15 Oct 08 Stock market in turmoil!
Merriam - Webster’s dictionary states the term
Turmoil - a state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation, or commotion.
But I guess one can safely edit the term in the dictionary as
Turmoil - International Stock market
I don’t know what started this extreme confusion, but since the battle between Senators Obama and McCain started, the stock market took a downward spiral. Adding insult to the injury is the bailout plan. According to me it is a stupid concept put forth by the Congress government of USA. Bush has lost it completely.
Here is an excerpt from NYTimes.COM
Q. The bailout program being negotiated by the Bush administration and Congressional leaders calls for the government to spend up to $700 billion to buy distressed mortgages. How did the politicians come up with that number, and could it go higher?
A. The recovery package cannot go higher than $700 billion without additional legislation. As for that figure, it lies between the optimistic estimate of $500 billion and the pessimistic guess of $1 trillion about the cost of fixing the financial mess. But the $700 billion is in addition to an $85 billion agreement on a bailout of the insurance giant American International Group, plus $29 billion in support that the government pledged in the marriage of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase. On top of all that, the Congressional Budget Office says the federal bailout of the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost $25 billion.
Q. Who, really, is going to come up with the $700 billion?
A. American taxpayers will come up with the money, although if you are bullish on America in the long run, there is reason to hope that the tab will be less than $700 billion. After the Treasury buys up those troubled mortgages, it will try to resell them to investors. The Treasury’s involvement in the crisis and the speed with which Congress is responding could generate long-range optimism and raise the value of those mortgages, although it is impossible to say by how much.
So it would not be correct to think of the federal government as simply writing a check for $700 billion. It is just committing itself to spend that much, if necessary. But the bottom line is, yes, this bailout could cost American taxpayers a lot of money.
Q. So is it fair to say that Americans who are neither rich nor reckless are being asked to rescue people who are? What is in this package for responsible homeowners of modest means who might be forced out of their homes, perhaps for reasons beyond their control?
A. Yes, you could argue that people who cannot tell soybean futures from puts, calls and options are being asked to clean up the costly mess left by Wall Street. To make the bailout palatable to the public, it is being described as far better than inaction, which administration officials and members of Congress say could imperil the retirement savings and other investments of Americans who are anything but rich.
The last two lines clearly says the dialogue uttered by Rajini in Sivaji. “Rich getting richer and the Poor getting poorer”.
Tags: Bush, congress administration, Rajini, Sivaji, Stock market crash, turmoil
10 Oct 08 DSP Model exam - Had good time
Ever heard of Oxymoron? The title above is one. Well, eventhough it may be unbelievable to a few (many) of you, DSP exam today was great fun. We came to know the questions today morning 9.30 and started working on the problems. I was unsure whether the method I used to solve them and answers I got are correct and without knowing the validity, I repeated the same in the model exam paper. Exam got over by 3.15 and Gomsan started distributing ‘Pori potlams’. I asked gopal, who sat in front of me, ‘Machi, inniki DSPla evalo da therum?’. He replied promptly with the song from Vasool Raja MBBS
‘Pathu kulla number onnu sollu,
en mark enna varumnu solren.
5 enbathu en first monthly mark.
7 enbathu en second monthly mark’
I couldn’t control my laughter and the remaining time period flew by.
Tags: AIHT, College, Digital Signal Processing, dsp, Fun
16 Sep 08 And you thought Rajini was the highest paid actor
I read a report in Times of India, which revealed pay scale of some of the bollywood actors. Like many people in Tamil Nadu, I too thought Rajini was the highest paid actor, simply because the reports in the dailys said. But Times of India reveals that Akshay Kumar (Daredevil, Singh is Kingg bloke) becomes the highest paid actor with a whopping 71 crore for his next movie. Not only that, Hrithik Roshan is paid 35 crores. SRK and Aamir take a nice slice of 12 crores + the profit from the movie. Man-o-man, if only the producers who have so much money could take some measures, India could be rid of poverty. But I guess, there is no real ‘Sivaji’ in this nation.
Tags: aamir khan, akshay kumar, hrithik roshan, Rajinikanth, srk
14 Sep 08 A Grand reception
I thought yesterday’s event @ tagore engineering college was forgettable and hence the day should be a forgettable one too. But the reception of my Chittapa (V.V.Ramanan, Sports editor, The Hindu) was a good consolation. The event was very grand and I had the opportunity to hook up with my relatives after a long time. I met few VIPs, like Thalaivasal Vijay and others whom I don’t know. The food was excellent and the night out at the lawn of New Woodlands was great! The party got over at 10 o’ clock and we made our way back home, very tired.
Tags: ramanan, reception, thalaivasal vijay, the hindu, vip
01 Sep 08 Kamal clarifies on Marmayogi hub hub
For quite some time, media has caught up with spreading cock and bull story regarding Kamal Hassan’s next venture ‘Marmayogi’. It was essential that people needed to know the correct news. So Ulaga Nayagan Kamal hassan and Pyramid Sai mira group threw a press conference, stating that the movie will be a joint venture by Raaj Kamal Productions and Pyramid sai mira alone. Warner brothers is not involved in this project and Kamal hassan requests media to present only the genuine news.
