Polls

Please spare a second to vote on the new polls-------->>>>>>>>>

I'll announce the results when I have enough votes or untill the poll/s is/are closed...cheers!

Lateral Thinking

A father and his son are involved in a car accident, as a result of which the son is rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. The surgeon looks at him and says "I can't operate on him, he's my son". Explain.....

Credit to the original problem maker:)

Let's See If You Can Do This....??

How quickly can you find out what is unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing was wrong with it at all, and in fact, nothing is. But it is unusual. Why? If you study it and think about it you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. I don't know. Now, go to work and try your luck.

Credit to the original problem maker:)

50 Greatest Extreme Metal Songs: Part 3

So here they are...the top 10 extreme metal songs till date...well not exactly..let's just say 10 of the best songs in extreme metal that I've listened to:)

(10) Future Breed Machine--Meshuggah(Destroy Erase Improve)
This song is everything that Meshuggah stand for. Excellent riffs, haunting melody and time signatures that are incomprehensible yet amazing!!

(9) Corporal Jigsore Quandary--Carcass(Necroticism:Descanting The Insalubrious)
One of the greatest albums in the death/grind genre. Pulverizinf riffs, insane double bass mayhem. I don't wanna get into the lyrics as they aren't any good:)..and as I've always said, I don't need any lectures or preaching in my music anyway. Gimme thrash/melo-death/death/grind when I want to headbang...gimme prog rock/metal,jazz when I wanna relax, gimme classic rock/heavy metal when I just wanna have fun...but don't expect me to praise or criticize a band for their lyrics..lol.

(8) Unas Slayer Of The Gods--Nile(In Their Darkened Shrines)
EPIC!! song this one. The Egyptian intro tune is mindblowing!! and then you get what Nile are best at..pure bone crunching heaviness!!

(7) Chapel Of Ghouls--Morbid Angel(Altars Of Madness)
A very haunting song from the masters. My second favourite song off this classic album.

(6) Ghost Of Perdition--Opeth(Ghost Reveries)
Opeth's best song to date,IMHO. The guitar work and the percussion is simply mind boggling.

(5) User-Maat-Re--Nile(Annihilation Of The Wicked)
The build up and character of the song is much like Unas Slayer Of The Gods, but the riffs on this one are more catchy and crunchy, it's a classic.

(4) Incarnate Solvent Abuse--Carcass(Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious)
The best death/grind song ever!! Note: I don't listen to Napalm Death...so I really have no idea about them:)

(3) Chopped In Half--Obituary(Cause Of Death)
Classic death metal doesn't get any better than this.

(2) Immortal Rites--Morbid Angel(Altars Of Madness)
Furious headbanger this one; the best song off this classic album.

(1) Fall From Grace--Morbid Angel(Blessed Are The Sick)
Yes, MA get the top 2 spots. This song may not be the most crushing or heavy that you'll ever hear but it's certainly the most memorable. As soon as the opening riff kicks in, you know it's Fall From Grace. You can't say that about a lot of Death Metal songs(except many of Death's songs) but they were never very extreme, that's why I included their songs in my 100Greatest Metal Songs list.

Well....that was it. Hope you like it:)

50 Greatest Extreme Metal Songs: Part 2

I'm back, so here they are..songs 30-11



(30) God Of Emptiness--Morbid Angel(Covenant)
Another great headbanger from the angels. I'm sure you saw it on MTV Headbanger's ball sometime or the other..?


(29) Cosmic Keys To My Creation And Times--Emperor(In The Nightside Eclipse)
This is, arguably, the most important release in the history of modern Black Metal. The atmosphere which Emperor have created on this album is so dark and cold that you can actually feel a shiver if you listen to this in a dim lit room, all alone..it's freakishly scary. Epic, dark, spooky and really hard hitting composition this one.


(28) Hammer Smashed Face--Cannibal Corpse(Tomb Of The Mutilated)
I'll admit, I don't like CC that much, the cover arts are enough to repel me..yukk!!I have about 12-15 of their songs that I downloaded..who would wanna buy something with those horrendous cover arts?? Anyway, this is one of their few kick*** songs that I enjoy listenign to now and then. Death n' Roll at it's best.


