Sorgame endraalum...

As I get ready to leave on an India trip after close to 2 years, just wanted to come up with some numbers and associate a target with each one of them. So, here are the 'targets' that I have in mind:

5 - number of cities I want to visit (I am sure I will be visiting Sivakasi, Bangalore & Chennai. Will have to visit just 2 more cities to fulfill the list)

10 - number of DVDs that I want to buy. My DVD collection is very incomplete bcos all I have with me are English movies that I bought here. The only Indian movies I have are Thalaivar's Chandramukhi and Lakshya. So planning to buy atleast 10 of my favorite Indian movies (Mostly classics like Mahanadhi & Mullum Malarum, Thalaivar movies like Johnny & Annamalai, all of Mani Rathnam's movies, couple of Hindi movies like DCH & Sathya ... thus goes the list. Does anybody know where in Chennai I can buy that collection of all Madras Talkies movies that Mani released a while ago?)

15 - number of Tamil/ Hindi movies I want to watch on big screen (I am not even sure if there are that many number of good movies that are running currently - Rang De Basanti, Paramasivan, Kanda Naal Mudhal, Thavamaai Thavam Irundhu, Sandaikozhi. That is all I can count for now. Would be great if Vettaiyaadu Velaiyaadu and Pudhupettai are released during my stay there. I will also probably watch Thalaivar's Chandramukhi over there, just so that I can say that I watched CM in India too :))

25 - different restaurants that I want to eat during the trip :) (Given my love for eating food and the fact that it is our Indian food that is I miss the most & Madurai is famous for its numerous eateries, it should come as no surprise if this target is breached in less than 3 weeks)

30 - friends to visit during this trip (I planned this trip mainly to attend weddings of 4 of my friends and we are also planning a class get-together of my UG classmates. So, this too should be possible)

and couple of numbers in the thousands

1000 - pictures that I intend to take in my digital camera (I guess this should be easily achievable since over here, we usually take close to 200 pictures on an average during a 3-4 day trip. So, 1000 pictures in 5 weeks should be easily possible)

2000 - kilometers that I want to drive our car back in Madurai (One road trip to Bangalore and I would have crossed the half-way mark)

This list may look so childish and even silly, but then as the date of departure nears, you do become a child, eagerly looking forward to and counting the days remaining for the trip. This is my 3rd trip back to India and ever since I booked the tickets way back in November, I was thinking that I will not get excited this time around, like the way I did during my first 2 trips. But then, with less than 2 weeks to go for the trip, things changed and all that I have been talking to everyone has been about my India trip.

Folks in India can contact me on either 91-452-2565150 or 91-98406-30480 from 31t of Jan. With loads of dreams, here I come, my sweet homeland...

On my return back, I have taken a scheduled break in Bangkok where I intend to spend 2 days roaming around the city (Does anybody have some suggestions on what to do in Bangkok. I am completely unprepared on what I am going to do over there). The only grouse about this whole trip is that I will miss watching the Super Bowl here (it is being telecast live in ESPN-India though) and all the fun that goes with it. And with the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, it has only made things more difficult. It would have been an amazing experience of being in the town whose team is playing in the Super Bowl. I will be missing it. Badly, very badly...

My new Laptop - Fujitsu LifeBook N3410

Ever since I lost my laptop a few months ago to a theft in my apartment, I have been shopping around for a laptop. The following were the conditions that I had set as criteria for the new laptop

1. It shall not be a Dell (Couple of reasons for that - my first one was a Dell & did not want to jinx it by buying the same brand again. Other reason was that most of my friends own a Dell & they all have had some problem or the other with the laptop. On top of these reasons, I wanted to try something different, as far as brand is concerned)
2. This one should have a DVD burner
3. Screen size should be 15.4" (since all I do using the laptop is browse & watch movies)
4. Hard drive should be at least 60GB
5. A minimum of 512 MB RAM (preferable with single DIMM)3) And of course, the all overriding price - under 1100$

