March 20, 2008

Reality (shows) bite

I've never been a fan of reality shows. Be it Idol, Survivor, Dance with the stars etc...I'm not sure why that's the case. Maybe because I don't believe that they're as real as they claim to be. Anyway, I thought I'd left the world of reality shows behind when I came back to India only to find the same shows broadcast here with a time delay.

Of late, to make matters worse, all regional language channels have started similar shows. Random people singing, dancing and acting in front of the so-called famous judges from the respective movie industries passing poor comments and judments hearing which the contestants mostly cry (either due to extreme joy at winning or extreme agony at being kicked out). The whole thing appears to be so false that I really wonder how so many people tune into these shows and sit through them. Almost every single Tamil channel that I know of has a show like this and everyone claims that their viewership is the highest level.

What does this say about the audience? And maybe the better question is what does this say about the ability of show producers? Its definitely easier to throw a bunch of people together and get them to sing or dance (or both) than to write a script, get real actors, direct it and sustain levels of interest for a prolonged period. Who is to blame for this slide in quality shows? Or is it a slide? Am I just being too cynical and critical because I don't like them?

Date screw-up

It's 2152 on Sunday March 23, 2008 but my previous post reads Thursday. Not sure why. Will figure out and fix soon.

Bye bye Begumpet

Yesterday was the last day flights flew out of Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad. I'm not a Hyderabadi at heart to actually feel sad about that or be affected in any way other than the fact that my commute time to the new airport in Shamshabad has significantly increased; from 15 minutes to at least 45. I'm not denying cribbing at Begumpet when the wait at the check-in counter was too long or finding a parking spot was near impossible. Apparently the new airport addresses both these issues and a lot more. But I'm still irritated about the distance from my home. I've decided to look into the trains going into Madras. The only scary thing is the thought of having to entertain my daughter in a little cabin for 12 hours! (Ok, maybe not 12, she will sleep for a bit...but still...)

March 9, 2008

Making friends 101

Only kids can walk up to a brand new group of kids, barge right into their conversation or game or whatever and come away unscathed. Where does this courage come from? And more importantly, where does it go as one gets older? How nice if making friends were as easy as just that.

Brain freeze

It's been a month since I wrote in my blog. I've never written anything earth-shattering yet but have I even run out of average, random, useless thoughts? Or have I just been so busy that I just didn't have the time? Don't know but just to kick start, here are some thoughts. All about sports...

Los Angeles Lakers
I've been a fan since the time I started watching NBA on Star Sports. I've followed them through their early glory days (Magic, Kareem times), the interim lows (before Shak-Kobe), their 3 back-back-back championship run and the lows since. I'm happy to note here that the Lakers are back on top in the Western Conference and playing really well. Most importantly they're playing team ball. Hope they go all the way again this season.

Roger Federer
It's been pretty sad to see the slump that Fed is going through. I just read a little while ago that he had mono through the Aussie Open and has recently only recovered from it. Not using that as an excuse for his loss (he himself isn't so I possibly can't!) but it immediately makes me wonder that if he can make it to the semis of a Grand Slam when far from being a 100%, what could have happened otherwise? Anyway, he has the rest of the year and 3 more slams to bounce back. And a match against his (and my) idol Samras! Good luck!

New England Patriots
Being a New Englander (at least for 8 years) I should have been the happiest person since the advent of Tom Brady into the Pats team. But for some reason, I've always disliked them. I hated to see them winning time and time again. However, this past Superbowl saw them lose to the New York Giants. Not that I am a Giants fan or anything but I was extremely happy. The best part was gloating later to all my 'Pats fan' friends. Spite is a good thing!