Friday, February 25, 2005

What was that song?

Have you ever seen an ad and wanted to find out what song they had playing? Usually these ads are forgettable except for the music featured. Well, I realized that I've never mentioned my source for finding out this info.

Now, the homie Anish seems to know a hell of a lot of songs, especially hip hop, but most of these ads have songs pulled outta nowhere and its tough to know the song just off of memory. So what's the source?

It's a website called AdTunes. The people who run the site put pretty full descriptions and information a few times a month, but they've also a very active forum where you can simply ask others about the song or search through previous posts. If you know the brand being advertised and what was featured in the ad, you can usually find an answer in a few minutes. Most people also provide links into the iTunes sample of the song so it's easy to double-check. In fact, you can find info about songs featured in ads, tv shows, movies, the whole nine yards. Pretty cool.

Oh, and since I know you're wondering: That iTunes Shuffle song? It's by The Caesars and it's called "Jerk It Out". And those Vonage commercials with the silly song (which, by the way was also featured on Chevy Cobalt ads for a minute)? It's by the 5,6,7,8's and it's called "Woo Hoo"

No go watch some more TV and (il)legally download the songs from all the ads you love.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

More Aishwarya in America

The viral emails didn't go around about this appearance...prolly because it was on TV too early for most of us. Besides, I prefer to watch the informercial better known as The Today Show. But CBS is pimpin Ms. Rai to the fullest. (Or would Aishwarya's agent be the pimp and CBS the john? Where's Snoop Dogg when you need him? Wish I had a sidekick to ask him...)

In any case...since I know you all want to follow the annoying laugh wherever it goes...

The Early Show's Harry Smith interviews Aishwarya Rai. (via DesiBlog)

At this point, I think it's time I start asking non-desis if they've even heard of Aishwarya. Honestly, I think only Indians care that she's on TV. There may be some media types that are tracking her, but the average movie-goer? Doubt it.

But you know what the ultimate coup would be? If Aishwarya's agent got her a spot at the Oscars to present some award. People may not pay much attention to Letterman, Nightline, or The Early Show...but the Oscars? That's straight P-I-M-P!

I'll report back soon about my findings about the non-desi awareness of our favorite star.

**UPDATE**
So I asked two female colleagues about Ash. All I mentioned was that there is this Indian film star who's in a Hollywood film and they knew who I was talking about! They didn't know her name, but one knew that she had won some pageant (she thought it was Miss Universe, not Miss World) and had seen an ad for Bride and Prejudice and would like see the movie because "It looks like a cute movie. A chick flick". The other had seen her on 60 Minutes and watched the whole interview; she also knew about the movie but didn't plan to watch it.

So whaddya know? I guess some non-desis actually know about her. Not that they care, but they know. That's half the battle for Aishwarya's pimps, ain't it?

Blogosphere or Blingosphere?

It's the same thing Nucka!

While this comparison of rappers and bloggers has a lot of jest in it, it's pretty interesting how there are similarities in this. Have a read: Rappers and Bloggers: Separated at birth!


You gotta admit, the desire for someone to become a rapper is very similar to the desire for someone to become a blogger. You want to be heard! You want to tell your story! And you don't want The Man telling you what should be heard and what isn't important. It's important if you think it's important. And you can tell people what's important with a Mic or a keyboard.

Anyways, Josh Levin's piece is certainly tongue-in-cheek, but think about it. Maybe you have more in common with Jay-Z than you thought ;)

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Religion, Sprituality, and Community

I found this article about a teen survey called the National Study of Youth and Religion and it got me thinking again about religion's place in the world today and more specifically, amongst desi youth.

So here's the link to the MSNBC report about the National Study of Youth and Religion

Overall, this study (like many studies out there) doesn't surprise me. It simply quantifies what I felt was anecdotally true anyways. What I believe beyond this is that the conclusions drawn about teens and their connection to their religions holds true for their parents as well - that religious belief and faith may be strong, but it's pretty vague and doesn't really mean much in everyday life. It's the communities surrounding the religions that really matter in everyday life.

Before I go on, let me just ask you up front. I want to hear your thoughts on this. It's not something I talk to friends about on a daily basis, but it's something that I hold pretty strong opinions on. Maybe that's why I don't talk about it...I don't want to get into disagreements :)

Anyways, I think this is even more true for desi youth. I haven't done any survey or study to tell me this, I'm basing this on generalities. It's based on the people I know and have known since high school. For the most part, I think most desi youth are nominally religious. There are variations in this. For example, I've known Swaminarayan, and Jain peeps who are much more involved with their temples than other "generic Hindu" peeps. By "generic Hindu" I'm referring to the various sects out there that pray to all forms of Hindu Gods including, but not limited to, Krishna, Shiva, Ganesh, Mataji, etc, etc. FWIW, I'm a "generic Hindu" :) (so you can fully expect that I'm about to denigrate my generic peoples)

