A different level of faithfulness!

How long would you wait if your loved one didn't come back one day?

Hachiko was brought to Tokyo in 1924 by his owner, a college professor named Hidesamuro Ueno. Each day, when Ueno left for work, Hachiko would stand by the door to watch him go. When the professor came home at 4 o’clock, Hachiko would go to the Shibuya Station to meet him.

Though this simple act alone shows a tremendous amount of loyalty, that’s not the end of it: The following year, Ueno died of a stroke while at the university. Hachiko didn’t realize that he was gone, and so the dog returned to the train station every single day to await his master. He became such a familiar presence there, in fact, that the station master set out food for the dog and gave him a bed in the station. Even so, Hachiko never shifted loyalties –every day at 4 o’clock, he hopefully waited by the tracks as the train pulled in, searching for his best friend’s face among the people getting off.

Hachiko’s love for his master impressed many people who passed through the station, including one of Ueno’s former students, who became fascinated by the Akita breed after seeing Hachiko. He discovered that there were only 30 Akitas living in Japan, and began to write articles about Hachiko and his remarkable breed, turning the world’s most loyal dog into a household name, and creating a resurgence in popularity for the Akita.

Hachiko died in 1935, after 10 long years of waiting for his master. But the dog would not be forgotten –a year before his death, Shibuya Station installed a bronze statue of the aging dog

, to honor its mascot. Though the statue was melted down during World War II, a new version was created in 1948 by the son of the original artist. Go to the station now, and you’ll be able to see the bronze statue of Hachiko – still waiting, as ever, for his master to come home.

Just a reason why I love dogs!

Note: The original can be found here...

And there is a link in Wikipedia too...

Ann Dee's Challenge and Spike's response!

Yesterday, my new and sassy blog-friend Ann Dee had challenged me to find her identity on MS.

I was reluctant initially since I don't visit that site much these days, I asked the challenger for a prize. She was sweet enough to buy me a cool, crisp, foamy, cold and refreshing glass of beer... !!

(I thought the girl in the center was a dude! Guess I was distracted by the........

pearl necklace!!)

The spoils were agreed upon, but there was a slight problem.... we are both in a different geographic locations, so to keep things simple, I agreed to a virtual beer that I can display on my blog along with this caption -

"Ann Dee bows to thee and promises to never ever mess with the smart and cool dude, eye-in-sty-in, at least in this lifetime".

If I am not able to find her ID on MS, I'll buy her a virtual beer and she get to display it with the caption, "eye-in-sty-in bows to thee and promises never to mess with the sassy Ann Dee" - after all, the deal should work both ways, right?

But when I asked her for the prize, she told me that the link to her profile was already on her blogger profile. However, I DID NOT go there as I was already in my "challenge" mode!

But Ann Dee refused to trust Eye-in-sty-in... "I dont know you well enough" she said and went to hog on a tuna sandwich before she chickened out when I raised her wager! So I thought.... Hmmm..... a chicken hoggging on a tuna sandwich makes for quite a zooo!! I digress!

Since the hype was built up, I said to myself, "So what if she chickened out! To heck with the prize... I'll do it just for the joy of sleuthing!" :D

And off went the Spikemeister to trace down this damsel who goes by the name of Ann Dee!

A little sleuthing revealed that "Ann Dee" was a jazzed up version of ND! Searching for Ann Dee on MS was now a waste!

"What have you got yourself into this time, Spike!!" said Eye-in-sty-in. "How could you put my reputation at stake like this!".

"Chill out dude! How can I refuse a beer man! That too when its offered by a pretty and sassy woman! Besides, it was a challenge dude. What was I supposed to do? Back down?!"

"Oh pipe down!" retorted Eye-in-sty-in. He didn't sound happy at all. Spike now had to make sure the damsel's profile was found!

But then, poor Spike had no clues! No leads to follow... just ... Wait a minute! Didn't Ann Dee comment on Eye-in-sty-in's previous post about traffic signs? Lets look there!!