(27) The Leper Affinity--Opeth(Blackwater Park)
One of the very few straight up rockers from Opeth. A classic song, and might I add, one of the better solos in all of modern Death Metal.


(26) The Mouth Licking What You've Bled--Meshuggah(Chaosphere)
Another chaotic song from this chaotic album. I hear ting tong ting tong already:)


(25) Neurotica--Meshuggah(Chaosphere)
Another??? Oh yes, I'm not kidding...this is insane music.


(24) Into The Infinity Of Thoughts--Emperor(In The Nightside Eclipse)
Another epic song from this classic album.


(23) I'm In Pain--Obituary(The End Complete)
A bludgeoning song from this overlooked gem.


(22) Lashed To The Slavestick--Nile(Annihilation Of The Wicked)
Nile's most accessible song to date but that doesn't mean it won't hit the lights out of you.


(21) I'm The Balck Wizards--Emperor(In The Nightside Eclipse)My favourite song off this album..listen to find out why.


(20) Rapture--Morbid Angel(Covenant)
Classic, hyperspeed, true Morbid Angel style song this one. Gut thumping music!!


(19) Jesus Wept--Suffocation(Effigy Of The Forgotten)
Suffocation's best song to date. The guitars on this one have to be heard to believed.


(18) Kings Of Carnival Creation--Dimmu Borgir(Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia)
EPIC!! and really really DARK!! would be two words to describe this.


(17) Skull Full Of Maggots--Cannibal Corpse(Eaten Back To Life)
No blast beats, but this is one hell of a headbanger from CC.


(16) The Grand Conjuration--Opeth(Ghost Reveries)
Opeth's musical brilliance and creativity at it's pinnacle, this song has it all!


(15) I Whisper In The Ear Of The Dead--Nile(In Their Darkened Shrines)
How can a song sound so epic clocking in just over 5 minutes? That's the brilliance of Nile; it's almost as if you're listening to the soundtrack of a futuristic Blade Runner type movie, only it's much darker and evil. They do almost everything they know in this short masterpiece.


(14) Blessed--Decapitated(Winds Of Creation)
Decapitated's best song to date. I'll just leave you with that:)

(13) Forwards To Die!!!--Vader(Litany)
Straight up, in your face, ultra heavy galloping song from Vader. Really really catchy too.

(12) Phobophile--Cryptopsy(None So Vile)
What the hell is a piano doing in a Cryptopsy song?You'll ask yourself that question..and you'll probably anticipate that it would build up into a monster, but they'll brutally thrash you so abruptly you won't have the time to hide. This is as classic as brutal Death Metal can get.

(11) Corridor Of Chameleons--Meshuggah(Chaosphere)
30 seconds into the song and you'll know that Mehuggah mean business and they are here to hit your brains like anything.

So that wat it...keep your eyes open for the top 10 extreme metal songs:)

P.S.--If you thought you were seeing a pattern here; well let me tell you that there's a band in the top 10 which hasn't cracked the list yest, and they have 2 songs! in the top 10. These guys figured in my 100 Greatest Metal Songs List too. Curious???

50 Greatest Extreme Metal Songs

I've had some commentors and friends tell me that they would have liked to see some songs of Death/Brutal Death/Doom/Extreme Black genres in my 100 Greatest Metal Songs list. Now, please don't take this list of mine as a regret of any sort. I still stand by my list, and some of the comments have been overwhelming, esp. Adrian's. So, I'm obliged to do this list. The songs to be featured in this list are some of the most brutal and extreme forms of metal/music you can come accross. They are an acquired taste actually. Casual metal listeners are requested to refer to my Essential Power Metal Listening list and 'metalheads' enjoy this list and the previous post on Thrash Metal
ADVISORY: DO NOT TRY ANY OF THESE AT HOME:)

Here they are...songs 50-31. I'm gonna write a few lines about a band and their music when their name appears for the first time. After that I'm gonna just leave you with the songs(albums)

(50) Extreme Unction--Necrophagist(Onset Of Putrefaction)
Machine like speed, partly due to the fact that they used a drum machine on this album. But what makes this album special is that Muhammad Luicmez(Necrophagist frontman) recorded this whole thing by himself!!! n I mean everything!! Brutal technical death metal with neo-classical influences. Think of Yngwie Malmsteen meets Death.

