It Sucks...

Have been getting irritated with a bunch of stuff of late and so thought of just listing them.

1) Windows Vista
This is no surprise bcos there have been sites dedicated exclusively for this and so no surprise that I too felt this way. I had resisted efforts from many to install the Vista OS in my laptop until last week when I had to go in for a new laptop offered to me by the company and it came with Vista. And needless to say, it has been one bad week. Intermittent blank screens, too slow in spite of a 2 GB RAM and the dreaded pop-ups & a bunch of known issues. That is how my Vista experience has been this past one week and no wonder Vista finds its way in this list. And if rumors are to be believed, MS does not have plans to ship the first Vista service pack at least until the end of this year and may be well into next year.

2) Yahoo mail beta
I have been wanting to write about this yahoo mail beta for a while. When the option to try out the beta version of Yahoo came up a while back, I readily accepted it and as expected out of a beta version, there were a bunch of bugs whose number started reducing as weeks went by. But ever since they integrated the chat application into the mail application, I have started disliking it so much. In their effort to ape Google, the UI that Yahoo has come up with for this integrated chat application is pathetic and worse still, it has made the task of browsing through emails a pain.

3) Comcast's new TV guide & on-demand
Upgrades/ newer versions are supposed to give the customer a better user experience and more features. But somehow Comcast seems to think otherwise. The latest version of their on-demand UI was released amidst fanfare (there were promotions on TV about how the new version is so much better than the existing one and all the customers were contacted over phone & informed of the same) and ever since there have been issues galore. This simple issue should tell something: say, if you are watching a channel in the hundreds (173 is ESPNHD), you want to go back to watching MSNBC on channel 47, you won’t get there by simply pressing 4 and 7. I was totally annoyed when I faced this the first time and my tolerance levels shot up when I heard the solution to it. That, I have to press 0, 4 and 7 to get the 47th channel. This is just a small sample. The on-demand application which had few flaws in the earlier version has gone from bad to worse. I am sure folks who have Comcast on-demand at home will vouch for this statement of mine.

And for the final proof that life hasn't been good to me of late, check this out: The summer season is slowly making its way for the Fall season and though that is not something I am very fond of, having enjoyed summer to the hilt and Seattle in summer being one of the best places to be in summer, fall more than makes up for that with football taking center-stage. To me, the fall season is all about 2 things - football and the fantasy football that goes along with it. This year I am playing in 3 different leagues with 3 different set of friends and this past week saw the finalization of the draft order in all 3 of them. And guess what? In all 3 of the drafts, I got the last pick. It was completely unbelievable. I mean, what are the odds of this happening? In 3 completely unrelated drafts, I get the last pick in each one of them and the draft order was arrived in a random manner in each one of them. Truly sucks...

Weekend Hikes - Lake 22

Date: June 30, 2007
Close By: Granite Falls, WA (Mountain Loop Highway)
Directions: From Seattle, get to the city of Granite Falls (40 miles from Redmond). From Granite Falls, follow the Mountain Loop Highway for approximately 12 miles and the trail head is about 2 miles on the right, after you pass the Verlot Public Service Center. The trail head is in the Mt. Baker/ Snoqualmie National Forest.

Things to remember: The trail is not very steep but there are occasional rocky sections and thus the descent from the lake back to the parking lot is very tough on your feet, due to these rocky sections. We started the hike at about 7am in the morning and thus had the whole lake to ourselves almost the entire duration of time we spent there. The first group (after ours) got to the lake as we were about to start our descent. There is a very well laid out trail around the lake which gives us some strikingly different views of the lake. Too many bugs and since we were the only group at the lake, all of them seemed very intent to drive us away :) A neat and short hike.