With a smug look on his face and armed with this new found info about her location, Off went Spike in the hunt of this saucy sassy damsel who goes by the name of ND!

He took his hand,

pulled up his pants!

He pulled out his wand,

and stuck the sand!

He cast a spell,

into the well!

"Google me this... Google me that! Show me a big blind bat"

Thwack!

"What the.... Why did you hit me, Eye-in-sty-in?"

"You were saying it all wrong!" said Eye-in-sty-in.

"What was I saying wrong?"

"The spell. You were saying it wrong! You We are looking for ND, not a big, blind bat".

This Eye-in-sty-in was such a know-it-all! thought Spike, muttering under his breath!

"I know that!" he said out loud and went back to casting the spell again...

"Google me this... Google me that! Show me a dandy Ann Dee"

We have found 500 profiles matching 'Ann Dee' ...... proclaimed MS!

Grrrrrrrr!! Spike should have known... Mouthshut search sucks!

Spike and Eye-in-sty-in look at each other in surprise.... and thats when it stuck them!

"Wait a minute" they said at the same time, looking at each other - as it finally dawned upon them!

"Google me this... Google me that! Show me a dandy ND"

Voilaaaaa!!

So here she is... The soon to be All-New-And-Fantastically-Awesome One.....

Scrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!

That's not Ann Dee! That's Eye-in-sty-in's friend B!!!

Beep-Beep! Go back go back!

(Note to self - Give wand for servicing after finding Ann Dee's profile and getting the beer trophy from her!.... maybe....)

Poof!

And, there we have it folks!

The oh so sassy,

and not so naughty!

The one with the almond eyes,

and the lovely smile!

She has no beard,

just a moustache!

What???????? Curse this wand!!! It is definitely going for a checkup!

Whaddaya say folks! Doesn't Nidarshana have a lovely pair of eyes!

O Sassy one, I'd like my beer chilled and inscribed please! That is, if you are still game :-)

However, if you sulk, lemme know and I will remove all traces of the moustache... Althought I must admit, you carry it with elan! ;-)

PS: No hard feelings, eh? :-))

Freedom of traffic...!

A town in Germany removed all traffic rules and guess what! The number of accidents plummeted from one-a-week to zilch!

Reason? Not having to look at signs and signals, people are paying more attention to the road and to other things on it! Funny, isn't it!

The town now has two general laws in place - a speed limit of 30 MPH and yield to the right. And the Govt. saves 5,000 pounds a month in traffic sign repair bills.

I cannot imagine what will happen if this were done in Bombay or Bangalore... any guesses? :P

Leeches!

It was a beautiful day - warm sunshine, clear skies, a light cool breeze blowing. Perfect outdoor weather and so we did just that. The field was crowded and after a brief wait, we eventually found a spot large enough for us to start playing. Being able to get out after so long got us so engrossed in our game that we lost the track of time and also the sky. It was the last point. One more catch and the scores will have a big enough difference for our team to win. Someone threw the ball at me and I just let it drop. There were cries from the rest of my team even before the ball had hit the ground because I was not focusing on the ball at all. In fact, I did not even see the ball drop because I had my back to it. I could feel the outrage being expressed by my team mates as they bore their hard stare into my back. But I had other things to worry about. I had seen something that the no one else had spotted. Not even the girls who were supposed to be on the lookout. This abrupt change in my demeanor stifled the cries of my team mates. What started out as a bellowing outrage ended in a whimper and I think some even tried to swallow the words into their stomach. No, I was not menacing nor was I a bad player. In fact I was the best catcher on the team. But everyone knew the drill, you cannot make any sound when they are around. It was one of the ways that they could detect our presence.