(49) Concatenation--Meshuggah(Chaosphere)
Meshuggah are not classified as death metal. They are more like post-thrash or math-metal:). You'll witness the most unusual of time signatures in their music. They're definitely not heavy in the sense that Cryptopsy, Nile, Suffocation etc. are but the atonality of the guitar sound really hurts you sometimes and I dare you to say that you don't hear ting-tong-ting-tong in your head after listening to their stuff.

(48) Day Of Suffering--Morbid Angel(Blessed Are the Sick)
Morbid Angel are to Death Metal what Metallica are to Thrash. This sophomore release from these masters is one of the most genre defining releases of all time and one of the best too. This is classic Death Metal at it's best.

(47) Effigy Of The Forgotten--Suffocation(Effigy Of The Forgotten)
Suffocation are reponsible for giving birth to the term Brutal Death Metal. It won't sound so brutal today but back in 1991 this was as brutal as it could get. The guitar work found here is absolutely exemplary. Kick *** song this one.

(46) Death In Silence--Vader(The Art Of War EP)
Not as brutal as fellow Poles Decapitated but Vader pump out some insanely heavy and groovy Death Metal. This EP's only about 15 minutes but it packs some classic hard hitting songs and this is one of those.

(45) Soul Burn--Meshuggah(Destroy Erase Improve)
Meshuggah's most technical album, and it's a masterpiece. This song actually makes you concentrate and think!!(I don't mean the lyrics...go figure)

(44) Intestinal Incubation--Necrophagist(Onset Of Putrefaction)
This is Iron Maiden gone hyperspeed Death Metal!!

(43) Winds Of Creation--Decapitated(Winds Of Creation)
When Decapitated recorded this, their drummer was 14!! and the oldest band member was 19! One of the most sensational Death Metal debuts ever. The lack of finesse is evident in some parts(but that's nitpicking, c'mon the guys are so young), this is an excellent slab of ultra heavy technical Death Metal.

(42) Fleshless--Dismember(Indecent and Obscene)
These Swedes are the masters of Death Metal at any pace. Don't let that bother you though, coz this one's a blastorama of hyperspeed-hyperheavy death metal.

(41) The End Complete--Obituary(The End Complete)
The other grand daddy of Death Metal has cracked the list. Obituary, oh! Obituary..almost as important as Morbid Angel for the Death Metal genre. Though not their best effort, this was their most successful album. In fact this is the bestselling Death Metal album of all time(more than 500,000 copies worldwide). This is uber heavy mid paced Death Metal at it's finest.

(40) Cause Of Death--Obituary(Cause Of Death)
Two Obituary songs in a row...yeah. This was Obituary's classic and is still considered to be a seminal release in all of Death Metal. In some songs, they just use guttural noises instead of lyrics!! but they pull it off man. The truest form of classic Death metal this one.

(39) I Saw Them Die--Dismember(Massive Killing Capacity)
Heavy, bludgenoing song this one. the buzzsaw sound from the guitars is just awesome!!

(38) Eyes To See, Ears To Hear--Morbid Angel(Covenant)
A greatly overlooked Morbid Angel album. Not as chaotic and hypersonic as their previous works but really gut thumping music.

(37) Crown Of Horns--Cryptopsy(None So Vile)
These Canadians sure know how to hammer your head, and this album is the be all and end all of brutality. It just rams into your head like a bulldozer, and might even put you off at first due to the sheer heaviness!!! It scares me too, but it's fun to listen to once in a blue moon.

(36) Lead Us--Vader(The Art Of War EP)
Another great headbanger with a catchy!!??? chorus from Vader.