Distance (RT): 5.0 miles
Time (RT): 4 hours, with 1 hour at the lake
Elevation: 1300 feet
Difficulty Level: 2.25

Some photos from the hike:

An assorted post

Bheema album- What Harris Jeyaraj has been doing with each album of his is just mind-blowing. Music lovers have differing opinions on songs of different MDs but when it comes to songs tuned in by Harris, there are no two opinions. Inspite of all his shortcomings, nobody can say that they do not like the melodies churned out by Harris Jeyaraj. I am a big fan of Yuvan but I enjoy the songs of Harris Jeyaraj equally bcos of the simple reason - they are instantly catchy, the tunes are very simple and more importantly, all it takes for us to start loving the songs is couple of listenings. Of course his songs draw the usual complaints - they are not innovative, they all sound the same, the tune sounds oh-so familiar but guess what? The songs are so much enjoyable and that is what matters at the end. And Bheema is no different and it was only expected bcos it is Linguswamy who is the director of the movie and who has always been very good when it comes to extracting the best out of his MDs. Every song you hear in Bheema just brings a smile to your lips, as to how this guy can come up with such simple tunes album after album.

The moment you listen to the Ragasiya Kanavugal song, you are instantly hooked on to it. The only thing that is jarring in this song is Madhushree's voice & Tamil pronunciation. The 'irage irage' chorus is just too good. Very soothing tune to go along with some catchy beats. Easily my pick of the album. But equally soothing and melodious, are the Enadhuyire enadhuiyre and Mudhal mazhai songs. Somehow Sadhana Sargam's rendition of the Enadhuyire song was not easy on the ears. Other than that, it was almost a perfect melody. Hariharan is at his best in the mesmerizing Mudhal mazhai number where that female solo humming, though being something we have come to expect in Harris Jeyaraj's songs, is so enchanting. Oru mugamO is a very interesting hero introduction song, sans heavy beats which are usually the trademark of such songs. Naresh Iyer and Karthik just compliment each other well. Siru paarvaiyaale is the typical Harris folk-cum-kuthu song and it is as catchy as any of his previous such songs. And me being a big fan of Harini just makes the job of liking the song much more easier. Rangu rangamma is a decent song and will rank as my least favorite number of the album. Overall, Harris Jeyaraj serves up one more thoroughly enjoyable album.

Sivaji second release - This is too good a news not to share this info with you guys. Last weekend, Sivaji was re-released in Seattle (you know, owing to popular demand :D) and thus also becoming the first movie to do so in Seattle's history of screening Tamil movies. Kireedom that was released couple of weeks drew very average crowds (one of my friends actually co-released the movie and let me just say that he hurts his finances pretty badly) and Arya that was released last weekend (along with Sivaji) fared even worse and had all of 11 people watching it. But guess how many people turned up for Sivaji? 410. That’s just freaking unbelievable. Seriously, when I got the news that Sivaji was going to be released again, though I was excited, I was also apprehensive as to the guy who releases it should not incur any losses. Bcos Tamil movies usually run for 1-2 shows here in Seattle. And Sivaji had already run 9 shows during its first release and now it was releasing again. But The Boss proved his clout at the BO in no small measure and pulled out another near-houseful show at Seattle. Though I was out of town and thus could not increase my count (which still stands at 6), talks are already on to bring the movie back to Seattle to coincide with 100th day of the movie's release. I should increase my count during then :)

2008 Accord - Though the concept car of the 2008 Accord coupe was revealed last year at the Detroit auto show, the sedan was kept under the wraps until it was unveiled yesterday. Being an Accord owner myself, I closely follow the changes that the model go through over the years. One of my friends' friend who works at Honda who had a chance to look at the model ever since last year, had only glowing things to say about the car (like "it will blow your mind away"). But after watching the video yday, I will have to say that it did not exactly do it to me :) It definitely looks more stylish and it just does not blow your mind off, say how the 2007 Camry did to all of us when compared to the 06 version. I feel that the body of the car resembles more like a BMW 5-series and it also looks like the car has much more interior space than its previous versions. Here is the link to the Motor Trend video.

Trip to Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area

Had been to the Oregon Dunes National recreational area last weekend. This has been on my to-be-visited places list ever since I read about the adventures a fellow blogger had at those dunes sometime 2 years ago. So, we started from Seattle on Friday evening and stayed at my friend's place in Portland that night. Started our drive on Saturday morning for the destination via the 101 route.