HP, Sony & IBM were the ones I was looking at. But the ones by Sony & IBM which cost less than 1100$ were few and they did not appeal me that much, due to which I kind of dropped Sony & IBM from the list. It was at this point that I included Fujitsu in the list bcos one of my friends bought a Fujitsu last year and he has only good things to say about the laptop. Plus, even at the stores, they say Panasonic and Fujitsu are the best, when it comes to toughness & durability. Also, seems like the display of the Fujitsu laptops are just amazing. So, all this led me to think about Fujitsu and when it went to the store to buy the laptop, the looks of this particular Fujitsu laptop appealed to me instantly. The metallic black keyboard area and the black case was just awesome. So I decided rightaway that this is the one. Since it satisfied all the above pre-requisite condistions that I had set for myself, I bought it.

Model name: Fujitsu LifeBook N3410
Configuration: 1.73 GHz, Intel Centrino technology, 512 MB, 80 GB (4200 rpm), DVD Burner 15.4" TFT Display and 1200$ (went 100$ above my budget)

Click here to view more pictures of the laptop. Haven't started using it yet. Will probably write a short review once I have used it long enough to comment about it.

Climb up...Loose calories...

Sounds ironic...I am talking about climbing stairs here. I am one of those millions of people who try to reduce weight by attempting to do too much but ultimately not doing much - 'trying' to be on diet and 'trying' to work out once in a while. Though I have not been successful in being regular in both the above, I am constantly on the look out for any new technique or opportunity that will help me in reducing some calories/ pounds.

So, when one of my colleagues at work suggested that we start this practice of climbing stairs at work, I readily accepted it. The tower building in my workplace is not too high like the skyscrapers that you see in movies, but it is decent with 22 floors. So, we started the practice of climbing stairs in the afternoon like around 2pm, so that it serves 2 purpose - the obvious purpose of helping keep your body in shape and also the additional purpose of helping you stay awake during the nap time that is after ,lunch break. At first, though the idea sounded crazy, it was kind of fun when we actually started practicing it. When we started, the group comprised of just me and my colleague. But it gained popularity and now atleast 8 people more have joined the team, making it a 10-strong team. At times, it is really funny to see a group of people climbing stairs like weirdoes in the middle of the afternoon. You should see the expressions on the faces of people who take the stairs to climb 1 or 2 floors and everyone goes "Looks like there is a party going on here".

We started with climbing up to the 10th floor and then our plan was to increase the count by 3 floors every week and so far we have come up to the till the 13th floor of the building and we hope to achieve the target of completing all 22 floors, in another 3 weeks' time. The funny thing is how big a difference climbing even 2 floors more can make. In the 2nd week, when we started climbing 3 more floors, I felt as though I was climbing a whole new building. The first time I started doing it, every muscle in my leg was hurting but as with everything, you get used to it and now, it more a matter of stamina that fitness.

So, if you are working in a workplace which is a tall building with many floors, do try this out. It is a different experience and definitely worth a try.

Smithless in Seattle

Thus cried one of the fan posters during the NFC Championship game in Seattle last night, which pretty much sums up what happened last night at the Qwest field in Seattle. It actually turned out that it was not just Steve Smith but the whole Carolina offense that was made potent-less by the brilliant and often under-appreciated Seattle defense. Never in my wild dreams did I think that the Seahawks will give such an amazing display on both sides of the football. Before the Championship weekend, my picks were the Steelers and the Panthers. Though there were too many reasons that were stacked up against the Panthers (their RB DeShaun Foster was out with an injury, they had played 2 tough play-off road games on the road), the fact that they were hailed as Road Warriors with a 8-2 road record this season made me choose the Panthers over the Seahawks. But what unfolded last evening was an amazing display of flawless football from the Seahawks with everyone in the team playing their roles to perfection.