(35) Puritana--Dimmu Borgir(Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia)
Dimmu Borgir represent the cream of extreme Norwegian Black Metal. Their use of orchestral arrangements in the songs leaves you in a state of shock!! This was the first Dimmu Borgir song that I heard and has stood the test of time.

(34) Bleak--Opeth(Blackwater Park)
Opeth are widely regarded as the best death/doom metal band in the world today. I disagree, in fact I even disagree on calling them death/doom metal. 60% acoustic stuff in an album hardly qualifies as metal(please don't kill me Opeth lovers). I do, however, agree that they are a very talented band; something that is evident in their arrangements and layers of music in a single track. Anyway, this is one song, which I think is a masterpiece.

(33) Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten--Nile(Annihilation Of The Wicked)
I hope I got the spelling right;). Well well well..Nile have finally cracked the list. With the exception of Death(RIP Chuck Schuldiner), Nile are the most progressive and talented Death Metal band to ever walk the planet. Listen to this almost 1o minute epic to find out what I mean. I hope you know what Nile are; egyptian intros/interludes, machine like drumming, heavy as hell guitars and blistering harmonising solos too!! Now isn't that a DEATHly combination:)

(32) Trail Of The Dead--Dismember(The God That Never Was)
Another fine example of what Iron Maiden would sound like if they were Death Metal.

(31) Circle Of Tyrants--Obituary(Cause Of Death)
Another classic off a classic album.

Well....that's about it for now. I'll catch you later with 30-11 sometime soon. Adios

Thrash Metal: A Journey

Combine blazing fast riffs, machine gun drumming, harsh vocals(usually), gut thumping rhythm, blistering solos...and what do you get? Thrash Metal! One of the most technically demanding as well as my favourite genre of metal...ummm...all of music in fact.

