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RSS FeedSeptember 28th, 2009
Japanese train pushers
I was looking for the 5th video for my “funny 7 videos” series, and I searched for funny videos on YouTube. Obviously, I had forgotten that fact is stranger than fiction. Following serious video explains it all:
September 22nd, 2009
Los Angeles and the birds of paradise
One of the best things that I like about Los Angeles? That’s easy – the birds of paradise. These flowers are so exotic that back in DC, you can find them in the endangered species section in the national botanical garden. In LA, you can find them on the sidewalks and in the wild bushes.
Sure, people are very f
riendly and happy as well, and that really makes the activity of looking at these beauties even more enjoyable. I nearly caused an accident when I stopped in the middle of the road to appreciate them, but the guy who rear ended me (nearly, uhmmm) was agreeable enough to take a couple of shots with my Nikon Coolpix.
September 22nd, 2009
Jay walking!
This JayWalking episode is quite funny! I cannot say for sure when someone goes on JayWalking if they start acting stupid simply for the fun sake or not. Sometimes I imagine that if I were on JayWalking, I would try to say something very stupid too.
Anyhow, here is the video – enjoy. (Very clear image quality too!)
September 21st, 2009
Another funny video
This is the kind of prank that takes a bit of work to setup, but is very well done!
I especially like the guy who goes back into the toilet. I am still working on where he thinks he is going. Perhaps he will wait in until the meeting ends? How will he know? Will he take a peep in say 20 minutes?
September 19th, 2009
Joe Wilson is neither a racist nor very smart
On one hand I oppose Joe Wilson and other neo conservatives who try to block the health care reform by obfuscating the debate using irrelevant issues such as immigration, but in the same breath I also do not support racism witch hunts which surface every time two people argue.
Peace guys – hear no evil, see no evil. People disagree for reasons more than one.
September 15th, 2009
Marshmallow game
Continuing on with the funny-video-of-the-day week, here is an old classic. 
September 14th, 2009
Fun stuff
OK, I am going to adopt a “funny-youtube-video-of-the-day” style for this week. Here we go, my favorite youtube video for Sunday, September 13th.
September 12th, 2009
Give Justice a Chance
It has become commonplace in Indian politics for media to question the minister after the court gives out a verdict. As an example, when Moninder Pandher got acquitted in the infamous Nithari serial killing cases, the media was all over the Indian Union minister for women and child development, Krishna Tirath.
This is not the most conducive way to further the separation of executive and judiciary. The media in this case wants to see if the minister can do anything to further the prosecution’s angle since the judiciary had decided to acquit the charged individual. If the minister were indeed to try that, should not the same media classify the actions as interference in justice and political vindication?
If, say hypothetically, the charged had been found guilty, and the minister interfered with that, would the media and the public find it acceptable?
The minister’s reaction “What can I say when the CBI is investigating the matter”, is fairly acceptable even if a bit ineloquent, since both CBI and the judge can (and should) hold the minister in contempt if minister does make a significant statement.
September 11th, 2009
You lie!
The polarization of our society and the twisting of each argument into unnecessary, irrelevant complications are the hallmark features of our times. If you say something (like DC needs voting rights) and you need me to agree with it, then you will need to agree with something I say (like gun control is illegal). It isn’t really required that the two things be related – any two things can be intertwined if required. The current focus on the alleged benefits that will be reaped by illegal immigrants (and that is reason enough not to do any health care reform) is a case in point. Obviously these two things are so closely related that congressman Wilson had to shout out! I don’t really know what is worse – Joe Wilson simply being an emotional fella, with no clear judgment on the appropriate ways to bring up his point, or Joe Wilson being a determined Republican who will not go along with the president no matter what? (I get the sense he is proud on both the counts.)
Does Joe Wilson not realize that illegal immigrants (and legal visitors, too) can go to the emergency health institutions at any time anyway (even in the current system)?
Or as we say it inside the beltway – I don’t need to answer your questions, I simply need to question your answers!
September 7th, 2009
What it is and what it is not
It is in vogue these days to explain things by saying what it is and what it is not. “Oh, let me start by telling you what our software does not do. It doesn’t do your laundry!” “Before I tell you about this movie, let me start by saying that ‘Alien Exterminator’ is not your average chick flic.” Answering questions that no one ever had, I have yet to see a lot of good come from these statements. Mostly, they simply set a negative tone.
During a Sikh wedding, the priest went on to clarify that the palla ceremony symbolizes bride’s father’s blessing of the union, and is not the same as kanyadaan. Then, the priest went on to expound the gender equality in Sikhism. Blessed be thee, sir priest and blessed be thine and mine religion! But what good is a loud statement in bold, if it comes at the expense of someone else? And does it not open itself for further introspection (perhaps for good) – why for example do the bride and the groom not walk together around the holy book, instead of the groom leading the bride?
I am no rebel, but nor am I a silent acceptor of traditions. It doesn’t make me a friend of the establishment, since the establishment thrives on tradition. My marching orders (from what, one might ask) could be well in place if I were to recommend the smallest deviation from the set protocol. But make no mistake, that the custodians of any philosophy are the thinkers that question the very legs we stand on, not the establishment that formalizes and reformalizes traditions so that it can have a blank check to go after anyone else.