waiting for May 22nd

.. thats when the 3rd disc will be released. Oh sorry you are totally out of context. So, I am talking about Avatar : The Last Airbender. What do you mean you don't know it? Anyways, this wiki page should give you all the information. And heres the official page from Nickelodeon (thats the channel it is aired on)
Yeah yeah its animated and meant for kids. But I like it.
Why did I get so hooked up? Well, last year I accidentally watched one of its episodes while channel browsing after a futile attempt at my research project. That was an episode from Book 3 (season 3 in tv jargon) and I liked it so much that I decided to watch it all right from the beginning. It always was at the back of my mind, but for some reasons I would rather not elaborate on, I kept delaying the pleasure of watching it. Finally I had the time (and a Netflix account) from March 2007 and thats what I have been watching since then. But I was quite disappointed that the 3rd disc in a season is not yet released. Let this be a warning to all those tv-series producers etc. Release the WHOLE season at once. Do not - I repeat - DO NOT release individual discs in a season.
So... thats why I am waiting for 22nd May when the disc will be realeased. Yes, I have it in my saved section in Netflix. If too many people have it too and if that makes me wait for more than 2 days, ..............I will be getting it from Blockbuster/Hollywood :D. Heres the official dvd site. And heres the episode guide link.
I know you must be all hooked up too... so come and join the Avatar Spirit (fansite).
I wish there was an official trailer I could embed here, but this stuff created by some fan is not bad at all.... Enjoy!

I want a Wiiiiii

The war of the video-games is on Xbox360, PS3 and Wii are trying really hard to win the marketplace and seriously I don't care who wins among them.
I know that I love to play all .. yeah ALL the games and think its completely unfair that I would not be able to play some game just because I don't have its corresponding hardware (which costs atleast 500$s)
I have a regular Xbox (that my friends gifted me on my 2005 birthday) and keep playing Halo2 and other games that can be played on it. With Halo3 on the horizon, Xbox360 is going to be something to have. PS3 though boasts of a much superior hardware than the 360 (and a higher price). And then there is Wii with its awesome WiiMote.
I think, that if I have to enjoy my games with my friends (who are not hardcore gamers) Wii is the best. I know that the self-reflection on the captain's helmet is great graphics programming and hardware capacity from the 360, and the 8 processor Cell is a great hardware that PS3 can boast about, but not all the people I play games with care about this stuff as long as they have fun. (We can have fun playing a simple game of cards too right? )
Ofcourse, we can all have our own opinions (and gaming consoles), but all I am saying is "IF I HAVE TO HAVE ONLY 1 FROM AMONGST THESE 3, I WOULD CHOOSE THE WII UNDER CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES"

I think this video here will prove my point -


By the way in the picture above the order is (L->R) Xbox360, PS3 and Wiiiiiiii!

Speed Limiting

I surely won't be the first person complaining(?) about speeding on the expressways. The most funny thing to notice is a group of cars in front of you slowing down suddenly because they see a cop car coming onto the express-way.
Sometimes you see that slowing group in your rear mirror.
But this slow-down is quite temporary. The cop-car whizzes past at about 10MPH above the speed limit imposed and as soon as it is out of sight, everyone is back to their speeding habits.
Ok..ok.. so you all know about it and I need not talk about it unless I have a solution. So I do :D
So instead of whizzing past, if the cop car actually got into the middle lane and drove at the imposed speed-limit, we have everyone in the middle lane stuck at that speed (cursing). The people in the third (and fast) lane would then as usual start moving fast past the middle lane people. But as they see the cop-car, their victorious smirk would be down to a understanding grin.
What say you?

Carambola a.k.a 'Starfruit '

You knew this was coming (if you had read my earlier post about the Kiwano fruit)
But this one is really tasty. Oh yeah! Its like a dream come true for those who like grapes, apples, pineapples & sugracane(raw) and have dreamt about having them all merged.
Thats the best description of the taste I can provide... as of now :D

Well, even if you don't like all these fruits, you still might like the Carambola or Starfruit as most superstores like to call it. This picture explains why they call it the 'StarFruit' -


But be wary that the fruit has high content of sugar and oxalic acid and those with diabetes and kidney problems should stay away from this. (And also those who think oxalic acid is something dangerous)

The biology fanatics might be interested in checking the wiki page with scientific information about StarFruit.