THE EIGHTIES

The seeds of Thrash were born with works of VENOM in the early eighties. At around the same time, in California, US, Thrash was being nurtured by several acts including but not limited to Metallica,Slayer, Testament, Anthrax, Exodus, Death Angel, etc. The first ever Thrash album to be released was Metallica's Kill 'Em All(1983) followed by Slayer's Show No Mercy in December that year. Both albums helped the bands garner a huge audience of underground listeners with these releases. It was however, with Metallica's sophomore release, Ride The Lightning(1984), that Thrash really came to the masses. With great production and radio friendly tunes like Fade To Black and The Call Of Ktulu, Metallica made it a point not to alienate the popular music listener. Ride The Lightning, to this day, remains one of the most well crafted thrash albums of all time. In 1985 Exodus released their debut, Bonded By Blood; mind numbingly fast riffs and agressive all the way, Bonded By Blood was perhaps the first album to define the extreme Thrash sound. To this day, Bonded By Blood holds a cult status amongst Thrash Metal fans. Megadeth also released their debut, Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good! which got a somewhat lukewarm response due to the abysmal production qualities. In the same year, Anthrax got their first musical appreciation in Spreading The Disease, Slayer once again came out with a stellar album in Hell Awaits, and Possessed released Seven Churches, which, objectively speaking, is the first ever Death Metal album(Death's Scream Bloody Gore came 2 years after it). At around the same time, a thrash movement was born in Germany; bands like Kreator, Destruction, Sodom, Annihilator etc were making sure they gave the Americans something wo worry about. Another extreme thrash act was born in Brazil by the name of Sepultura. Then came 1986..oh!!! the mighty 86...the best year for Thrash or all of metal for that matter. Metallica released Master Of Puppets; consisting of brutally fast and heavy, as well as slow/mid paced thrashers, Master Of Puppets was years ahead of it's time. Metallica also added some progressive elements into the sound; use of synths as well as well crafted breakdowns made Master Of Puppets a delight to even the most casual metal listener. To this day, Master Of Puppets is widely regarded as the greatest Metal album of all time. The reason I didn't say it's the greatest "Thrash" album of all time is.....Slayer's Reign In Blood, which was also released in the same year. The definition of a perfect Metal album as it may be, Master Of Puppets is not the perfect "Thrash" album, songs like Orion and The Thing That Should Not Be are anything but thrashy. Reign In Blood however, is the quintessential Thrash album. From the opening notes of Angel Of Death to the closing ones on Raining Blood, the album is a bludgeoning monster of riffs which leaves you gasping for breath in just under 29 minutes!!! No album, metal or not, can compete with the cult status that Reign In Blood enjoys to this day; Radiohead's OK Computer comes close...but who gives a shit about Radiohead anyway. After the not so encouraging response to their debut, Megadeth came out with their sophomore effort in Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? Politically charged lyrics, a very accessible style of thrash and mind boggling guitar work made sure Megadeth attained their due status as one of the lords of Thrash. The mighty Germans, Kreator, released the savage Pleasure To Kill which also met with widespread critical acclaim. Dark Angel released Darkness Descends which is a classic in it's own right and it never let up on the heavyyyy!! factor, it's quite possibly the heaviest album released that year. 1987 witnessed the debut of Testament, The Legacy. The sound was inspired from Metallica but Testament infused some of their own qualities into what would be one of the greatest metal debuts of all time. Anthrax released the best album of their career, Among The Living; Caught In A Mosh and Indians are eternal classics. Overkill(another highly underrated thrash outfit) released Taking Over which was an excellent thrash album. Death Angel also released their debut in The Ultra-Violence which was well received. While not strictly thrash, I'll also mention Death's Scream Bloody Gore here; this is the first ever real Death Metal album. At the same time Sepultura released Schizophrenia which was a healthy slab of extreme in-your-face thrash, Troops Of Doom was the hit single from the album. 1988 saw the release of Metallica's first ever "commercial" album, ...And Justice For All with the video of One getting lot of airplay on the radio and MTV. Slayer released South Of Heaven which was a little more experimental but not a letdown by any means. Megadeth released So Far So Good...So What!! which was marred by poor production but was a solid thrash album nonetheless. The best album of the year, however was Testament's The New Order, IMHO. Instant classics like Eerie Inhabitants, Into The Pit and Disciples Of The Watch make this a thrasher's dream. The not very well known original Rob Flynn outfit, Vio-lence, released Eternal Nightmare which came very close to The New Order for being the best thrash album of 1988. The eighties ended on a high note with stellar albums from Sepultura, Testament, Kreator, Exodus, Annihilator and Overkill in 1989. Sepultura released the best album of their career, Beneath the Remains, which is sometimes also known as Reign In Blood II in metal circles. Testament released the excellent Practice What You Preach. Kreator released the 2nd best album of their career, Extreme Agression(their best album was released only 2 years ago!!). Exodus also released a stellar album in Fabulous Disaster and Overkill released the thrashstastic The Years Of Decay, the second best album of their career. Another great band emerged from Germany; Annihilator released their debut upon the metal scene, Alice In Hell. Playing a very technical and groovy form of thrash, Annihilator quickly became a famous name in Thrash circles.

NINETIES

Enter the nineties....and kicking them off is none other than Megadeth's Rust In Peace, one of the Top 5 eternal thrash classics. Hangar 18, Holy Wars, Tornado Of Souls, Polaris, Lucretia...man o man...what an album it was!!! As if this wasn't enough, Slayer released their classic and most mature album to date in Seasons In The Abyss, and Kreator released a stellar album in Coma Of Souls. Such a grand starting to the nineties should have meant bright future, but sadly, it wasn't meant to be, for Thrash actually went into a coma in the nineties(a lot of it was also due to the growing popularity of Grunge). There were a few notable releases here and there, but nothing to match the sheer intensity of the eighties. Overkill released the best album of their career in 1991, Horrorscope. Anthrax released Persistence Of Time, which was very heavy by their standards but not nearly great enough as Among The Living, in fact none of Anthax's albums were so great and they remain THE most overrated Thrash band in the history of metal, that's my opinion though. Sepultura released Arise in 1991 which is their second best album after Beneath The Remains. Testament also released a good album in The Gathering in 1992. [Note: I don't consider Metallica's Black Album and Megadeth's Countdown To Extinction thrash albums]

