The good things in life

The good things in life

LG-Life's Good. Starting off with a corny one liner made famous by a brand,let me list some of the things that make life worth living.
We all read those tacky slogans made up by Archies and Hallmark copywriters who have nothing better to do than to make conjure up the sappiest image of life,package it and sell it to teens thirsty for such products.
Though I have to admit, sometimes they prove quite handy
(example-When u have forgotten a special occasion and have to make up to a)Your Girlfriend b)your parents c)Your friends)
We all know how good these things are and their potency somehow multiplies exponentially when coupled with a box or two of heart shaped chocolates

But coming back to the topic. What are some of the things that are enjoyed by almost all the people in the world and can never be replaced by any amount of marketing or brainwashing?

This list follows in random order. These are just a few things on the top of my mind. More to come later maybe!

1. A super cool amount of sleep

Ahh..the bliss..the simple pleasures of life. I dont think i could have spent one half of my life more in a more satisfying way!
You come home dead tired after:
A) A hardass day with your boss/teacher/proj guide making you toil,toil and oh wait-toil some more to leave u drained and exhausted. Whats the solution?SLEEP
B) A crazyy rocking time at the club/party/hanging out with pals at the local katta. Whatcha gonna do when u are home? SLEEP
C) How about a a heavy dose of studying all night for during study leave-Nothing like a good satisfying amount of sleep..B-E-autiful
D) How about sleeping just for kicks! Nothing as good as that either..wonderful

2. A random memory recall of you chilling out with friends

You could be anywhere in the world,at any stage in your career but a memory from the past just gets you fired up for any amount of challenges u might face in the day.
A friend playing a prank, a common joke, a secret, a recollection of incidents occurring on those trips you used to make(almost always at the last moment and always haphazardly-hey whats the fun without the adventure element,right?), those times when u had fought with friends over something as pointless as who gets to bat first or maybe the first time u confessed something really important to your buddy..I wish we had some kinda technology to capture these moments forever in time..no PDA, handycam, digicam is ever gonna help me out on this one!

3. Your first love

Although this might be the only one amongst this list that is used by greeting card companies,somehow those big corporations.. they really dont strike the right chord now, do they?
What is it about the first time you fall in love that makes it so cool?
With a total disregard to feminists I take the liberty of writing this paragraph from the male point of view-females are requested to replace terms appropriately as and when required.
It could be anything from the first time you see the person to maybe the last time you see her(not necessarily though)
What could it be-that first glance,the first time you talk,the excitement you experience when you get the her number for the first time, your heart beating madly when u call up?
Or could be the stage after that- when you really start to know the person,and i dont mean likes-dislikes. I mean the point where you start CONNECTING.
A stage where you can read her mind, anticipate what she is gonna say and catch her words before she can say them-bringing that amazing smile on her face, both entwined in each others worlds..too caught up to notice the world around you.
Personally..sure the thrill is unbeatable, but give me that sense of closeness and bonding that follows any day, week or month of the year!
And the disagreements, the arguments..well?
I dont believe anyone ever remembers the fights that take place..they seem so important at that time but are reduced to indistinguishable remains in our memory.

4. The first appreciation of YOU

Self-respect and a healthy image of oneself is important, but a lil dose of encouragement or appreciation from a peers or elders never hurt anyone.
(Though some people feed and live on that...no harm in taking in some from time to time)
Look back, when was your moment in life. Absolutely no one but YOU held centerstage. All eyes on you. Or maybe the attention of someone you had really been trying to please.
Your first drawing, the first time you scored in something(maybe without expecting it!) or maybe you did something that made your folks feel really proud
I wish these moments repeat more often, but maybe they would lose their value then.

