A very happy new year 2010...

2009 is ending and now is the time,
When you should expect one more rhyme!
As the clock ends the year with a chime,
Here's to you a poem sublime :)

Manmohan showed BJP the dustbin,
Rahul's austerity from max to min...
Tharoor's cattle class raised a din,
Obama win but a Nobel was sin.

Floods and storms killed a lot...
Climate change rules no one bought.
Whether they know how or not,
A standing farewell Jackson got.

Oscars reached the Slumdog band.
Katrina acquired Ranbir land.
Poor Elesh got Rakhi Sawant's hand.
Twenty Twelve and Avatar were grand.

Modi proved he is no ordinary bloke.
More records Sachin and Team India broke.
Federer in France for once didn’t choke.
Tiger Woods was the butt of many a joke.

Forgive and forget as is due...
Rejoice the best whether many or few.
A Happy Holiday and a fantastic year to all of you,
Hope a splendid 2010 starts anew...

P.S: I shall be away from the internet world for a good 2 week period! That's the reason for the advance wishes...

Avatar 3D - The Review

Here is a very short review of the movie Avatar, based on a 3d experience at fame cinemas in bangalore. In short, I had to say it was a bit of an underwhelming experience but the imagery and the experience was grand. The sound effects might not have been great due to theatre quality. Personal tip - ensure you sit in the first few rows of the movie hall and bang in the center of the row. The view should ideally not be obstructed by the other movie goers! To make it short and sweet, the review is in the form of a tag cloud...

The top 10 characteristic cricket shots – and how the balls feel!

Whenever our favorite cricketer hits his characteristic shot, we are all elated. But have we for once thought about the cricket ball. And what the cricket ball feels about the whole episode? The ball has its purpose in life – to go hit the stumps of the batsman. When it is not able to do that, it feels best if it is well left and goes inside the cozy comforts of the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Instead, when it gets a pounding as it does from some of the world-class batsman, it feels like being kicked out or hit hard.

With this in perspective, let us analyze some of the most characteristic shots in modern day cricket, and how this equates to anywhere from a polite send-off to a rude dumping for the cricket ball.

• Cricketer: Thilakaratne Dilshan
  Shot: Bend and send the ball back over the head of the wicketkeeper for four and completely change the trajectory of the ball
  Feeling: You are dressed handsomely. You have a fine accent. You know you can talk you way to the American visa for which you have come all the way from Bangalore to Chennai. And you believe you have all the documents that are required. The visa officer talks very nicely to you. Except that he feels that your personality might pose a bigger threat to the USA than 10 Osamas put together. And to put you off in a completely different direction, he asks you for a document that he knows you would have probably used as a tissue paper substitute some time in your life. You are sent back to Bangalore with the next appointment a month away.
  

• Cricketer: Chris Gayle
  Shot: Spread out legs (pun intended) and dispatch out of the stadium over long on or mid-wicket with a big heave of the bat
  Feeling: You hit upon a girl in a pub. She was speaking nicely to you. You thought this was your chance. You decided to go in for the kill and ask her out on a date. ‘Pat’ comes the reply in the form of a tight slap. The last you remembered before you awoke at the hospital - some big fat guys were lifting you up.

• Cricketer: Gautam Gambhir
  Shot: A constipated bend and nudge towards third man presumably for a clever four but ends up usually in a dumb single
  Feeling: You have decided to land up on Saravana Stores to buy a shirt. All you know is that you entered the shop sometime back. The crowd pushed and shoved you towards some person who was showing shirts. Without any signaling or pointing, a cloth piece was packed. Again as you stood wondering what just happened, you are pushed towards the billing counter. When you took the kerchief out to swipe off your sweat, the purse came along with it. With the bill and the apparel in hand, you are now standing outside the shop still wondering what just happened. When you open the box, you realize you have a saree instead of a shirt.

• Cricketer: Ross Taylor
  Shot: Moving across the stumps to offer an LBW chance but heaving the bat quickly to send the ball from outside the off-stump to out of the stadium on the leg side
  Feeling: You had the right focus. You had prepared well. You had beaten the others to it. You got your dream Day 0 job. Until the week after when the global stock markets crash. And the company plunges into recession. And they say that your appointment is deferred by 6 months. And of course, you have the choice of finding a job elsewhere since 6 could extend to 12 as well.
  

• Cricketer: Yuvraj Singh
  Shot: The complete kneel down on one foot as if to show respect and then launch a massive six over mid-wicket
  Feeling: – You go into the marriage reception to greet a couple you hardly know. You are there because it is a ritual and someone asked you to come along. The couple is already tired of smiling for the last couple of hours. But however, you know you are in the public eye. The couple greets you with all the respect that you can ever get from unknown persons. And asks you to go and eat your food. At the back of their mind, they would be happy with one more good riddance. At the back of your mind, you know you are happy to get into the food hall. But unfortunately for you, there is such a long waiting line and at the end of the waiting, the food was so bad that it has started making sounds in your tummy. You now want to exit the place and attend nature’s dual call. But there is a long queue there as well…
  

The other top 10 characteristic shorts – you can contribute how the balls feel during these...