The win, as expected, has sent the city into delirious joy. Newspapers have only one word headlines “Super Bowl” and ever since I got to work today morning, everyone I see at work has been talking about the win last night & the impending Super Bowl and I am sure its going to be the same for the next 2 weeks leading to the Super bowl. Many here in fact have still not come to grips with the fact that the Seahawks have made it to the Super Bowl. It is kind of an unbelievable feeling. Even for someone like me who has been in Seattle for close to just 2 years, this victory brought so much joy. This city has been starving of a Super Bowl team ever since its inception 30 years ago and as Holmgren remarked on the victory podium, this city has longed for it and thus deserved it.

On the field though, there was no question as to which team was the better team and which team deserved to get to the Super Bowl. To me, watching the game there was only one thing that stood out - more than the players who all did a great job, it was Mike Holmgren's immaculate preparation for the game that stood out. The whole world knew that Steve Smith is the Caroline offense and if you shut him down, you have won half the battle. Teams have tried in the past this season by double-covering him but weren't successful. So, what does Holmgren do? Not just double-cover him but triple-cover and quadruple-cover him in most of the plays. And guess what? Not only did it work in keeping the ball away from Steve Smith but also resulting in 2 of the crucial interceptions that Delhomme threw which was bcos he was trying to connect to Steve Smith amidst a sea of coverage. Once you have shut down their most potent weapon, it becomes so much more easy from there. The Seattle defense is a well-oiled machine that can score against any defense and as expected, they took care of business.

Seattle has always been the invisible team in the national media radar and seldom do we see any commentators talking anything great about the team. (Proof - before the Championship games began, to a poll question by CBS as to who they thought has the best chance of winning the Super Bowl, only 11% of those polled picked the Seahawks and they had the least chance among the 4 contenders). But last night, the team showed the world what this team is made of and how it has got playmakers on both sides of the football, who can help the team win the Super Bowl. Already, the Steelers are 3.5 points favorites. But then many didn't pick the Seahawks over the Panthers last weekend. So, as long as someone doesn't pick us and we still win, it works!! Go Hawks...

Playlist series - Miscellaneous MDs - Songs from the 80s

Just trying to finish the series of Miscellaneous MDs playlist. I had posted the list of the new & not-so-new playlists here and here. So, this playlist in my iPod contains songs which were composed by MDs who do not answer to the call of Mottai, ARR, Yuvan, Harris Jeyaraj, Karthik Raja, Deva, Bharadwaj, T. Rajendar & Vidhya Sagar and which were released before 1990. Other than that, I have also not included any songs composed by MSV since he is another legend whose old songs I do not have that much of a knowledge to come up with a playlist for. As always, the playlist contains only that many number of songs that will fit into a 80 minute audio CD.