5.Unexpected Luck

A coin lying on the floor
A song you were thinking about..humming along..and bam..it starts playing on the radio
Finding out who the hell was that song by anyway when the RJ announces it
That moment when you find the cd u have been searching high n low for in the store
A friend comes n tells you heres your X amt of rs you lent him last week
Contests! You end up winning something as bad from a crap slogan t-shirt to a jackpot on a game show
Aapke foreign waale uncle brings home stuff that u had only just read about and were kicking yourself silly for not staying abroad
You come home to the wonderful aroma of your fav thing to eat(Maa ke haath ka gajar halwaa, anyone?)
After having given up all hope and switching off your TV, you grumble about and switch on the match after 1 hr to find Yuvi and Kaif leading India to a historic win!
Exams postponed!
Your friends calls u up and screams SCHOLARRR..and bugs you about how good an actor you are to pretend you are gonna flunk when you have got a first class in the results that have just been put up
That book you thought u lost somewhere turns up under your bed
A long lost buddy calls you up
Your girl surprises you by landing up in the most unexpected way somewhere u least expected!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!- ALLLLL THE people u know land up at your place to give u the best bday party in your life


Random good things

Smell of freshly baked bread
Doing a "rockbottom" on a pile of freshly laundered clothes
A friends pet actually liking you from the first instant he sees you
Lotsa mails in your inbox-none of them forwards!
Holding a baby for the first time in your arms
Sorting through childhood photos, smiling at how hard you were trying to look cool and how goofy you actually turned out looking
Screaming with thousands of supporters at the stadium-knowing that they too are connected to the same adrenaline rush
Finally killing the bad guy in that darned video game
Trekking in the hills,birds chirping in the forest all around you,realising that the uncomfortable train journey with was really worth all the trouble
Coming to know someone(worthwhile) secretly admires you!
Silence
Enjoying a re-reun of an old movie. Saying the funny lines along with the actors on screen.
Dreaming about more good things in life with a stupid grin on your face

Interesting take on BLACK

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/apr/19mishra.htm

Read the ENTIRE article
Bear in mind this man himself is a very gifted film maker as well
Somehow i couldnt help agreeing with him
I am not doing so in order to differ from the entire crowd's opinions but i do believe the man has got a point
It is a nice film, but maybe it is a bit overdone in terms of the melodrama
Could have done with a bit of subtlety

Raising quite a storm..
Now lemme sit back and watch the villagers pound on my door with torches and pitchforks..

Hollywood Stereotypes

Some Hollywood movie stereotypes

1.When a character is shot in the head, the bullet will impact the victim precisely between the eyes, and a trickle of blood will indicate that it is, indeed, a bullet wound.

2.To show he is grizzled or cynical, a character will walk toward the camera as an explosion happens in the background. He doesn't flinch while everyone in the background runs and screams.

3.In movies, whenever a person asks a pianist whether he or she knows a tune, the answer is always a nod, followed immediately by the opening notes.

4.This is any aspect of a film that foreshadows future films by the same actor or director. In "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Ang Lee named the sword the "Green Destiny" and went on to direct "Hulk." In Christopher Nolan's "Following," there's a Batman sticker on a front door. Nolan, of course, went on to direct "Batman Begins." Willem Dafoe thinks he's Jesus Christ in "Platoon" and then played Jesus in "The Last Temptation of Christ."

5.When a female character has something of direct use to the plot in her purse (gun, real ID, pills), she will either put her purse down on the ground and leave it wide open so another character can look inside, or she'll drop it and the one thing she doesn't want anyone to see will spill out. It's a tactic seen in numerous noir films.

6.Whenever a movie character tries to (a) escape from prison or (b) access an impregnable fortress, once he reaches its perimeter, two guards, each one leading one menacing dog, will walk past him side by side without noticing him.

7.When a character has a photograph of a location he is searching for, the camera will cut to a close-up of the photo being held in his hand. The photo will then drop away, revealing the location the character is looking for, at exactly the same angle the photo was shot from. Corollary: If a person is in the photo but not in the scene, their absence is a plot point.

8.When two characters struggle for a gun, one shot will go off. Then nobody moves for a few seconds, and we can't tell which one got shot. Finally, one character dramatically drops dead.

9. Whenever there is a closeup of a digital clock, the shot always shows it at the exact moment when the minute is changing.