"We promise we will pay attention" they had said to all of us. As much as I was against the idea of letting them take over the watch from the guards the relentless pleas from my team mates sounded convincing. After all, there was not a cloud in the sky to be seen and we had a score to settle with the guards. They had beaten us by 1 point in the tie-breaker in the last game. I let the euphoria of the good weather get to me and against my better judgement, I let the girls take over the watch from the guards for the lousy game! I was so angry at myself. Of course they got engrossed in enjoying the weather and forgot to notice the clouds move in. Of course they did not detect the presence of the leeches that were now moving in by the dozens surrounding the huge field. I didn't even know how long had they been waiting in the dark forest at the edge of the field... waiting patiently for the clouds to move in.... watching their prey running and jumping about before they strike. More than the girls, I was angry at myself. Why did I give in and let the guards play? Why! I knew the girls did not have the skills to be lookouts. This is why we never allowed them to take that responsibility. How many people will pay the price for my decision! Oh well, now was not the time to ruminate.

The girls were smart enough to move into the center of the field. They were surrounded by 2 concentric circles the inner one formed by the civilian men and the outer one by the guards. The latter were now fully alert and had quickly fallen into their combat positions. I saw one of the guards move towards the edge of the field towards the pile of weapons. He was a newer recruit, Jack. Obviously. Any experienced soldier would never have made such a foolish move. The stack was too close to the forest and in spite of their massive size (some were more than 12 feet tall), the leeches moved with agility - Especially when they were hungry. Jack's intentions were noble and the weapons would have bettered our precarious position greatly, but alas, the move was suicidal. I knew it! I could not run and stop him from what he was doing. Heck, I could not even shout out a warning to him for that would instantly alert the leeches of our location. Their vision was weak, but their hearing was very sharp! It now came down to numbers. Survival of many - sacrifice of one. He was headed towards the pile of weapons, straight in the direction of the enemy. While the enemy had their attention focused on this sure shot prey, we had to make our escape. Jack's death should not be an utter waste.

I signalled the guards and we started moving slowly towards the vehicles. As much as we wanted to, we could not afford to make any sudden movements. They could still spot us. I counted Jack's steps as he moved closer and closer to the weapons. He was so focused on his task, He was not even aware of the giant leech hidden in the clump of trees behind the stack. I was intently watching Jack move and I was also watching the leech. I had to anticipate the enemy's movement precisely when Jack notices it and cries out in surprise. This will distract the rest of the leeches and we will have to make a break for the vehicles. Hopefully the other leeches will be distracted enough by the smell of blood and the the noise and coupled with the poor eyesight, they won't notice us. It was a long shot, but I had to take it. It was our only shot! The clouds were getting thicker and the sky darker, soon they will be able to roam free in the dark night. Escape would then be impossible then for the zombies will also be out at night!

It was now! The other leeches noticed it, I noticed it and so did a few of the other soldiers. The big leech moved towards Jack who now slowed down as his eyes grew big in horror as he noticed death, in the form of the big beast, move towards him. He slipped and slid, kicking up a cloud of dust as his feet scampered in a futile attempt to stop his advance in the enemy's direction as he tried to reverse his stride. The dry mud did not help. Even if it was asphalt, he still stood no chance. Not at that distance. The leech moved with speed in Jack's direction. I saw Jack's feet slow down as he was almost mesmerized by the sheer agility of the huge beast. The jaws opened and it swooped upon Jack who was now screaming his guts out. We were almost 115 meters away from the vehicles when Jack's screams died. I turned my head around slightly to witness the horror!

His torso lying on the ground. Jack had no head. In fact, Jack had no chest. The leech had bit him in half and the upper part of Jack's body was in the beast's mouth. Blood was dripping from the mouth of the leech that had devoured Jack and the other leeches were moving towards the lower half of Jack's torso. The smell of warm blood must be overwhelming for them. We shut the door of the vehicles and bolted off. We lived to see another day. Thank you Jack!

Spoiler post: Why T4 sucks!