Here is the link to the videos in <<English Version>> and <<Tamil version>>
Tags: Marmayogi, Pyramid Sai Mira, Raaj Kamal, Warner bros
21 Aug 08 Spider plant man - Rowan Atkinson at his elemental best
Rowan Atkinson, I believe is the most decent stand up comedian. He has made many laugh without uttering a word, through his antics in ‘Mr.Bean’. Vivek mailed me the links to see ‘Spider plant man’, a spoof of spiderman. It was hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing from scene 1. The part where Spiderman and Batman go on head to head is funny to the core. Here are the videos
Enjoy them.
Tags: batman, mr.bean, Rowan Atkinson, Spider plant man, spoof
08 Aug 08 Kamal Hassan All the way!
Ulaganayagan Padmashree Dr.Kamal Hassan’s movies so far has bagged the maximum marks in Ananda Vikatan’s ratings. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, buy this week’s Ananda Vikatan to check out Kuselan’s marks (39/100 - A dismal movie, couldn’t even touch pass mark 40).
16 Vayathinile = 64*
Hey Ram = 60
Mahanadi = 60
Nayagan = 60
Isaignani Ilaiyaraja’s music is one of the main attributes to such colossal successes.
On a larger scale, A silent movie “Pushpak” came in 1988 bagged 9.3/10 in IMDB only now to be beaten by Chris Nolan’s Batman : The Dark Knight
* - Interestingly, Rajinikanth had a lot to add to the movie’s success. This might probably be the last movie before thalapathy where one can see the superstar ‘ACT’
Tags: Ananda Vikatan, Hey Ram, IMDB, Kamal Hassan, Kuselan, Mahanadi, Nayagan, Rajnikanth
06 Aug 08 Kuselan - A friend in need is a friend indeed
I saw Kuselan today and I can say that it was a good movie even though superstar appears in the third reel or so. Pasupathy, who is an old time school mate of Superstar Rajinikanth (Ashok kumar) is a happy go lucky man with Meena as his wife. Superstar visits the place they’re living, for movie shoot and unimpressive songs fill in the rest of the movie. Just like another P Vasu film. You gotta admit one thing, ‘Chandramukhi’s last 40 minutes attributed largely to the movie’s success’. Similarly, Kuselan’s last 40 minutes are the most interesting part of the movie. I was like stunned to see superstar putting up a great performance underplaying his ’style’ etc., and pasupathy was mind-blowing. Superstar’s words in the last part of the movie still rings through my ears. His dialogues about friendship are very much true. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Songs in the movie are its strong minuses and superstar + pasupathy act is its strong plus. If ARR scored music for this one, you need not second guess that the songs would have become super hit. GV Prakash Kumar needs to work hard and come up with some original tunes rather than his same ‘Veyilodu Vilaiyaadi’ tune.
Bottom line: Movie meanders aimlessy in the first half, but is worth watching for the second half.
Tags: Kuselan, Meena, P Vasu, Pasupathy, Rajinikanth
28 Jul 08 Batman Begins - for me, now
When Batman begins was released way back in 2005, I wasn’t interested in watching the movie. Reason 1, Quite frankly, I never liked batman. I always thought ‘The guy is so loaded with weaponry and still he can jump, fly and do all the superhuman-ish stuff? FTW!’. Reason 2, I got some negative reviews about wasting your money on a movie that you are not going to understand unless you see it twice. Marc, however, had a different opinion and asked me to see Batman begins before seeing ‘The Dark Knight’. Trust me, it worked.
You see, the batman franchisee was falling apart. With lame episodes in Star World (Batman and Robin with all the “BHAM.. WHAM.. BOOM” texts on the screen.. Yeach! However, Warner brothers did a great thing by giving the script to Chris nolan. A man who is known to make excellent scripts and a knack for direction. It is after quite some time(a lot of time) I’m watching the movie, but sure I’m not disappointed. I’m looking forward to watch ‘The Dark Knight’ at Sathyam soon.
Tags: batman, chris nolan, dark knight, movie, warner brothers
21 Jul 08 Kung Fu Panda - Awesomeness
I saw the trailer of the movie in Sony PIX and felt that I should watch the movie immediately. I got the chance too. Downloaded the movie from W-BB, I got a better quality Telesync version. From the scene 1, it was fun and frivolity all the way to the end. The panda character is freakin funny and I couldn’t stop laughing at its antics. The animation was seriously terrific and awesome and to incorporate an array of martial arts moves in CG is no mean feat! A traditional Kung fu flick filled with lots of humor is the perfect recipe for success. Damn sure it is. Don’t miss the movie folks, it is definitely worth the watch
Tags: animation, kung fu panda, movie