P.S.: BTW, that picture is my original work of camera (Canon S3). The macros work great on this cam! :D

Abs...

Most of the guys (and possibly gals too) dream of having wonderful 6-packs.. no not talking of those Friday-night beer-fest 6-packs .. I am talking of the abs - a flat toned sexy tummy. I sure am one of those who wants to have that.
I have been working on having them more-so from the last 2 months. Since there are 2 well equipped gyms at my disposal - one in the apartments where I stay and one where I work, there is no room for complaint or excuse. But truth be told there are all those ab-machines and pilates equipment and those fitness balls ... I was (am a bit less now) confused about what exactly is better and why. And oh yeah.. the diet thing too...

My company has a dietician and nutritionist whom I can talk with. That took care of the diet part. Sweet eh?

Then came deciding the excercises. I generally did the crunches and some variations of it.. 3 sets at the end of the workout. "That is good enough to keep you 'tummying' up, but not if you want to get those 6-pks."

Complete resources to get those 6-packs from BestAbs.com
Another neat workout
A wiki page about abs
AOL fitness page with videos

There are tons of others out there. Take your pick! Keep working out people!!

African Horned Melon a.k.a "Kiwano"

So you like fruits eh? Try this one -



Well, you might actually like the looks of it (?!?) since the African Horned Melon (a.k.a Kiwano) as it is called is used as an ornamental fruit(!) when not eaten. Frankly, I don't see both those uses from my side.
But, that being said, since goofing around is one of my specialities, my good friend Pranav and I decided to buy this ornamental delicious looking fruit (note the sarcasm). The excitement about it while buying the fruit was certainly not around when it was time to cut it. But cut it I did. Boy and does it look uglier! Check this -


It looks like a cucumber grown in a wrong place - a mutated cucumber. The horned melon is not very big, though the pictures make it look like it. Its just about the size of the big apples, a shade bigger perhaps
It tastes really yucky. The green gooey stuff you see is as slimy it looks and its a hard time biting into it. The seeds are not the softest and its even harder biting them through.

Well, overall, I just wanted you all to know about this thing lurking around in the super-markets and those of you who love to try out new fruits, might not want to try this one. I repeat - not want to try this one.

I was dumb enough to overlook so many others who tried to warn people with blogs like this (example) and hope that YOU won't be that dumb. Someone has to save the world you see .. hehe ..

BTW - have bought a Starfruit....

Biking can be good excercise for your arms...

...well at least the first day you decide to bike after a 3 month winter break.
Most of you must have guessed that it must be something to do with getting the bike back in shape. Partially right - just partially.

But if everything goes smooth (everything = cleaning and filling air) its not that hard. I am also sure (like every1 else) that 99% times everything WILL be smooth and I am a major part of that 1% that makes the 100. So heres my interesting 'first bike-ride after winter' tale -

I started by cleaning the bike - no problems there. Then checked the brakes and got them tightened - just to satisfy the 'you will fall' part of my brain. Then came the workout - filling air. I have this medium sized hand-pump to get air into the tires. Its not bad. The last time I had them inflated in about 20 pumps each tire. But today was not that day.
I struggled for about 5 minutes with the rear tire and that thing just was not ready to bulge a bit. This made me consider that the tire might have a problem. So I decided to check the front tire, but got the same response. That made me think, the pump is bad. Till now I had tried to pump air into both tires at various angles. It made me feel the muscles in my arm tense. Even more than the arm I used to pump the piston, the left hand that I used to hold the pump in place was excercised more.
Anyways, yes it was the pump. I disassembled the darned thing up and assembled it again. Its quite an easy mechanical tool. Took me some time, but was fun and interesting. That got it working and the bike tires inflated and me off on my merry way. :)