So here's my breakdown:
The "generic Hindu" peeps go to temple only because their parents want them to. They're not necessarily forced to go, but they go to please their parents. Plus, it's a congregation point to meet some of their friends. Some may get very involved, but that's the exception rather than the norm. And the involvement tends to be more for reasons of community rather than religion. What I mean is that they get really involved not because they want to enhance their spirituality and get closer to God, but because they see a need in the Hindu community or they see their place in the community. This involvement usually means active organization of events and ceremonies. (And if you're a "generic Hindu" you also know that it involves a lot of in-fighting over who controls temple activities and money)

The Swaminarayan peeps I've known are much more involved in their community. To be honest, I don't know too many Swaminarayans, but the one's that I've known have been quite involved with events at the temple and most importantly, with community service activities being lead by the temple. I haven't actually seen much spritual involvement, so in that sense, it's somewhat similar to the "generic Hindus". But there's a much greater sense of community involvement. I'd say the involvement is the norm rather than the exception.

I've known a few Jains in my life and, for the most part, I've seen a lot of religious, spiritual, and community involvement. By religious, I mean they're engaged with the rites of the religion. By spritual, I mean they're actively looking for the connection between themselves and what it means to be Jain. They're looking for the inner meaning in life via Jain teachings. The community portion is similar to that of Swaminarayans in that they're very engaged in activities with others, especially in relation to Jain Center activities. The norm here seems to be real engagement with their religion at both physical and spiritual levels.

The commonality here, however, is the community invovlement. There are varying levels of religious and spiritual connection, but it's really the community that seems to tie people to their temples. It's not belief in God. And reading into the MSNBC report, that seems to be the case with the Christian and Jewish youth who were surveyed. The kids surveyed have a vague tie to their God, but it's pretty shallow and conceptual. Like I mentioned before, this really doesn't surprise me.

My fundamental belief is that religion was created to tie a community together. I don't believe religion just appeared out of thin air to help people find God. The spiritual action of finding God and understanding ones place in the world seems to me to be a very personal thing. It's not something I do with others. Even if I'm in a room full of worshippers, my prayers are personal and the person next to me doesn't help me find God.

That being said, I think all religions (meaning the codified and ritualized activities) are about the community. People are born into communities and thereby inherit many of the things associated with that community. Religion is one of them. People may truly believe that their God is the right and only god, but c'mon, if they had been born into a different community, their beliefs about God would be totally different. And the reason they believe in that God is because it's a part of their community. I fully know that if my parents were white, Roman Catholics, I'd be a Roman Catholic too.

Let's put it another way: I do believe there's a God. God has been around long before Man existed. But the forms of God and religion that we imagine are created by Man. So in that sense, all of the things we consider divine are just Man's creations. I really don't think we could imagine what God looks like or what God had in store for us at the beginning of time (and no, I don't believe in Creationism). The rituals and codes we've created to connect ourselves with God are really there to tie us together at some level to our communities. It gives us something fundamental and a commonality that's with us our entire lives.

Okay, so I've rambled on way too long and I don't even think this post makes 75% sense. Rather than delete it, give me your thoughts. I may seem a religious sceptic, but that's only because I am. How sceptical are you??

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

BollyCat

Since so many of my readers (count 'em, 6!) watch Bollywood films, I thought this would be a good site to have at hand after watching a Bollywood film and thinking "Damn, wasn't that a Hollywood movie like 3 years ago??"

Well, now you can look it up or submit your own:
Bollycat.com (via Apul at Sepia Mutiny)

If you just want to jump into the list of plagarized movies, use this link: View All Victims

On another note, I must say they've done a good job at the layout on this site. Good graphics and incorporation of different navigational elements in angled layouts. (Have I told you I'm a geek, yet?)

UPDATE: This site seems to be really popular and is not always available. If you can't get to it, don't blame me!

Saturday, February 19, 2005

If you can't beat 'em, intimidate 'em

Political games are nothing new so I'm not trying to imply that we're now seeing something never seen on the face of this earth...

But c'mon, is there any way to see this except as an attempt to intimidate critics of Bush Admin and GOP policies.

LA Times article: Opponents of 'Clear Skies' Bill Examined

What really gets me about these types of actions is the utter lack of honesty in the debate. Whether it's Clear Skies, Iraq, and whatever, it seems like any legit criticism is first subject to beat down, investigation, and intimidation. If you don't agree, you damn well better be ready to have your entire life investigated because you obviously must have done something horrible in your past to ever believe in something different from the Admin or GOP. Once the beat down is accomplished, there's no reason to have a debate since the critics are either in jail, have been falsely accused of treason, or some other nonsense. The critics are forced to defend their character rather than allowed to state legitimate concerns or opposing viewpoints.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Tha Nazzarator

I'm sure you've already seen this, but here it is all g-ed up fo tha homies:

The Nazzarator



Tuesday, February 15, 2005

I'll meet you in Chasing Amy at 2:30

Huh?

Ya, that's the thought that crosses my mind sometimes when I look at the meetings I have at work. So let me take you a step back and explain.