Since Thrash seemed to be dying, a couple of bands took the burden of innovating the Thrash sound and pack in more groove and punch. Pantera burst on to the scene with their mammoth debut, Cowboys From Hell. The music, though based on a Thrash sound, was more groovy and in touch with modern times. The sound came to be labelled as Post-Thrash or Modern Thrash. Another outfit fronted by ex-Violence man Rob Flynn, Machine Head released it's debut Burn My Eyes in 1995. Thunderous riffs and excuisite tremeolo picking made this album an instant hit and one of the greatest albums of Modern Thrash. Although Machine Head could not live upto the caliber shown in Burn My Eyes, Pantera kept the Modern Thrash torch burning with the ferocious Far Beyond Driven and the aggressive Vulgar Display Of Power. Megadeth put up a good show in Youthanasia but it was nowhere near what you expect from Megadeth and the essential Thrash sound. Cryptic Writings was just about OK and Risk was utter crap!!! Metallica's works post the Black Album aren't even worth mentioning.

THE NEW MILLENNIUM

The new millennium saw the emergence of a New Wave Of American Heavy Metal, wherein bands incoporated sounds from Thrash, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal to create what we now know as Metalcore. Their are three bands from this wave which come closest to the Thrash sound...Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and Trivium. Lamb Of God took on Pantera's sound and started playing it with much more aggressiveness and finesse. Their 2003 release, Ashes Of The Wake is an excellent piece of ultra heavy modern Thrash, the only glitch in their music, for me, is the absence of solos. Shadows Fall, to their credit, have a very original sound and produce some crunching Thrashy riffs. Their 2004 release, The War Within, is another classic of modern Thrash. Trivium is one band you either love or hate; they have been looked down upon as Metallica copycats by a large portion of the "true metalhead" community. Well, I disagree...although their sound does remind you of Metallica sometimes, but that's largely due to the way their vocalist sings. Trivium are a very talented band and can produce some gut thumping music, try Ascendancy or The Crusade for proof. Megadeth released The System Has Failed, which was a good album but still left you longing for more classic thrash. Their new album, United Abominations is also a good release, although I've grown out of it already.There are a few old warhorses however, who are keeping the classic Thrash sound alive and kicking in this millennium too. Exodus' 2004 release Tempo Of The Damned is a great mix of excuisite classicist as well as modern thrash. Kreator also came back with a bang with two stellar releases; Violent Revolution, 2001 and Enemy Of God,2005. Enemy Of God, in particular, is arguably the greatest Thrash album of the new millennium. Slayer also returned to form with Christ Illusion, thanks to Dave Lombardo behind the skins again.

Well...that's about it I guess. When it comes to Thrash, the eighties rule. The nineties were ok but very erratic and inconsistent. This decade has shown great promise till now, but we only have 3 years to go and let's hope the newer bands and our old heroes come up with more excellent releases. The new Metallica CD is scheduled to hit the shelves this fall, I've been sincerely praying everyday that they don't disappoint me yet again. In the meanwhile, hail Kreator and Slayer for quenching our thirst for unadulterated, fast, brutal, heavy as hell Thrash!!!

Make love.... not war

Why can't all the Gujjars & Meenas, Shias & Sunnis, Catholics & Protestants,Hindu/Muslims, Muslims/Christians, Akal Takht etc etc, white/black/brown/aryans/dravidians blah blah blah simply live like these cute little creatures???? The Rajasthanis are fighting among themselves these days..in Maharashtra, people have come to the streets coz they don't want people from Bihar and U.P. in the state government jobs...what the ****!!! Is this a free country or not?? Do we have freedom of movement or not? Or are we back in Emergency days?? Why don't you bloody ****off and form a new country...huh!! Stupid regionalistic pricks...and that goes for you too Ms. Dikshit...by the way..where are you from??