1) Andhi nera thendral from Inaindha Kaigal - We all remember this movie as a movie that was hyped to be everything that we dreamt about but one that flopped miserably at the BO. But I carry just this 1 song from this movie as my memory. This is a very soothing song and one that brought about goose bumps on hearing it. Do give it a listen if you have not heard it yet. If you do not have the song, do email me and I can email you the song. Music by Manoj Gyan.
2) Chinna kannamma from Naattukkoru Nallavan - another movie that is known as being Thalaivar's only colossal flop in the last 15 years (I will not include Baba here bcos it DID make a good profit for Thalaivar). But this one is a very melodious number. I also do remember Thalaivar romancing in the bike with the long Police coat.
3) Yedho nadakkiradhu from Manithan - another Thalaivar number. This time, music by Chandra Bose.
4) Mazhaikkaala megam ondru from Vaazhve Maayam - Some might frown on seeing this song in the list bcos many, I know, have thought that this is a song by the Maestro. But this was actually composed by his brother Gangai Amaran.
5) Neela vaan odaiyil from Vaazhve maayam - another SPB special from the same movie.
6) Oh Nenje from Darling Darling Darling - This is one of my most favorite songs. It has music by Shankar Ganesh. The guitar piece along with the general slow tune are the reasons why I like this song so much.
7) Selai kattum from Kodi Parakkudhu - Looks like there are a lot of Thalaivar songs in this playlist. Hamsalekha delivers 2 high quality songs in the album.
8) Oh kaadhal ennai kaadhalikka villai from Kodi Parakkudhu - another amazing song from the same movie. The charanam part of the song just makes you sing along. Very simple but instantly hummable tune.
9) kannukkul nooru nilavaa from Vedham Puthidhu - I was all along thinking that this one was composed by Mottai. But this all-time classic movie has music by Devendran.
10) Putham pudhu olai varum from Vedham Puthidhu - This is probably a better song that the previous one. Wonderfully sung by Chithra.
11) Medhuvaa medhuvaa from Anna Nagar Mudhal theru - this again is an awesome melody. This was one song I kind of remember from the first time I saw the movie, all those years ago, when I was still very young. I kind of liked the movie too and to this day, remember many good scenes from the movie. This song is a duet sung by SPB and Chithra. Music by Chandra Bose.
12) Oru kaadhal devathai from Idhaya Thamarai - another of my all-time favorites when it comes music by these miscellaneous MDs. Picturization of the song is one reason why this song is still remembered. Karthik & Revathi made a great pair, on-screen. Music by Shankar Ganesh.
13) Senthoora poove from Senthoora poove – though this song is from the Vijayakanth starrer, Ramki & Nirosha are all that I can remember about this song. Somehow, to me Ramki & Nirosha have always looked a great on-screen pair. Another beautiful tune by Manoj Gyan.
14) Maamarathu poo eduthu from Oomai Vizhigal – My dad used to record songs in cassettes during my primary school days and it is really amazing to think how those songs have still stuck to my mind as very enjoyable ones. This is one such song. Though Surender’s voice sticks out like a sore thumb, I am guessing one reason why this song was such a big hit is bcos of his voice!! A typical 80s melody and I like this one very much. Music by Manoj Gyan, again.

There is one other MD who I kind of missed adding to the both the conventional list and the miscellaneous list. He is none other than Maragatha Mani. Though he does not have that many albums in Tamil, two of his albums will probably find a place in the all-time favorite albums of many of us. They are Azhagan and Vaaname Ellai. These 2 albums alone are enough to make up a playlist. On top of the songs in these 2 albums, throw in the 'Nivedha' song from Nee Paadhi Naan Paadhi (Vasanth’s creativity in the songs department is clearly evident here where the whole song just has 1 word in it) and the 'Inba raagangal' song from Hello brother, you get the Best of Maragatha Mani CD. Just wanted to mention it in this post.

So, there goes by final post on the playlist series of miscellaneous MDs. And now, you know what I would say - as always, it would be really great if you can leave your choice of such songs in the comments section. Thanks to Balaji, Subha Srini & Suresh Kumar who left a comment with songs which I was completely unaware of. I am currently trying to catch hold of a mp3 copy of those 3 songs.

Surprise visits or so they call it

If you are in the US, you are probably tired of hearing frequent news of leaders making 'surprise' visits to Baghdad. Ever since Bush declared major combat operations were over aboard the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, every single high-ranking official of the Bush administration and political leaders from across the globe have only made unannounced or in their words, 'surprise' visits to the country's capital.

Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Troops in Baghdad

Blair makes surprise Iraq visit

Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

Rumsfield on surprise visit

Vice president makes surprise visit to Iraq

Powell makes a surprise visit to Baghdad

Polish Prime Minster makes a surprise visit

And that is what ticks me off bcos they want us to believe that all those visits are really unplanned as they say. The whole world knows about the security situation in Iraq and how badly the US troops over there are finding it to tackle the seemingly endless insurgency & sectarian violence. It is said that the troops even hesitate to venture out on the streets for fear of insurgent attacks. So, why don't they cut the crap and tell us that surprise visits are necessary bcos the route from the airport to the center of Baghdad is not yet secure completely.

