Potpourri

Every city has its own specialty. Pune is of course famous for its colleges, for its food and many more things. But undoubtedly, wacky notice boards give Pune its identity. Here are a few gems (courtesy Amaresh) found in the by-lanes of Pune. A lot (the tone and the attitude filled in these lines) is lost in translation: The bungalow is empty. There is nothing worth stealing. Don't bother. Outsiders are not allowed to use the lift. Society won't be responsible if they get stuck. Do not stand or park under the coconut tree. If coconut falls, the owner (of the coconut tree) will not responsible for the damages. You will have to pay for asking the address. If the place is within ten km, you will have to pay 50 paise. If more than ten km, then you will have to pay Rs 1/- -- Thank you. (the second board-) If you ask "why have you written this?" then you will be charged Rs. 200/- To those who can't read, the address will be told for free. No one has been given the re...

Under a hypothetical situation where Sri Ram Sena becomes the central ruling party of India, following will be the rules (closely resembling/ inspired(!) from the rules of Taliban ) for women: 1- Complete ban on women's work outside the home, which also applies to female teachers, engineers and most professionals. Only a few female doctors and nurses are allowed to work in some hospitals in Chinchpokali. 2- Complete ban on women's activity outside the home unless accompanied by a close male relative such as a father, brother or husband, lets call him Mr. M. 3- Ban on women dealing with male shopkeepers. 4- Ban on women being treated by male doctors. (Note that, women are not supposed to be doctors except at Chinchpokali. So if they fall ill, they should just die.) 5- Ban on women studying at schools, universities or any other educational institution. (Girls' schools should be converted into religious seminaries.) 6- Requirement that women always wear saaris, cover the...

Did I already post these? Here is one gem by The Mountain Goats. It's called No Children. There is another one sung by the same group, which has similar spirit as this one. It is a cover of Ace of base, called Sign. I haven't found a nice version of this. The only one I have is a live version. If you happen to find it, let me know. Here is another song, not particularly in the same tone as the previous one. But really nice by Howie Day. I don't know much about this artist. But this song, called Collide , is really good. I got this from a blog called The world In A Paper Cup . Here is yet another sad song called, not so surprisingly, a Sadie ! It is nothing like the other songs I have heard by M ward (the creators of an amazing song called Chinese Translation). Hope you like the collection.

I saw the movie a few days ago. I really don't understand: why so much fuss? If an Indian director makes a fully filmy hindi movie, no one gives a damn about it. But some non-indian comes and makes this movie and people are going all ga ga about it. A.R. Rehman has given music better than "jai ho". Anil Kapur has done roles better than this. This movie has set new records in making a big deal out of a not-so-amazing movie. I say this because, even a huge fuss has been made about why there is so much fuss about this movie. That is like the second order fuss about the movie! And here, I am making the third order fuss with a huge lot accompanying me in doing so. To start the tirade-- The main guy is such a put off! He has a unique expression on his face, indicating he really has no clue what people are talking about. You are supposed to be poor, not dumb for god's sake! Even some of the witty lines are lost due to his dialog delivery. For example, when one police man say...