the urges are all but gone. Drinking isn't as enjoyable as it used to be although i still managed to empty a bottle of Romonov and DSP black (with some help from Vik, Srikanth a.k.a MB, Anu, kunal).

I do however have strong urges for one more puff. When someone lights up near me, it takes every inch of will power I posses to not smoke.

It'll pass, or so I hope, but it got me thinking. Why did i smoke ?

Many people have asked me this, and I had answers straight away.

Answer 1:

I smoke because I like to smoke.

WRONG. In all honesty, maybe the first 3 or 4 cigarettes of the day gave me some pleasure. But every other cigarette atleast after the first four puffs were pure agony. I wouldn't want to throw it away because I paid 5 rs for one and I wouldn't feel like smoking it either. I would in the end suck it up (pun intended) and finish the ciggy as i affectionately called it.

another reason I would give myself and anyone else who asked was

Answer 2:

what is the point of living till 60 ? loose your mind and bladder control ? no thanks.

I smoke coz I intentionally want to kill myself. WRONG.....

about 2 or 3 months back, I was falling sick, A lot.

One month I got a cold, it took me a week to recover. had 2-3 good days, and caught a cold again. this happened four times. What was worse, I was smoking whilst I had my cold. I fell sick 4 weeks in a row in one month.

Smoking Fucks you up. I knew that, Smoking fucks your lungs, I knew that.

Yet when I fell sick, that often, I was bloody pissed. Had I been this rational then, I would have realised, that if I put toxins in my body, regularly, Things were bound to .... Say it with me ....

" FUCK UP"

although I still think dementia and loss of bladder control will suck, I didn't like it when I got sick. Its terrible. The worst.

I know I may come of as smug, specially for those of you who know me. But If I can do it, So can You.

Cheers, ....

Finally ... Something to cheer...

its really early doors, but I decided sometime in dec that i would quit smoking. i wanted to quit as a new year resolution but i couldn't manage because, i was in kerala, smoking malboros, and my last cigarette was not going to be A MALBORO. NO SIR EEE BOB ...

So then i thought i'd just quit on anu's birthday. You know the cheapest gift routine, :D happy birthday baby. See i quit smoking for YOU ... but quitting as i am finding out now ... takes huge commitment.

So i finally did it. My last cigarette was a Classic Mild. and my last smoke was on my birthday. I gave me the gift of time :) ...

The bitch about quitting is, when you're a smoker, you have a lot of friends who are smokers, and sitting around people smoking isn't conducive to quitting :D ... Also i have been super irritable, so if i snapped at you (which will probably only apply to anu) I am sorry. The good news is in a couple weeks, i will be withdrawal symptoms free and cheerful as ever.

So here's to not smoking, Unless the world is going to end .... !!!

An Ode to my negligence ..

Dear Blog, I feel awful that i have not had time to update you. So here is my misguided attempt to make it up to you.

There are a lot of people who write stuff in their blog,

Some of those are interesting, some make me sleep like a log,

Some of them write about Sleep, Some write about their shoes,

Some just write sad shit, to let out their boo hoo's.

Well i'm am sadly one of those who don't write much at all,

I'm either really pressed for time or in the Snooker Hall,

well truth be told i did write some for this mag called sportskeeda,

an online mag all about sport and all Indian sports leaders,

I know that not updating you is really not a crime,

But i feel so bad , i'm really sad, to you i dedicate this rhyme,

With Love,

The Author, :D