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni – The small spread of the legs to hit a straight drive that sizzles past the bowler
• Virender Sehwag - Extremely powerful cover drive on the off-side where point and cover are still looking at the batsman while the ball has sailed past the cover boundary for a six
• Sachin Tendulkar – The paddle sweep invented to counter Shane Warne’s spin during the test series in India
• Ricky Ponting - The front-foot movement, short bend and majestic pull over square leg with super-fast hand-eye coordination
• Kevin Pieterson: The elaborate movement across the stumps and a glance to send the ball from outside off to across the leg side mid-wicket region for a boundary
  

Happy 60th Birthday Rajinikanth

Rajini the Thalaiver,
Stylish and clever,
At any age, you tire never,
Happy birthday, forever...

In honor of a special 60th birthday, here are the Top 5 lists of various types of movies of Thalaiver. The same is available here on Twitter.

• Top 5 Rajini Style / All-time Best Movies - (1) Baasha (2) Padayappa (3) Shivaji (4) Muthu + Moondru Mugam (5) Thalapathi (#) Other Mentions - Annamalai, Mannan
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Acting Movies - (1) Thalapathi (2) Netri Kann (3) Engeyo Ketta Kural (4) Gayathri (5) Raghavendra (#) Other Mentions - Bhairavi, Peddarayudu (Telugu), Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri, Thappu Thalangal
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Comedy Movies - (1) Thillu Mullu (2) Guru Sishyan (3) Mannan (4) Velaikkaaran (5) Arunachalam (#) Other Mentions - Maappillai
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Senti Roles - (1) Engeyo Ketta Kural (2) Naan Adimai Illai (3) Yejaman (4) Dharmadurai (5) Anbullah Rajinikanth (#) Other Mentions - Gaayathri
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Action Movies (1) Thalapathi (2) Naan Sigappu Manithan (3) Murattukalai (4) Siva (5) Kodi Parakkudhu (#) Other Mentions - Pokkiri Raja
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Music Movies - (1) Johny (2) Ninaithaale Inikkum (3) Baasha (4) Muthu (5) Thalapathi (#) Other Mentions - Rajathi Raja, Uzhaippali
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Thinking Movies (1) Chandramukhi (2) Netrikann (3) Priya (4) Naan Sigappu Manithan (5) Annamalai (#) Other Mentions - Mr. Bharath
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Romance Movies (1) Pudukavidhai (2) Veera (3) Thambikku Endha Ooru (4) Yejaman (5) Velaikkaran (#) Other Mentions - Gayathri
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Negative Roles - (1) 16 Vayathinile (2) Moondru Mudichu (3) Thappu Thalangal (4) Apoorva Ragangal (5) Polladhavan
  
  
• Top 5 Rajini Duds :( (1) Baba (2) Bloodstone (3) Valli (4) Kuselan + Pandiyan (5) ALL HINDI (#) Other Mentions - Adhisaya Piravi, Kodi Parakkudhu, Maaveeran

Any more list ideas or any more additions to existing lists, please do add...

The typical lifecycle of a Twitter user

The following diagram depicts the typical lifecycle of users on Twitter... (Click on the image to enlarge flowchart)

The REAL top 10 search trends...

Over the last week, there have been various top search engines that have been publishing the list of top 10 search queries for 2009. One could go a step further and assume that the following would be the trends for celebrities and common people alike across various fields such as sports, entertainment, media etc.

• User-base: Government Officials (Category: Politics)
  Popular Queries
  i) How should I live in austerity
  ii) How to evade questions on peace with Pakistan

• User-base: American policy-makers/ Peace-makers (Category: World)
  Popular Queries
  i) What strategies to follow to continue attacking Afghanistan, Iraq
  ii) What reasons to provide for giving Obama the Nobel prize
  

• User-base: Top movie producers / TV serial-makers (Category: Entertainment)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to deliver a hit in Bollywood
  ii) How to convert Rakhi Sawant to marriage material
  

• User-base: Indian Cricket Team / Golfers (Category: Sports)
  Popular Queries
  i) Which companies are available for selling myself to
  ii) What not to do with a golf club
  

• User-base: Tech-savvy consumers (Category: Technology)
  Popular Queries
  i) What to do with Google Wave
  ii) How not to tweet like Sashi Tharoor
  

• User-base: Writers / Musicians (Category: Literary / Arts)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to write books for Rs.95 and still make millions like Chetan Bhagat
  ii) How to pass an opinion on everything like Arundathi Roy
  

• User-base: Journalists / TV Reporters (Category: Media / Journalism)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to pick a story to sensationalize
  ii) How to shout like Rajdeep Sardesai
  

• User-base: Working professionals (Category: Corporate India)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to act busy at work so that I don’t get fired during recession
  ii) How to steal free food at office to increase savings
  

• User-base: Young Indians (Category: Lifestyle)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to earn and eat, and spend the same on gyms before marriage
  ii) How to put on weight after marriage
  

• User-base: The Common Man (Category: General)
  Popular Queries
  i) How to ignore everything around just enough for living my own life
  ii) How to vote without any choice
  

P.S: Last heard, none of the search engines could give a valid answer for most of the questions across the spectrum. The said parties were interested in any answers humans might have…

P.S 2: This post links to a lot of older posts. Foresight maybe... :)

Any more for any of the above categories or any other category of users, please add on in the comments section…