The worst part about the whole issue is that the US troops are unable to completely secure the road connecting the Baghdad airport and the 'Green zone', the main base for coalition officials & troops in Iraq and is supposedly a safe zone bcos of the high security. Though there are a lot of bombings in the Baghdad area, you would see none of them happening inside the green zone. The road is roughly, hold you breath, just 7 miles long. This road called Route Irish is popularly called as the death road and the most dangerous road in the world, mainly bcos of the occurrence of high number of RPG attacks. It is really a shame that after having occupied the country for close to 3 years, the coalition troops are still hesitant to have one high profile official pay a proper announced visit to the country. So, till then, wait for the next 'surprise' visit by another high ranking Bush administration official.

Weekend movies - Munich & Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy

This was supposed to be my weekend movies post of last week. Just that it arrives late…

Munich - This is one movie which definitely has several layers to it and I am not all that good in understanding all of it. So, these are just my thoughts on watching the movie rather than a full-fledged review, something I do for a Tamil or a Hindi movie. Anyway, I have always been very interested to know more about this tragic incident, which this film deals about, which left the whole world in a shock. In case, you do not know about what I am talking about, here is what the film is about - 11 Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists belonging to the Black September group after being taking hostage from the Olympic village premises. The German government negotiated with the terrorists and arranged for their get-away but right when they were being allowed to fly off, the German police put together an ill-organized plan to overwhelm the terrorists who in their anger on not being able to get what they wanted, brutally killed the athletes. The Israeli government went about in its own way to take revenge for the Munich killings and this movie deals with the group that was assembled to carry out the revenge killings and the way they ended up killing people from a list provided by the Israeli government.

Like I said, the movie deals with a lot of complex issues that I can hardly comment upon. The movie was very intense. Though I was kind of knew what the movie was about before entering the hall, the movie was gripping till the very end. The suspense only increases when we get to know that just like the Mossad agents are hunting down the folks on their list, there is another group which was trying to kill every one of the Mossad agents. That is where the movie just picks up speed and excitement, after the first few killings which seemed to show that it was probably an easy job of assassinating everyone in the list. During the first few scenes of the movie which show the kidnapping in brief, I was disappointed bcos I thought that Spielberg had taken the easy way out by using real life images and not taking the pains to actually shoot the hijacking & the killing sequences. But the way he ends up inserting the hijacking & killing events was really interesting.

The best thing about the movie is that it did not end up just dealing with the revenge taken by the Mossad agents but the conflict that gets into their minds on whether what they were doing is right or wrong and also talks briefly about whether the whole war between the Israelis & Palestinians is really worth it. The movie ends with a long shot of the Twin towers in the background and may be that was Spielberg’s way of telling us what he personally feels after making a movie in which he clearly has not taken sides. The movie is set in the 1970s and Spielberg simply transports you back to those days in everything that the film deals with - from the clothes worn by the lead actors to the streets in the different cities around the world. The lead actor Eric Bana, but for a few scenes, is simply superb. But I am not sure if his performance was Oscar-worthy and I would be surprised if he even gets a nomination for the Best Actor Academy award. On the whole, this is a must-watch movie that keeps up the suspense till the very end and Spielberg’s mastery in story-telling is clearly evident all through the film. A must-see film. (A little bit of knowledge of the Munich Olympics incident which actually leads to events this movie deals with, would be my recommendation before watching this).

Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy - This was another movie I wanted to watch mainly for Thankar Bachan. Except for Azhagi, his movies haven't made any impact as expected after the excellent response that Azhagi received. I haven't seen Solla Marandha Kadhai but Thendral definitely was a good job, though in no way another Azhagi. Though the movie dealt with a story that is all too common in our society and watching it, one would relate to many of the scenes, somehow the movie was lacking the finesse and conviction that one got to see in Azhagi. The movie eventually ended up belonging to the list of movies which can neither be termed outright bad nor be called very good. Not bad bcos it had the potential to convey a message with a completely different storyline and not very good bcos of too many clichéd scenes.