Ok, here it is - the much awaited "T4 Spoiler post" by public demand!*
*(read public = CP)

Read a few reviews praising the movie on IMDB.
Fail to understand how anyone can give this lousy movie a rating of 10 - It can happen only if they have not seen ANY of the movies that T4 has been "inspired" from.
(the count presently stands at 13 movies!)
Fail to understand how a Terminator movie was beaten by "Night at the museum" and still had a 7.4 rating on IMDB.
Fail to understand why of all the reviews written on the movie, none have been scathing of the movie and are trying to play down the lousiness of the movie. The most honest review was one that said "Ben Stiller finishes off Terminator Salvation". Why? Because it presented box office collections for the long weekend.

T4 - 53.8 Million
Night at the museum starring Ben Stiller - 70 Million!


Numbers don't lie. You cannot mellow them down like reviews written by paid scribes!



Here are reasons why T4 sucked and a few suggestions to make it better!

1. The 1st hour of the movie is just building up the plot.

2. The 2nd hour tries to show all the cool action that you have watched in the trailers! By then you are too bored to find it cool, especially if the trailers are in HD!

3. The people in the movie appear well groomed - not helpless and desolate (as they should be in a post-nuclear world)

4. The machines are collecting people to take them to a facility and then kill them. Why? Are you going to harvest them for making nuclear batteries?

5. Just use the robotic arm for picking up the people to crush them! Its more efficient instead of transporting them to a shed and THEN killing them!

6. (7.) In fact, why use the arm at all? Why not just carpet bomb the world and kill everyone.

7. (8.) Whats the use of killing ALL the people? Or even capturing them? Were the machines just trying to find something to keep themselves busy? -

"Gee, we built so many extra nuclear batteries. We'll have to build some terminators to use them now."
"Gee, now there are extra Terminators, so lets kill some people even though they are not much of a resistance!" groovy! (FYI, that's what Bush did in Iraq. Its not the future, its the past!)

8. (6.) In the beginning of the movie, John Connor looks at a nuclear blast happen and survives without even getting a pimple on his ass.

9. (7.) You cannot kill a terminator by shooting it with a gun! Its stupid! The bullets will just bounce off!

10. (8.) Once the gun is empty, you cannot throw it at the Terminator and say "die!" - No, that will not kill it either, unless you are trying to kill it with your stupidity!

11. (9.) When you see a 30 foot "Transformer type" robot coming at you, you should know you cannot outrun it in a pickup truck!

12.(10.) The "predator" in the Arnold movie was a better killing machine than the Terminators!

13. (11.) The bat-man like bike dispatched from the robot's leg was not meant to be ridden by a human!

14 (12.) When there is a nuclear blast, you cannot communicate on radio!

15. (13.) You cannot blow up a nuclear battery plant and possibly escape in a helicopter! You will die!

16. (14.) The nuclear battery plant - the source of the terminator fuel - had minimal security! Even some banks these days have lasers to guard their facility!

17. (15.) If the terminators are heat proof, why not have a "heat-moat" around the plant that will kill humans, but allow the terminators to move in and out!

18. (16.) After killing all the humans, what will Skynet do? Grow potatoes? Or try to create a Issac Asimov inspired SIMS world by building fornicating robots!

19. (17.) The human-robot removes a computer chip from his brain and survives without a hitch! Did he run a test to check if the chip - embedded in his brain - was not vital for his survival? ha!

20. (18.) The same human-robot throws a chair at the display screen thru which Skynet communicated with him - even I know that not going to kill Skynet! Whats the point in that? Just run and save John without trying to reason with an AI computer that has almost succeeded in destroying the world!

21. (19.) If you are going to argue with Skynet, at least make sure you have some logic that would throw it into an endless recursive loop that will lock it up!

22. (20.) He could have installed Windows Vista on the computer - That would have caused it to crash every 30 minutes!

23. (21.) The patches required by Vista would cause Skynet to reboot twice every week. The humans can use that time to infiltrate and capture Skynet!

24. (22.) Putting charcoal over an airbrushed actor does not create an authentic desolate look! Try to get some make inspiration from Mad-Max if you have borrowed a few scenes from it!

