Spider-man: Back in Black!

Check out below the poster for the new Spider-man movie (to be released May 4, 2007). It is a color photo of Spider-man in Black suit. This could be the introduction of a character called Venom (from my online sleuthing, since I am not that knowledgeable about these things). Most of the super hero movies have some image of the hero standing at the edge of a building so the look is actually quite mundane. But this one looks good because the spidey costume is different and Spider-man does not look to be too happy. I personally hated the first Spider-man movie but loved Spider-man 2. In fact, I think it was one of the best movies to come out in the last few years. So look forward to Spider-man 3.This poster reminds me of another poster of characters standing in the rain - "Matrix Revolutions". That turned out to be a real turkey. I hope this does not end up being like that.

Dokonjo! Gets A Makeover

Site Meter
If you have noticed by blog page of late, you would have noticed that there are a few additions. One is of course the site meter that lets you know how many people have had a look at my blog page. A big thanks to all my readers for keeping the meter ticking. Please help me make the site meter tick like the meter on an autorickshaw in Mumbai.

Ask Anything, Yahoo! Answers
Another thing that I have added is my Yahoo! Answers badge. Many of you may not be aware of this but this is a fantastic new forum on Yahoo. It's a forum where you ask questions and answer questions. At the face of it, it may sound simplistic and uninteresting but I can tell you that after 2 weeks of usage that I am hooked to it.

There are literally tens of thousands of users registered on the Yahoo! Answers forum. When you open the page http://answers.yahoo.com, you can see the latest questions that are being posted by people. Now the questions here range from anything like Nuclear Physics, Computers, Internet, Movies, Music to Advice regarding people's love lives. The questions are asked and answered by people like you and me. And questions are coming in literally every second.

Supposing you are trying to remember a song or a movie but only remember some part of it. In such cases, doing a search on the internet may not help. But if you post the question on Yahoo! Answers, most likely the question would be answered by somebody. People on this forum are only most willing to answer questions.

Of course there are benefits for the users registered on Yahoo! Answers works on a points system. You get 2 points for every question answered, 10 points if your answer is selected as the best answer. -2 points for every question asked. To learn more about the point system, please visit
http://answers.yahoo.com/info/scoring_system.php

What I liked best about this forum is people are so enthusiastic about responding to questions. More than likely is that if you post a question, you will get an answer almost immediately. And these are real people coming up with real answer and not some search engine searching something. Of course, almost everybody does rely on search engine to respond but the result is more personal and satsifying. Once somebody asked why people are so enthusiastic about asking questions on Yahoo! Answers. My response to it was as follows:

"I think people are more enthusiastic about answering questions!!

The reason people are enthusiastic about answering questions on this portal is that we, human beings, like to consider ourselves to be intelligent creatures and this is one forum where we can proove our knowledge and wisdom.

And the reason why people are enthusiastic in asking questions is that they want answers from real people instead of having to use a search engine."

Once you start using this, you would realize why.

Some of the responses on this forum are so intelligent and thoughtful that, with the risk of sounding cliched, I think this could actually help our world become a better place.

Do try Yahoo! Answers the next time you want to search for something. You will realize why it could actually revolutionize the way we use the interent.

On the Yahoo! Answers badge on the left part of this screen, you can see the latest response that I have made to questions that people have asked. If you are wondering, my screen name on Yahoo! Answers is "The Alchemist".

Sholay: Once upon a time in the East

Sholay was released more than 30 years ago but is still remembered by millions of Indians even today. These days an Indian home is almost incomplete without a copy of a Sholay DVD. Here is a rare photo of the main protagonists from that movie.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is celebrated every year on February 2nd. This tradition comes from a German legend that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow, it means that there won't be an early spring. Traditionally there are many animals that can perform this ritual, but the honor of the annual Groundhog Day celebration goes to the Phil, the Groundhog, who stays with his family in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. This year, like every year, Phil (see picture) has seen his shadow which means we have 6 more weeks of winter. This is true is any case since the Spring equinox, March 21, is still another 6 weeks away.

This day was also the subject of a Bill Murray movie of the same name (Groundhog Day, Columbia Pictures 1993). He plays Phil (not coinicidently the name of our Groundhog), a pompous weatherman for a TV station, covering the annual Groundhog Day at Punxsutawney. In the movie, he gets trapped in a loop of time where he has to live the same day (February 2nd) everyday. He always ends up waking at 0600 on February 2nd, with the radio playing "I Got you Baby" by Sonny and Cher. At first he takes advantage of this, by scoring with a woman, getting away with robbing a bank and driving recklessly on the streets. But gradually frustration creeps in and he realizes that even by killing himself, he cannot get out of the loop of time. He also realizes that, despite his best efforts he cannot save an old man from dying. As the number of loops of the day increases, he also realizes that he is falling in love for Rita, his producer (played by Andie McDowell). The thing is he remembers all the loops he has already gone through so he uses that memory to his advantage. He learns to speak French, play Piano and even making Ice Sculptures by taking one day lessons in each loop of the day. He does this till he reaches the perfect day where he uses his unique knowledge of that day to help people in the town. In doing so, he becomes the local hero and wins the heart of Rita. But more importantly, he discovers a better person in himself. And of course, he gets out of the loop of time.

To me, this movie represents a lot about our lives. We cannot change our everydays, where each day seems no different than the other. What we can change is ourselves. And that gives us our salvation.