Coming to performances, the hero's role was not a very demanding one and hence Thangar Bachan did not have any problems in getting through it with a good performance. He in fact fit the role perfectly bcos his face is as pedestrian as it gets and it suited the movie very well. Navya, as Thangar's wife, has done a great job. But somehow, I found Pyramid Natarajan overly loud and didn't like him a bit. Except in Alaipayuthe, I have only come to dislike his performance in every single movie that I have seen him. Even someone as seasoned as R. Sundarrajan did not all that good a job and could have done a lot better. I was particularly irritated by everyone in the group of friends that he was accused of wasting his time & money with.

Though only 1 song of Mottai stays in mind after watching the movie, the master as usual had done a great job in the background score. Its just amazing how his background score beautifully bringing out the right emotions behind the scenes. Overall, this movie only goes on to prove that Azhagi was a flash in Thangar Bachan's pan :)

One in a million reason why Brand Sachin still rules...

You all know that I like & adore this man as much as Thalaivar. Happened to read this incident involving Sachin from this blog. Thought I should not miss this and so posting this here. This minor incident speaks volumes about the man's soft-spoken-ness, one of the infinite reasons which make me & this whole country of ours, a billion strong fan club of him.

Whitney was bowling to the youngster (Sachin) in a county game in England in 1990, shortly after the Mumbai batsman had made his Test debut. ‘‘Sachin was on 99 and I bowled him with an inswinging yorker. But it was a no-ball.’’ No doubt grateful for the timely reprieve, Tendulkar duly reached his century off the next delivery. As he completed the single to bring up three figures, the Indian exchanged a brief glance with the bowler.

Whitney still chuckles at the memory. He thought Tendulkar was going to sledge him. Instead, he said something that startled the bowler even more than a four-letter word. ‘‘He said to me, ‘I’m terribly sorry, Mister Whitney’.’’

Reproduced from the Indian Express story, here.

As India embark on a challenging tour of Pakistan, here's my 2 cents worth preview about the series - one thing I am sure is that this one will be a more keenly & fiercely contested series unlike the last one when India just whipped Pakistan. Their batting which was in complete disarray the last time around is now looking rock solid with Inzamam probably in the best form of his career. And their bowling which lacked direction & purpose is at its fiery best. Indians have their task cut out - put on as many runs as possible on the board bcos on paper, our bowling attack looks pedestrian, at best. I would prefer Zaheer in the line-up over Agarkar bcos the latter is too inconsistent a bowler to command a place in the test team. As long as one of Harbhajan or Kumble is at their menacing best, we should be able to take care off the Pakistanis. As far as the batting is concerned, I am putting my money on Laxman to come up big with sizeable contributions from Sachin and Dravid with the odd burst from Sehwag. But for all this to happen, Jaffer or Gambhir (whoever is going to open with Sehwag) should do the job what Akash Chopra did in Australia during India’s last series Down Under. But for all we know, like in the Sri Lankan series, it might come down to contributions from folks like Pathan & Dhoni that might well end up being the difference between winning and losing.

But the most interesting match-up that I look forward to see is something that is not on the field but off the field - the battle of the minds between Greg Chappell and Bob Woolmer, arguably the shrewdest cricket coach in the world. India has been experimenting a lot ever since Chappell took over and it would be interesting to see what he comes up with in this crucial series or if he will even attempt doing it, given the high stakes that are involved. (As a side note, he talks about the magnitude of the series here. That should give an idea of what he thinks of the series). Bob Woolmer has brought about a tremendous turnaround in Pakistan's cricketing fortunes and his tenure out there will be remembered only if he helps them get over their biggest foe.

My prediction for the series - a 2-1 victory for the Indians in the test series and a 3-2 victory for the Pakistanis in the ODI series. Here's wishing Team India and Sachin the best of luck.