25. (23.) The transformer type robot in point 9 raised the count of "Inspired movies" to 14!

26. (24.) Considering all the above points, this post should be called "your ticket money saving post!"

27. (25.) Add your own reason here!

28. A post-nuclear war world does not have a blue sky when nuclear explosions are still happening.

Cheating...!

Why do people cheat? Isn't one person enough?

The 1st Affair:

A married man was having an affair with his secretary.

One day they went her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell
asleep and woke up at 8 PM.

The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub
them in the grass and dirt.

He put on his shoes and drove home.

"Where have you been?" his wife demanded.

"I can't lie to you," he replied, "I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had
sex all afternoon."

"You lying bastard!

You've been playing golf!"


And its not just limited to men! A recent study in found that Australian women are as equally interested in an orgy as men! That may not necessarily mean its cheating though...

The 2nd Affair:


A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a
son.

They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted.

The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.

The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son.

He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen.

He told his wife, "There's no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the
two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?"

The wife smiled sweetly and replied, "Not this time!"



If we know that one spouse can get boring, is ok to deliberately wander every so often? We don't eat the same food everyday because it is boring...


The 3rd Affair:

A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front
door.

"Hurry," she said, "stand in the corner."

She rubbed baby oil all over him, then dusted him with talcum powder.

"Don't move until I tell you," she said. "Pretend you're a statue."

"What's this?" the husband inquired as he entered the room.

"Oh it's a statue." she replied. "The Smith's bought one and I liked it so much I
got one for us, too."

No more was said, not even when they went to bed.

Around 2 AM the husband got up, went to the kitchen and returned with a sandwich
and a beer.

"Here," he said to the statue, "have this. I stood like that for two days at the
Smith's and nobody offered me a damned thing."



Is vengeance the right answer?

The 4th Affair:

A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer.

"Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent."

"One Cent?" the man thought.

He glanced at the menu and asked, "How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle
of wine?"

"A nickel," the barman replied.

"A nickel?" exclaimed the man. "Where's the guy who owns this place?"

The bartender replied, "Upstairs, with my wife."

The man asked, "What's he doing upstairs with your wife?"

The bartender replied,

"The same thing I'm doing to his business down here."



Or is homicidal vengeance the answer?

The 5th Affair:

Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside.

He looked up and said weakly, "I have something I must confess."

"There's no need to," his wife replied.

"No," he insisted, "I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best
friend, her best friend, and your mother!"

"I know, I know," she replied. "Now just rest and let the poison work."


Why do some people cheat? Is it because they are hurt by others? Is it ok to cheat if you have been cheated on? or should one just curse their luck and move on...

!~~~ Hell or heaven for comic fans? ~~~!

I love watching cartoons - I generally prefer the animated variety, but sometimes the ones in real life provide much more entertainment

When a movie on a superhero is made, the obvious audience would be the people who have read the storybook / comic book. But very few superhero movies do ’real’ justice to their fans. The most common ’sin’ committed - if I may use the word - is to chop off parts of the story - or to twist some facts to suit the director. If the story is intact, the animation isn’t surreal because it is ’too detailed’ for the big screen - all this is done in the name of ’appealing’ to the movie going audience.

This is such a downer because while making the movie, they forget one important thing - the target ’audience’ for superhero movies is people who like reading the comic books - it is people who like the attention to details. In ordinary words - they are ’nerds’ like me !

So how does Hellboy fare in my exacting standards? Read on people...... read on !

First things first - I have to confess that I have not read the ’Hellboy’ comic book, but I have read enough comic books to know comic books. And knowing comic books is vital to review a super hero movie because the ’nerd’ in me knows what to look out for in such a movie.