I have heard about how driving on the 101 route is such an amazing experience. I got a first hand experience of the same only last weekend. It was so beautiful, all along and the perfect summer weather we had only made the drive all the more memorable. The first time you get to see the Pacific ocean and drive along it is truly memorable. There are too many beautiful view points along the way. So, if you are driving & have missed a good view point, do not worry. There is another one right around the corner.


But I am digressing her since the trip was all about the ATV ride on the sand dunes and it was the one that I was looking forward to the most. After talking with those who have already done it, one thing was clear - it is not going to be easy and enjoyable. Looks like it is quite easy to fall off the drifts in the dunes and thus the ATV gets toppled very easily. That was one reason why the insurance companies stopped covering these ATV rides. All these only made me apprehensive as we reached the ATV rental place.

At the rental place, there is a brief lesson on the do's and don'ts while riding an ATV. The one thing they tell you as one of the most important points is that while climbing uphill a dune, you should always do it in a straight line bcos otherwise, your vehicle will get stuck in the sand. The next important thing is that there is a lot of illusion in these drifts that you find in the sands. In other words, these sand dunes are more like snow. So, when you climb up a dune, you have to be extra careful to slow down right as you reach the top of the dune bcos the drop from the top can be very steep in some places. The part of this lesson which made us all wary is about the consequences that we have to face if we topple the ATV and damaging the vehicle & the accessories in the process. There were separate charges for each and every minor damage (all this bcos of there being no insurance coverage for these ATVs) and the cost of those repairs were anything between 20$ to 200$.

We took the 1-hour ride option for 45$. From the rental place, the guide leads you to the dunes and as with all these attractions, they take you through a crowded area completely covered with trees and then suddenly you are right into the middle of the dunes. The way you get to encounter the dunes does take you by shock & awe. Whichever way we turned, all we could see was the sand dunes. It was just too good. The guide led us through to the center of the dunes and that is when and where the fun begins. We found out quickly that whatever that was mentioned in the pre-ride lessons were very imperative and helpful. As with everything, we slowly got used to riding the ATV. It was way too fun riding our ATVs up those huge imposing dunes. Some dunes that are so steep and looking at which your first thought would be to skip them, are actually easily climbable. Like with every other adventurous activities that we get to do over here (skiing, rafting, sky diving, etc), the adrenaline rush that we experience during this ride was awesome.




The only downside to this whole experience was that the ATVs got stuck in the sands quite often and that obviously slowed us down. The biggest mistake we did that was in our eagerness to help our friends to get their ATVs out of the sand, we left our own ATVs in an uphill section of the dune from where we ourselves required help to get the ATV out.

Couple of advices if you plan on going there:

• Take the 2 hour ATV ride. Though it costs double the price of an 1-hour ride, it should be worth it. The problem with the 1 hour rides (the ones which we all took) is that you start getting comfortable with the ATV & the dunes & the maneuvering it requires only after 40 mins and by that time, you are hardly left with 5-10mins to enjoy it bcos you have to get ready to go back to the rental place.
• Do not ever stop the ATV while you are climbing uphill.

In the evening, after the individual ATV rides, we took the organized buggy tour ride. The buggy is something like a F1- race car that can seat anywhere between 6-20 people. This is where a professional driver rides the buggy along the dunes and this too was a lot of fun. He was liberally driving at 55 mph but it felt more like 70 mph bcos of the excessive winds. It is like a roller coaster ride only that there is no set path here and he just rides along the slopes of the various dunes. If you are not upto the challenge of the individual ATV ride, this one is the perfect fit for you to experience the dunes. The video below was shot by me as I was holding the camera as we were in the buggy ride.



So, if you are someone who is at a drivable distance of this place, you should give this place a visit. Its worth the drive and the beautiful & scenic 101 drive just makes the whole trip all the more worthier.

Top 10 Sivaji moments

I had started writing this post much earlier but then wanted to post it on a day of significance and what better day than the 50th day of its release. Sivaji has been one movie which has almost become too tough to resist. Though I have watched it 6 times so far, I am still dying to watch it many more times. I keep saying to my friends that if I had been in India (or in some place where the movie is still running), I would have definitely watched it a minimum of 20 times. Seriously, I have not enjoyed a Thalaivar movie as much as I enjoyed Sivaji and more importantly, no Thalaivar movie has left me wanting for more, even after repeated viewings.

