Young Gun

I was watching Mad Max today evening.....

Ever watched the Aussie movie? The apocalyptic trilogy that catapulted Mel Gibson and Australian movies to international fame?

How different Mel Gibson looks. And acting? or I should say the lack of it?

The movie is set in future when anarchy sets in and a street war for gasoline is raging... Max is an interceptor of a what is left in a law enforcement agency. He loses his best pal and his family to a gang of bikers out on the road. And naturally he avenges the deaths brutally.

Watch the movie just to see a different Gibson. Gibson minus the desperate looks, numerous wrinkles and that ' I know all smile'. But there is absolutely nothing for him to perform. And the chases are also filmed superbly.

Legal Thrills

Last day I finished reading John Grisham's The Pelican Brief....

It is the first novel I read fully in digital format, as a Word file... and it is tiring... Your eyes feel exhausted and it is boring to read a novel in sitting position. May be I am reading one like that after years. But the novel is good.

This is my third novel by Grisham. First one was The Runaway Jury, which dealt with the dilemma of juries assigned to a tobacco litigation case. It was slow paced, but engrossing and had a superb climax... some thing that most popular novels lack... Many novels like Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, Ambler Warning and Sigma Protocol by Ludlum had a very lack lustre climax even though it progress in a very good way. Runaway Jury was good.

Next Grisham novel that I read was The Firm, that dealt with the dilemma of an advocate who gets trapped in a huge legal firm that serves bad guys. That was also a fine novel. But devoid of much details and information.

About Pelican Brief, it is a story about the murders of Supreme Court Judges in USA. Two high profile Judges are killed in same night by a pro who is suspected to be the most talented assassin in the world. White House puts the pressure on FBI and CIA to nab the culpirits. When they are making the list of suspects, a legal student researches and makes a brief about a leading pending case whoes outcome can be manipulated by the murders. The brief known as Pelican Brief when reaches White House puts President in real trouble as it can tarnish his image in the coming re-elections. Murder attempts are made on the student and her professer com lover is killed. A mob of killers are out on streets for the blood of any one who has seen the brief, and she has to expose the truth while saving herself from imminent death with the help of a news thirsty reporter who can go to any lengths for a scoop....

A friend indeed

I called one of my dearest friends yesterday...

After a long gap of 4 years...
Its my own fault... I dont care for keping up my contacts....
But the feeling when you contact some one after such a long time is awesome...
There will be a lot to say... long list of complaints, a lot of catching up.... nostalgia.. glimpses of all the time you spend together... its a great feeling altogether..

And what a time to call... next month he is getting married...
Got a sweet invitation....
A must attend wedding next month...

Anger Management

There is a dialogue in the Malayalam movie Adhipan told by a drunken Mohan Lal: " Wow, what a relief after calling some one a bastard."

I know it is true now because today I did it. The victim was HR executive of previous firm where I worked. I wanted to settle my old PF account, but due to a mistake from PF office, I recieved only a small amount as settlement. Thereafter it was a frantic running around for long 4 months now. I have to leave all my work and travel from Bangalore to Coimbatore and from there run around from PF office to HR dept of the company. A full day's work and a financial loss of around 1000 bucks.

Apart from that I calls PF office and HR office atleast once in 2 weeks. Each time a new guy attends the call and I have to explain him every thing from start. Ultimately last month I settled the things and was expecting the cash to come by this month at least. This week also nothing happened.... I called the HR officer today and he was asking me which PF amount I was talking about. Blood rushed into my head and I shouted to him what all came into my mind.....

After 10 minutes he called me back.... He started explaining to me and promised that he will personaly attend the case.

Moral of the story: "Only crying baby gets milk"

TT day...

Today I played Table tennis after a long gap....

The occasion was the sports day of the group of companies in which I am working.

The first time I played TT was when I was studying first year at NTTF... all my batchmates especially malayalees developed a sudden interest. We had TT board and some bats at hostel auditorium and we used to practice almost daily for some time....

After that I touched TT bat after a gap of 4 years when I was working at NTTF, for a very short while only....

Then its today again after a gap of 4 years... But a very disappointing experience. I was not able to do even a warm up before the match. Lack of practice clearly showed up... I was out in first match itself... first set 11-6, second 11-9. Luck was also too bad today.... there where guys who dont even know how to hold the bat, as I got last year's runner up as competitor.....

Later I played for some time after TT board was free... within just half an hour I was able to spin the ball and control its speed and pitching. And I can confidently say that if I get that guy again for a match I can finish him off... But gone is gone..... I will have to wait for another opportunity... may be next year...