Playlist series - Miscellaneous MDs - 90s songs

Continuing the Miscellaneous MDs playlist series here. I had posted my 'Miscellaneous MDs - New songs playlist' which included songs that were released post-2000 and whose music directors did not include one of Ilaiyaraja, ARR,YSR, Karthik Raja, Harris Jeyaraj, Vidya Sagar, Deva and T.Rajender. This not-so-new songs playlist consists of a list of songs which were released between 1990 and 2000 and which were composed by MDs who too do not fall into the list above. And as with all the playlist series in my iPod, this playlist too should contain only that many number of songs that will fit in a single audio CD.

1) Chandirane sooriyane from Amaran (Both SPB & Jesudoss have sung this song. But the one by Jesudoss is my pick)
2) Vasanthame arugil vaa from Amaran (actually all songs from Amaran are good. But these two IMO have stood the test of time and some haunting composition from Adityan)

3) Endha pennilum illaadha ondru from Captain Magal (this song came out when Kushboo was at her peak and the lyrics of the song became as famous as the song itself. Music by Hamsalekha)4) Poonkuyil paadinaal from Nammavar (Mahesh's penchant for melody shows here as this is one of the very best songs composed by MDs not in the above list)
5) Minnal oru kodi from VIP (this has Rahman written all over it and the fact that this was composed by Ranjit Bharot, Rahman's assistant does not come as a surprise. It's a sad thing that he decided not to compose albums after this one)
6) Yaen penn endru from Love Today (this again is a very beautiful melody with some very good lyrics. This one has music by Siva)
7) Vennila from Sundarapurushan (This is probably one song no one would have heard that much but somehow, from the very first time I listened to it, I started liking it. The best part about the song is the way in which the song starts where different instruments keep joining the beats as time progresses and the actual song does not until more than a minute has passed. Music by Sirpi)
8) Oyilaa paadum paattula from Seevalapperi Paandi (one of the few songs that impressed me on the first hearing)
9) Kizhakku sevakkaiyile from Seevalapperi Paandi (I personally feel that Seevalapperi Paandi & Amaran are the 2 best efforts of Adityan and this song should say why so)
10) Putham pudhu malare from Amaravathi (a very good melody sung by the inimitable SPB. Music by Bala Bharathi)
11) Taj Mahal from Amaravathi (another great song from Ajith's debut movie)
12) Unnai thotta thendral ondru from Thalaivaasal (Though Thalaivaasal was an album full of good songs, this one is my favorite. There are a couple of bit songs that are good too but I am not sure if they can make it to this list. Music again by Bala Bharathi)
13) Azhagoviyam from Rojamalare (this is another song that many of you might not heard much. This is from a Murali movie called Rojamalare. There is another good song in this movie too but I can't recall that. Music by Adityan again)
14) Kaadhal kaditham from Cheran Pandian (another unheard of number from the movie Cheran Pandian. though not a great song by any means, I felt that this song still deserves a place in this list. Music by Soundaryan)
15) Vannam konda vennilave from Sigaram (no points for guessing the presence of this song in this list)
16) Agaram ippo sigaram from Sigaram (listening to the album Sigaram makes you wonder why SPB did not continue scoring music. All the songs are very good but these 2 stand out)

I am sure you will have some songs to add on to this list. Go ahead and leave them in the comments section.

A game for the ages

They say, Hype Kills. And rarely does anything that is hyped up lives up to its expectations. But last night's Rose Bowl game between Texas and USC turned out to be a glorious exception. For well over a month, the game was hyped up to unimaginable proportions, with many sports analysts & writers billing the game as the Best match-up in the history of college football. Given all the hype surrounding the game, I was thinking of only 1 result - a complete blow-out by either one of the teams. The fact that the other 3 BCS bowl games were very exciting & well-worth the wait, I had a strong feeling that this Rose Bowl game would turn out be one big anti-climax.

But I was proved completely wrong as the game not only lived up to the hype but in fact turned out even better than what it was hyped up to, something that does not happen all that often. It was, as many have already felt & written, THE best college football game ever played. Two teams which had everything to prove fighting against each other to the very last play of the game made for a great spectacle. This was college football at its very best. The fact that USC was able to score 38 points against a very good Texas defense spoke volumes about their offense. But they say, defense wins championships and the crucial stop that the Texas defense made on 4th down and 2 in the dying minutes of the 4th quarter made all the difference at the end.

