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Master of Puppets and Dark Side of The Moon were tied together as the greatest music albums of all time.

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix: The Review

This has been my least favourite Potter book to date. So, naturally, I wasn't expecting to be bowled over in any case. This book merely represented some events which helped the story progress and it isn't even remotely as satisfying as the other Potter books, esp. Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. Anyway, let's get on with the movie review now. Let's get over with the cons first; very little info was given on why Harry had those weird dreams and saw through Nagini's eyes, this was not helpful for people who are not familiar with the books. I had to keep explaining stuff to my wife all the way. Harry's Occlumency lessons with Severus Snape should have had more screen time. The Death Eaters' use of the Imperius and Cruciatis curses on Harry's friends in the climax was totally wiped out. How on Earth could they forget to include Voldemort's use of Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore?? That's so important!! to the storyline. Finally, this one's not a big con but I would have liked to see more of Kreacher's cursing:)

Now, on to the pros; The sets and effects are awesome. The first sequence with the Dementors was very well shot, and it was quite scary actually. The recreation of the Department of Mysteries was mindblowing!! The climactic battle was also very well shot. The parts where Harry prepares Dumbledore's Army were also very well executed and the bonding between Harry, Ron and Hermione really shines through as always.

And last but not the least, Daniel Radcliffe has finally started acting!! Rupert Grint has moved on to being 'decent' and Emma Watson, well, she's a star!!Daniel looks more Harry with long hair though:)Speaking of characterization, Dolores Umbridge was perfectly done, I don't know the actress' name, pardon me. On the whole, it wasn't a letdown but nothing too memorable either like the first, second and the fourth movies. But as I said, this is my least favourite Potter book...so you're opinion might differ. The movie is still a must watch though...every Harry Potter movie is:)

Overall rating: ***
Movie Info

Perceptions can be so wrong!!!

Here is an ARTICLE on Buzz18. It has Pritish Nandy, the then Editor, Illustrated Weekly of India interviewing Kishore Kumar. It was originally published in the Illustrated Weekly of India in 1985. Read on to know the real Kishore Kumar, not the bumbling..rumbling..jumping..yodelling Kishore Kumar on screen we know but the man that lay beneath.

Thanks to my friend Joydeep for sharing this article with me.

Die Hard 4.0: The Review

John McClane has got to be one of the most loveable action characters in the history of American cinema. He's witty, he's sarcastic, and he has this uncanny knack of escaping death no matter what. Do you get the same John McClane this time around? Well, yeah..it's just that he's bald and old this time. Die Hard movies have always been a tad over-the-top and it's no different this time. John survives just about every mortal combat imaginable to mankind, including fighting an F5 fighter jet!! and you know what, he makes it look believable. Let's get into some details shall we...?

The movie starts off with the mysterious deaths of several hackers around the country, and McClane(Bruce Willis) is given the job to escort Matt Farrel(Justin Long) to the FBI headquarters. The action starts right away!! and it never lets up. Thomas Gabriel(Timothy Olyphant) is an ex NSA programmer on a revenge mission and he wants to take control of the entire digital network of USA. McClane being the old-school man that he is, can't understand much of it, so he takes the help of Farrel and some of his friends to counter the evil plots of the villains and in the end do what he does best, shoot 'em..lol. An emotional involvement has always been necessary in the Die Hard movies, and we get to see that with Lucy McClane(John's daughter) when she's kidnapped by Gabriel's men. A pretty predictable plot, but it's the gritty action sequences and John's overpowering presence that keeps you glued to the seat. My wife actually jumped during one of the thrilling action sequences...yeah, they're that good!!

In the end, what makes this movie work is the superbly crafted action sequences, the machine gun pace and Mr. John McClane of course. Nostalgia is also given a little room with John repeating some of his lines, e.g. 'this is not a good idea' and giving nicknames to the villains like 'hampster', 'spiderboy', 'dick head' etc. And if you're wondering about the immortal 'yippe-kay-yay mother **bleep**' line...yeah, it's there..and he shoots himself!!! right after saying it(watch the movie to see what happens).