A few days ago we were visiting some relatives of ours. An uncle of mine who works for the Public Service Commission(revenue deptt.) was also there. He has recently been transferred to Chennai, and the things we heard from him and his family were just outrageous!! Being ignored by the Tamil janta at office was understandable to us...they tend to do it...but what really shocked us was what the children told us. My uncle's son, who's about 12 years old said that in school, the children(all the Tamilians) addressed him as the 'White Pig', they did the same with other North Indian children too. Is this what parents teach their Children in Tamil Nadu or the whole of South India for that matter??? Utterly shameful!!! Do they not understand any other culture..any other view? Why can't they live in a multi-cultural/multi-dimensional society? I'm sure these people don't know what working together means..what harmony means.

I know I'm gonna get a lot of flak for this, but U.P., Bihar, M.P. and to some extent West Bengal are where real India lies. We take everyone and everybody with open arms, heck U.P. and M.P. are the only states where the concept of domicile in college/university admissions is not present. Every other state does this!!!! U.P. gives the highest percentage of civil servants every year(Bihar has also done the same for a long time).. the people who ACTUALLY work for you(the people of India)...not jackasses who run to the US..Canada or any friggin oil rich country at the drop of a hat. But still!!! you'll look down upon U.P, M.P...Bihar and the people. I know this has turned into more of a hate piece than a write-up, and at some point in time, I'll most probably regret writing this but I just can't help myself. You'll go wherever you want, do whatever you want but you're not willing to welcome people in your own home, people who are actually your own countrymen, your brothers and sisters...I mean what nonsense is this. I'll stop now...I might have stepped on a few toes already and I don't wanna step on more. Know that, this is nothing personal against individuals...it's just my viewpoint on the state of things in India. I know every state has it's merits and demerits..U.P. and Bihar do account for the Lion's share of crime too..I know that..but that's another story isn't it? I was just trying to put some perspective into this never-ending epidemic of regionalism that our country has been blessed!!!?? with.

P.S.: All hate mails are welcome at sunny_slash@yahoo.com, you'll get a reply too. Hate comments on the blog WILL be deleted

Picture Courtesy: Let's Be Friends

Shrek 3--The Review

I, being the enormous sucker for animations that I am, was waiting for the third installment of Shrek more than anything else...and I'm dissapointed...finally!! Don't let this be a spoiler for you though, coz Shrek III, on its own, is an hour and a half well enjoyed. The film begins very inspiringly with the beaten n humiliated Charming scheming evil plots to avenge his mother's death and reclaim his throne to Far Far Away. The dying sequence of King Harold(The Frog) is roof shatteringly hilarious!!! We were in fits during that scene, I even spilled some nachos sauce on my RIN!! white shirt..boo hoo:(. Several frongs crooning the Gn'R version of Live n Let Die at his funeral was also pretty funny. Sadly, this is where the fun takes a break..for a looong! time, with the exception of Shrek's dream sequence where he's manhandled by an army of his babies(those tiny ogres are so damn cute...it was a very happy feeling to watch them). Shrek's journey to find and bring back Arthur(the second rightful heir to Far Far Away's throne) is utterly forgettable and their stint with the loony toon scientist in the woods was just plain bland. The most annoying thing during all of this was the fact that Donkey and Puss, two characters that we've come to love and adore so much were merely used as sidekicks. Donkey was almost the second hero in Shrek and Puss was THE star attraction in Shrek II but here their characterisation was a total miss!!

In the build up to the climax, you start to feel an adrenaline rush again, when the ladies start taking control over things. Snow White,Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella and Fiona with her mother Lilian start to kick some *ss, the Snow White action sequence with Heart's Barracuda playing in the background was real cool. But the action is cut short so abruptly, you feel cheated. Well...finally it all ends well... Arthur takes on Far Far Away's throne and Shrek and Fiona return to their swamp and have triplets!! All in all, a pretty decent movie without the emotional power of Shrek or the grand pace and masala factor of Shrek II. One more thing I'd like to add here; when I saw those fire breathing drankeys(yes that's what I call them) at the end of Shrek II, I thought they will be definitely used for bigger things in the next movie....but it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, if you haven't seen either of the first two movies, chances are you'll find it excellent, but if you have, then you'll be dissapointed...maybe a bit or maybe very or..maybe not!!(it's all about personla tastes). This shouldn't stop you from watching the film though....it's Shrek..and he rocks!!

Rating----***