Long time no see!

Well, I can pretend that I was busy but I was not :-) Procrastination is perhaps the single biggest bug in this otherwise beautiful piece of code called the Matrix!

Speaking of the matrix, as usual I have been watching a few movies. Latest in the sequence have been Forrest Gump (never watched it before!!) which was breathtaking and Lakshya which was average. The judgement on Lakshya though is a bit controversial since some of my friends liked the movie a lot. I did not - I cannot say the actors performed poorly or the direction was shoddy. Just that the movie did not strike a chord with me. Hota hai :-)

Deewar (the new one) is the next hindi movie on the agenda. Tomorrow - in fact late in the day today - we shall go to watch Fahrenheit 9/11. The movie must rank among the all time most eagerly awaited movies in the US. It is okay for movies/books etc to be banned in India and other countries. However, the US prides itself on being a "free" country. It is surprising that even in such an admirably free society, at times people have to strive so hard to have their voice heard. More on the movie tomorrow after I have seen it.

Speaking of America, I was amazed, astounded, amused (and a lot of other superlative verbs) on reading that recently, Richard B. Cheney, the Vice President of the United States of America told Senator Patrick Leahy to f*** off during one of their arguments in the Senate Chamber! Man - these people can make Mulayam Singh look good :-)

Among other things, I have been on a customization drive of late. I have COMPLETELY customized the look of my computer with
(a) custom created wallpapers with a uniform look in both Linux and Windows
(b) matching themes (downloaded!)
(c) matching GRUB bootscreen, plus a host of other tiny tiny things that I feel make my computer look slicker :-)

Basically I am all excited about my laptop's new look since for the first time it boasts of wallpapers signed Priyendra :-)

On the research front, things are progressing steadily. Summer quarter has started and I have decided to take two courses - databases and compilers. I guess I need to brush up my knowledge in these. Or in IIT lingo, bikkon ke kalank ko dhona hai :-)

Today I plan to do what I dread most - clean up my room. Its been ages since I did that and Manu has been sugesting since quite some time that we do it. Today is the day!

Being an avid internet news buff, I think I should point out the falling journalistic standards of TOI. It is fast descending into a cheap tabloid. During my IIT days, TOI was the website I religiously returned to for news - at times even visiting the site more than maybe 10-15 times a day. Now, my visits only serve to amplify my already substantial disappointment with the publication. Consider some of the headlines on the TOI front page right now:

- Call girls in your neighborhood!
- Desi lingo paints London streets
- Indian junkies' ande ka funda
- Bollywood: Romancing in the rain
- Two mile walk better than Viagra

One would think something more important than all this must be happening around the world right now. Rediff.com is now my preferred source for news from India. May they never walk the TOI route!

Phew - this is what happens when you don't post for a long time!