10.When unsuspecting victims are flattened by a speeding truck, the scene is always the same: Filmed from the side at a 90-degree angle to the street, so the truck runs directly across the screen from one side to the other; the person just stands there and gets wiped out. Why didn't the victim see or hear the truck coming, and why didn't the driver see the victim? This is related to the Helicopter on Mute Syndrome, in which a helicopter suddenly appears in the scene, totally unseen and unheard until it is right on top of the hero.

11.When it's two-to-a-room in a college dorm, it's highly likely that the protagonist's roommate will be a punk rocker/goth and almost certain that the roomie will have sex with someone in their bed while the protagonist tries to do homework.

12.Whenever an object or person is thrown through a glass window in a movie, it invariably shatters into vicious shards. Even in the future, safety glass is not used (see "Minority Report").

13.All Asian people know karate. All Latin people dance salsa. Any Russian character is related to some ex-KGB agent now working for the new Russian Mafia.

Disillusioned?

Quite ironic i start this topic 2 days before the 7th semester exams get underway
But i cant help letting out the frustrations every1 including me have been feeling for the past few days

Maybe its a feeling all u guys already have...maybe its a feeling some of you might realise when u get till 7th sem...maybe the lucky ones will never feel it at all..

The mood that i am in..has a variety of emotions responsible for it..but can be summed up in a single word..the name of the topic- Disillusioned

What am i disillusioned with?

The last 4 years

Look back..think about it..what have u gained by having a Bachelor's degree education from the "prestigious" Mumbai University?
I am gonna have a piece of paper that says Bachelor of Computer Engineering to justify me sitting for hundreds of lectures forcibly..copying assignments blindly and mugging up for exams and writing BS on the answer paper

Have i gained any knowledge? Zero
Have i learnt any valuable lesson? None
Do i have mastery over any single field? Nope
Am i happy with the deal that i have? duh..u dont need to think abt this if im posting this
Can i do diddly-squat about it? Fat Chance

That is what the dissatisfaction is about..queuing up in those looooong VJTI lines.waiting anxiously for some possibility of a good seat being available..feeling happy about the fact that i got a Somaiya Comps seat(albeit a paid one)..all those thoughts are just coming back to me..and they hold special significance when i have supposedly got what i had wanted at that time..

What sort of a system do we have anyway?
The frustration is that when a rookie pass out from 12th decides to take up engg..with ideals brimming up in his mind..that he is gonna get a sound education..after all he is paying nearly 2 lakhs for it..little does he know..or little is he warned about wat a raw deal he is getting..

I dont regret taking up engineering..i think it was a wise move
I dont think a degree from Mumbai Univ has spoilt my future as well

All i am mad about is the deal i have been given..all in all..its a contract..i pay them 2 lakhs..and they r supposed to give me a fair return

Can any of u guys say u have got that?

1.Professors barely able to talk english
2.Lab assistants having more knowledge than teachers
3.Profs taking out khunnas by making us write more n more assignments
4.Prof KNOWING well enough that no 1 is even bothered to write their own assignments..
5.Paying 50k per year only to find out u cant sit on the PCs with net connection..oh no..not even for ur BE project..coz lab timings are well from 1pm to 1 friggin 30 pm
6.Mindless ratofying of concepts throughout 4 years..no idea where these will be used

Case in point.. WHAT IS THE FRAME FORMAT OF THE IEEE FLOATING POINT INSTRUCTION IN INTEL X86 FAMILY OF PROCESSORS?

WHO THE mOTHA$#%#%# CARES????

WHY IS THIS NONSENSE BEING METED OUT TO US...WILL MUGGING UP THAT FACT HELP ME BE A BETTER COMPUTER SCIENTIST IN THE FUTURE?
OR WILL THAT GIVE ME EXCELLENT CAREER GROWTH?

HELL..IF I WANT TO USE IT..IL REFER THE INTEL MANUAL...
how can they expect us to remember that for the rest of our lives..what good is gonna come off it?

I guess this ranting is going on far enough..il do some cribbing later on..

Any feedback from u guys?
Solutions in sight?