It is the final days of World War II, the Germans and Russians combine modern science and ancient evil and build a machine to open a portal to the ’other’ world to bring forth the destruction of Earth. Ofcourse, if we have Russians and Germans colluding, the Americans can’t be far behind now, can they! The movie opens with a battalion of U.S. soldiers and a scientist/professor traveling together to thwart the evil plan of their enemies. Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who is the American expert on magic and sorcery is at first mocked by the US military who think all this is just mumbo-jumbo. However as they reach the Island in Scotland that houses the device, the young professor is shocked to see Grigori Rasputin. His presence signifies something even more big than what he had anticipated.

Grigori Rasputin is a Russian mystic who plans awaken the Ogdru Jahad - The Seven monstrous Gods of Chaos. Helping him are his aides Ilsa von Haupstein and Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. Karl is a much touted killer in Hitler’s military! This man is seemingly invincible and many attempts to kill him, including shooting him in the head, have been futile. Just before operating the machine, Ilsa is made immortal with everlasting youth and beauty by Rasputin in exchange for eternal servitude.

When the machine starts, the Americans soldiers are awestuck by the spectacle that they witness. Not realising the gravity of the situation, they start whispering and they are found out. A fight erupts just when Rasputin starts to open the portal to the other world! What will happen next?

Will the Americans be able to save the destruction of the Earth at the hands of the evil Rasputin? or will Rasputin succeed in his scheme and be able to awaken the Ogdru Jahad? Does Rasputin have any other vested plans? Who is Karl Ruprecht Kroenen? Is he really invincible? Who is Hellboy and how does he figure in this scheme of things? Watch this movie to know the answers....

What I loved about this movie is that Mexican director Guillermo del Toro has done complete justice to the Dark Horse Comic book - Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola.

What I didn’t like about the movie?
I didn’t like the attempts of the central character at humor and wit ! He is like that guy who tries too much to get the girl of his dreams that his wheels are spinning in place - he generates a lot of smoke without any fire - those of you who have seen the movie will know what I’m talking about... the rest can remember these lines and try to recollect them when they do see the movie :-)

Clearly if every guy in hell has the wit and charm like the hero of our book/movie, I’d say the girls who like guys should start being good - they certainly don’t wanna go to hell, bcoz they’d be bored out of their wits! But then its hell - maybe that is God’s way of punishing them evil girls :D

Why am I recommending a movie whose central character lacks suave? Read the next para !!

The feel that one gets while enjoying the comic book like reading the dialogs in the voice bubbles, reading the narration written at the top to enhance the description of the scene, the various shadows cast by the animators to create suspense and fear, the elaborate attention to various minute details in the plot that the reader can see after reading the comic umpteen number of times, the rich feel of the vibrant colours in the book, various characters like a group of policemen - some big and burly while others a little old with a family background (the ones you feel sad when they are killed), the gruesome creatures that make you cringe and wonder - Can the superhero survive this fearsome invincible thing?

All of these aspects - that make a good comic book have been authentically recreated in the movie without any compromise. I felt like I am reading a comic book on the screen !! For this satiating experience to the nerd in me, I give the director and the animators 10/10 !
If you worship comics and want to see justice being done to your religion, don’t miss this movie !

An important point to note is that none of the actors are well-known celebs. For comic based movies, getting big names in quite unnecessary because besides the actors being covered in a veil of costumes and makeup, the story is the main hero. Almost all the actors in the movie have a biography of similar movies. Full points to Jeremy Zimmermann for casting aptly.

The Art direction in the movie is A+ as are the costumes. It is due to this that the authentic comic book feel has been successfully retained. Full points to Marco Bittner Rosser, Peter Francis and James Hambidge for the Art and to Wendy Partridge for the Costumes.

For a list of complete cast, please see
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/combined

The movie won the 2004 Best Director - Feature Film - Imagen Award and the 2005 Saturn Award for
Best Make-Up. Both were well deserved, IMO.
For other nominations please visit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/awards

my verdict?

For the average movie audience it is a 3 star movie. For someone big on comic books, it is a 4 star movie. For someone who loved to see justice being done to comics in movies, it is a 5 star movie !!
You know who you are...

!! Spike !!

This review was first published here by me.