Bruce Willis is excellent!! yet again. He is John McClane and always will be. Timothy Olyphant gives a great performance, but nothing to touch the iconic Hans Gruber played by Allan Rickman in the first movie. Justin Long also gives a stellar performance. Die Hard 4.0 is a great action movie, and you should believe me coz my wife and mum were also thrilled to the bone, and usually, they aren't big fans of action movies. In fact it's the best Die Hard since the first one and most definitely the best action movie I've seen since The Matrix. Note: By action I mean ACTION and not spiders jumping over skyscrapers and underwear clad alien men melting steel with their eyes.

Go watch it now if you haven't already...Die Hard Baby!!!!!

Overall rating: ****

Step aside Sachin, Shah Rukh...The Gods endorse Airtel now

Some pictures to show you the lengths to which corporates can go to get attention. These pictures were taken at the Sankat Mochan temple in Shimla.

Hanuman Ji endorses Airtel:)

Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita Ji and Lord Ganesh join the rat race now:)

A Lost Laptop and A Few Good Men

Honesty is one virtue which seems to be in short supply these days, moreso in this country of widespread poverty and wealth distribution of gigantic inconsistency. There are, however, quite a few people who would not let this stand in their way of being honest and helpful citizens. We were witness to such an act not two days ago. Me and my wife along with my parents had gone for a Shimla/Manali vacation last week. We spent 3 days in Shimla and 2 days in Manali, and were supposed to catch Kalka Mail at 11:00 pm on the 5th of July. We boarded the Himalayan Queen toy train at Shimla and had a wonderful 5 hour journey, basking in all the natural beauty the ride had to offer. We had decided that my wife and mum would deboard first and get us a retiring room as we had a good 5-6 hrs before the connecting train to Delhi would leave. Not a very wise idea!!(It always helps if a woman is around in these moments you know). Anyway, both the women left the compartment as soon as the train came to a hault, each carrying a bag and their purses. I was carrying out the rest of the luggage from the compartment and as luck(read as my stupidity) would have it..I forgot the laptop bag!! When we reached the retiring room, my wife asked me about the laptop bag....!!!!!!!!Damn. I ran like a Shatabadi back to our compartment...but it wasn't there. We searched and searched, asked all the cleaners, the attendants, the sweepers, the porters, and even had an announcement made from the station master's office. All our efforts went in vain though. We finally lodged an FIR at the GRP station, although I didn't think that would help much. It was about an hour to go before our train left for Delhi and my wife said that we should leave our contact no. and address with the station master. I didn't think it was a great idea and was going into depression. The depression wasn't due to the stolen laptop but what was inside it and the bag. CD/DVD's, tons and tons of music, all my FIRENDS episodes!! and a pair of Rayban sunglasses gifted by my wife. Anyway we left our card with the station master Mr. Vinay Kumar. We reached Delhi the next morning 6 am. We had already planned on buying a new laptop this weekend; my ThinkPad stays with me til the time I'm in office and my wife used the stolen one at home. She hasn't started working yet after marriage and she used it to look/apply for jobs and keep her busy. Anyway, we were having breakfast when the phone rang!!! It was a guy called D.R. Thakur, he was a TEXR and he told us that the bag had been found!!!! Me and my dad rushed back to Kalka station; we expected to pay some money for this but what happened there was unbelievable!!!We were greeted cordially by the station master Mr. Vinay Kumar and were served tea. he then called Mr. Satpal, who was the TEXR on duty that day. He told us that one of their men, Tularam, had found the bag in the lavatory of another train!! Thanks to the layers and layers of passwords on my laptop, the bugger probably couldn't even turn it on. What amazes me though, is why the hell did he leave the sunglasses and the CD/DVD's..such a moron I tell ya. When Tularam came, I tried to offer him some money but he blatantly refused, he seemed more happy that I got my laptop back than I was:) They were even feeling sorry that we had to come all the way from Delhi. Heck, even the guy who collects 1re coins outside Sulabh Shauchalya asked me if I got my bag back:) When we were leaving the station, even the guard asked us if everything was ok. I tried to give him a 50re note but he kept refusing. Anyway, I forcefully shoved in into his pocket and he smiled at me:) So there it was, I got my laptop back, and everything that was inside the bag due to the honesty and helpful nature of some nice Railway employees.

Some takeaways from this true story:

(1) Always count your luggage pieces, while boarding as well as deboarding.
(2) Always keep women around; you might think otherwise, but they are right most of the times.
(3) Back Up!!!!! everything you have.
(4) Not all government employees are corrupt.

Polls

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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:)