To quench my thirst for some Sivaji action, I surf around looking for You Tube videos of some scenes and songs. Since I do not download movies in general, there was no way I was going to download the movie and watch it in my laptop. Sivaji means so much to me and thus, anything less than watching it in a theater is unacceptable for me. I bought the audio CD, watched the movie in the theater for 6 times and will buy atleast 5 copies of the original DVD whenever it is released (Oh..the remaining copies are for friends as gifts).

As a Thalaivar fan, all I was concerned before the movie's release was that the movie should do well. And boy, has it done well. As every other site and news report says, the movie has already broken all existing records in Tamil cinema and I am sure when it is done running, it would have become the highest grossing movie in the history of Indian cinema. After Chandramukhi set all those collection records, movies like Anniyan did gross an amount which while remaining lesser than CM, was in the same league as CM. That is when Thalaivar probably thought that we should do a movie where the collections of the same should be in an altogether different league and Thalaivar's dream has come true in a big way with Sivaji. I am not sure if even Thalaivar's future movies can break the records set by Sivaji (though I will be the one who will be the happiest if that does happen).

Alright now to the top 10 Sivaji moments. Moments that took my breath away, moments that made me cry out loud, moments that made me leap from my seat, moments that got me excited way too much, moments that tingled my spine or to put it simply, moments that only Thalaivar can provide. I thought of ordering them but then, that would just not be fair. Though I like some of the moments listed below better than the others, there are atleast a good 3-4 moments which I simply can not put in any order bcos each one of them is just as stunning as another.

1) Sivaji-kku appuram evan-da
Sujatha had said in an interview before the movie was released on whether there will be any punch dialogs in Sivaji to which he replied We have made Vivek do the honors instead of the Superstar. Punch-kku punch. Dignity-kku dignity. I simply loved it even when I read the interview and when I saw that scene when Vivek says Six-kku appuram seven-da...Sivaji-kku appuram yeven-da, it was just too good to be true and we all shouted Yevenum illa-da

2) Singam..Single-aa thaan varum
I don't think I need to say anything about this scene as this scene and the dialog have become part of folk lore. I was completely speechless when I saw this scene for the first time. I simply loved the way how there is a gap in this dialog. He first says Kannaa, panninga thaan koottamaa varum and then hits the goondas who fly in the air and it is then as they are falling down like nine pins, he finishes the dialog by saying Singam, single-aa than varum That glitter in his eyes as he says this is so typical of Thalaivar

3) Thalaivar's mind-blowing intro in the Adhiradi song
Though I personally liked the way how Thalaivar lands on the ground after flying & picks up the guitar, many friends of mine liked the way he is shown lying on the bike with his face covered with that hat and with his feet crossed. Whichever is your pick, those few seconds when the Adhiradi song starts are simply out-of-the-world. (it is to be noted here that I have already run out of adjectives/ superlatives) I will have to add here that whatever follows (the whole song basically) deserves another entry in this list. But for the sake of repetition, I am leaving it out.

4) Thalaivar riding that bike in the Style song in that blue jacket.
I am not sure how many of you noticed this. To be very frank, this was the only hairdo in that Style song I was kind of apprehensive about when the stills were released (my personal favorite was the one he sports when he is wearing the orange overcoat and I was actually disappointed that Shankar did not give adequate screen time for that outfit). But once I saw that blue outfit on the screen, all my doubts evaporated into thin air. The way he nonchalantly chews the bubble gum while driving is breath-taking. While on the same dress, the following scene where Thalaivar's mirror image and Thalaivar do different things in slow-mo is equally awesome and thus has to be given its due recognition.