Vince Young proved to the whole word what kind of a clutch player he is and also how he probably deserved to win the Heisman trophy more than Bush. In the NFL, they call Michael Vick the most exciting player in the league. But after watching Young play yesterday, I am pretty sure that that title will soon belong to Young, as and when he decides to enter the draft.

The only thing I was surprised about the whole 2nd half of the game was how could the USC give up big plays time and again to Vince Young. During the final 2 drives of the game, it was so clear to everyone watching that the only offensive weapon that Texas had was Young & I was surprised the USC defense could not hold him up. During both the 2 touchdowns that he scored in those 2 drives, he was literally untouched with his head held high, like a stroll in the park. I could see a swamp of Trojans in his running lane but no one was able to stop him. For all his heroics (200 rushing yards & 3 TDs), Vince Young & Texas deserved to win the game. As Matt Leinart said, USC might still be the better team, talent-wise but Texas came up with big plays when it mattered most & that's what counted ultimately.

As the curtains come down on the college football season with an exciting bowl game, the NFL play-offs take the centre stage with the wild card match-ups starting this weekend. This might well be Seattle's best chance of making it to the Super bowl and for me being from Seattle, there's everything to cheer for in the coming weeks. Go Seahawks!!!

Best of Tamil Film Music of the year 2005

It has now-a-days become mandatory to come up with a list of the year’s best in various fields. So, let me too do that over here with the list of what I feel was the best in the field of Tamil film music in the year 2005.

And the award for the best goes to...
Best Album - Pudhupettai (As I had mentioned in my PP review, this wins the competition hands down)
Best MD - Yuvan Shankar Raja (Is there really a doubt on this? The man has been on fire all year long)
Best Male playback singer - Shankar Mahadevan for Merke Merke in Kanda Naal Mudhal
Best Female playback singer - Shreya Gosal for Pani Thuli from Kanda Naal Mudhal (and many more wonderful songs like Andha Naal Nyabagam)

Top 5 albums:
1) Pudhupettai
2) Raam
3) Kanda Naal mudhal
4) Anniyan
5) Arindhum Ariyaamalum

Top 10 songs of 2005
1) Pani thuli pani thuli from Kanda Naal Mudhal
2) Suttrum vizhi chudare from Ghajni
3) Aaraariraaro from Raam
4) Kaattril varum geethame from Oru Naal Oru kanavu
5) Mayilirage from Ah Aah
6) Uyire En Uyire from Thotti Jeya
7) Andha Naal Nyabagam from Adhu Oru Kanaa Kaalam
8) Kaalai arumbi from Kanaa Kandein
9) Poo poothadhu from Mumbai Express
10) Konjam konjam enakkum from Arindhum Ariyaamalum

This year will go down as Yuvan's year in Tamil cinema. Album after album, he has delivered big. So it would only be appropriate to come up with a Yuvan's Best of 2005 of CD (the songs are in no particular order though):

1. Pani thuli pani thuli from Kanda Naal Mudhal
2. Aaraariraaro from Raam
3. Konjam konjam from Arindhum Ariyaamalum
4. Ore naalil from Pudhupettai
5. Vidikindra pozhudhu from Raam
6. Adadaa from Agaram
7. Kaadhal enbadhu from Oru Kallooriyin Kadhai
8. Merke Merke from Kanda Naal Mudhal
9. Dhavani potta deepavali from Sandaikozhi
10. Eno kangal from Kalvanin Kadhali
11. Saami kitta from Daas
12. Neruppu vaayinil from Pudhupettai
13. En kannodum moochodum from Arindhum Ariyaamalum
14. Uyir piriyum from Kalvanin Kadhali
15. Unakku endru from Oru Kallooriyin Kadhai

As always, would be eager to hear what would be the changes that you will make to this list.