5) That walk back to the auto in THE teakada scene.
The whole teakada scene is spectacular & will rank way up there among the best Thalaivar scenes of all time. But the way the scene ends with this particular walk is just the crowning glory of the whole scene. Everything about that walk is mind-blowing - first the way he gets up from the bench after stylishly gets his right leg over the bench, then walks back by looking sideways without looking at the camera, all the time chewing the Bajji and then how he gets into the auto & says Polaam right, there can not be a better moment than this. It was no coincidence that Thalaivar’s daughter too cites the same scene as her most favorite scene of the movie. We (myself & my friends) all talk about how the shooting spot would have looked like on the day they canned this scene. Given the fact that Shankar himself is such a huge fan of Thalaivar, I am sure they all would have enjoyed this scene to the hilt even while filming it.

6) Thalaivar's entry in the Haneefa stabbing scene
You don't realize what hit you. That is how I felt when suddenly the doors open and Thalaivar strides into the room alongside the other goondas. As he answers Haneefa's question as to who it is, by saying Boss in how own magnetic voice and enters the room with that background by ARR is definitely one of the high moments of the movie.

7) Vaaji vaji song walk
Thalaivar's walk is something that leaves every Thalaivar fan in a trance and that midukku in his walk is simply unparalleled. Among all the walks in the movie, I actually loved this one in the Vaaji song. This actually comes for a few fleeting seconds. Right when the song starts, after Thalaivar gets out of that pallakku, he is first showered with rose petals & then he flashes his trademark smile, which instantly sent me into a daze already. And it is then that he is shown walking along the corridor with the sword in his hand. Amazing. Awestruck.

8) Music store fight scene close-up
Right in the middle of the musical store fight where the fight shifts from the main area of the store to a storage area full of guitars and drums, first, Thalaivar's eyes are shown in close-up and then his majestic walk, with the Power ranger jetix thaan-da Pathu viralum gimmicks thaan-da lines in the background. Another moment when Thalaivar just makes you scream out of pure adrenaline rush.

9) Helicopter backdrop walk
Well, there are 2 walks with the helicopter in the background and needless to say which among the 2 is more hair-rising than the others. The one in the all-white attire was the clear winner. (Its not that the one with the all-black outfit is bad but somehow, I have always liked when Thalaivar comes in a all-white dress , right from the Raajaadhi Raja days) This scene is a very unique one. First up showing a helicopter up-close & landing with the dirt flying is majestic in its own way. But as only he can, Thalaivar simply overshadows the presence of the helicopter in the background with his mere walk. A doubtless Wow moment for any die-hard Thalaivar fan.

10) Mottai boss intro
The less I write about the Mottai boss, the better bcos if I start my ranting, I just can not stop. Thalaivar's majesty in that get-up is truly unbelievable. It is for that one get-up alone I will say Sivaji is the best Thalaivar film ever. The moment he gets down from that helicopter and starts walking in never-before-seen style of walking, I was shouting Thalaivaa to the hilt. It is for moments like these that fans like me die for and Thalaivar fans have to thank Shankar for showing us all a facet of Thalaivar we would not have seen in our life times if not for him.

So, there goes my celebration of the successful 50th day completion of THE movie. As always, would like to hear any other goose-bump moments you guys feel would have made it to your list.

Weekend Hikes - Annette Lake

After the first 2 hikes, this was another step up for me bcos the difficulty level of this hike was moderate. The site where we pick these hikes from grades each one of the hikes by their difficulty level and judgment is pretty darn accurate. On their scale this was a moderate one but to me, this was real strenuous. Though I have hiked tougher hikes since I did this one, I will always remember the Annette Lake hike as the first moderate level hike I ever did.

Date: June 23, 2007
Close By: Snoqualmie Pass, WA

Directions: From Seattle, drive east on I-90 to Exit 47 and turn right. Drive 0.2 miles to road 5590, turn left and drive 0.3 miles to the large parking lot and trail-head.

Things to remember: Starts off steep, becomes relatively easy for a while before gets steep again. Good part is that the last 1 mile or so is on level ground and there is no elevation. Trail is in good shape. You might want to take another 0.75 mile trail called Nature trail which is at the trailhead. The lake is beautiful. Lot of logs. Lot of bugs too, on the way and at the lake.

Distance (RT): 8.0 miles
Time (RT): 4 hours, with 30 minutes at the lake
Elevation: 1400 feet
Level: 3