The conference rooms at my company are all named rather creatively. Each building has a theme and since we have quite a few buildings, there are some rather interesting themes. The building that we just moved out of has conference rooms named after space related things, like space stations, shuttles, etc. Perfect for a space geek :)

We just moved into a new building and all of the conference rooms are named after college teams. I sit next to the Arizona Wildcats room. The building planners clearly took their time thinking this out since the 1st floor is named after Pac-10 teams, the 2nd floor is all ACC teams, and the 3rd floor is SEC teams.

So it's a bit odd telling people to meeting me in the Cal Golden Bears conf room, but let me tell you, there are really some odd themes in some of the building. The title of this post refers to the movie Chasing Amy, which is a fine film. But to name a conference room after it? Umm, that's pretty odd. It turns out that all of the conference rooms in that buidling are named after films. Psycho, Austin Powers, Risky Business, The Joy Luck Club. Man, I'm glad I don't work in that building.

And don't think these themes come out of the blue. The building we have in Irvine has rooms named after rides at Disneyland! Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn. I'd feel like I'm on vacation every day if I worked in that building.

The most boring naming scheme? We've got a building named after things you find at work: Cafeteria (no, it's not the actual cafeteria, just a conference room named after it), Finance, and Sales & Marketing.

The scheme that makes me the most nervous: Natural disasters. Can you believe we have rooms called Avalanche, Earthquake, Monsoon, and Tsunami?

The kicker? Every single one of these rooms has related items on the walls. The Cal Golden Bears conf room has an actual Cal pennant framed on the wall. The Apollo room has a framed photo of the Apollo space module which went to the moon.

My point? I can write extensively about the most random nonsense.

Monday, February 14, 2005

The Greats re-visited

The recent death of Arthur Miller gave me a chance to think back to the days when I voraciously read many of The Greats. During 11th and 12th grades in high school, I read so much, I don't think I'll ever come close to matching that sort of reading volume again in my life. While the reading was required for my English classes, I actually read them for personal gain, rather than for an assignment.

Arthur Miller was one of the authors we read. I enjoyed both Death of A Salesman and The Crucible, but not any more so than the other novels we were assigned. It's funny, I was just commenting to a friend that I don't think I could read Death of a Salesman again, even though I could probably relate to it better now than when I was in high school. In any case, the play was something which really left an impression on me. It was mostly one of dread. Not dread for what life had in store for me, but dread for what might happen. And with my mindset back then, just the fact that the novel left a lasting impression meant it was good.

But like I said though, Miller's plays left less of an impression on me than the other novels I read during those years. In fact, those years were more than the sum of their parts; the individual novels we read left impressions on me, but most importantly, my mind raced at the thought of reading. I couldn't read enough, it seemed, and looking back upon those years, I'm proud to have read so much and read it all with an eye to trying to understand myself and life better.

I sometimes wonder if I could ever get to a point again in my life where I could read so much "heavy" reading. I read the occassional Dan Brown nowadays, but that's just fluff to read before bedtime. I keep telling myself to re-read some of these Greats to see how they feel now that I'm a bit older, but for some reason, I just never get around to it.

I've done some "heavier" reading since high school, but the selections were not quite as broad, nor as great. Coming out of college, I read a lot of Indian authors thinking that I'd understand my desi-ness more. I don't think the reading really helped me in that sense, but I certainly gained some perspectives.

But back to the high school days...the breadth and greatness of the works is what I think left the most impression on me. There's a reason they're many times referrred to as The Greats...the writing really is superior to much of the stuff I've read otherwise. Just a sampling of what we read during those 2 years: A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, Beloved, Farewell To Arms, The Sound and the Fury, Of Mice and Men, Catch 22, Great Expectations...the list goes on. We read something like 12-15 novels each year and I could have read many more.

And you thought I was just a space geek :)


Saturday, February 12, 2005

Some good from the Tsunami??

Ok, so either I'm trying to be overly optimistic, or I'm just a science geek, but when I read this, the first thing I thought was "Wow, at least something beneficial came of the Tsunami"

Tsunami throws up India relics

Let me do a bit of explaining, first of all.

I'm a geek. A big science geek. While I may not always let on about my inherit geek-i-ness, there are quite a few times when I just can't help but let the geek out. That can be the only explanation for me even considering that an archaelogical discovery can even begin to be worthwhile given that so many have suffered.

But again, I'm a geek.

So anyways, I've read a lot about Mahabalipuram. Mainly because I took some interesting classes on South Asian history while in college. And discoveries like these just make me believe even more strongly, that nature somehow gives something back regardless of what it takes. In this case, it reveals more about the history of Indian peoples and so that makes it more cool in my eyes. It can in no way compare to the enormity of suffering, but it's certainly something which the optimistic part of me can look upon as something small which humanity gained at nature's hand.

Anyways, I won't go on about this sea-side site. I know way too much about it than is useful for any discussion. I'll just go back to my cave now.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

We raise by $600 million

Kudos to the US Government and Bush Admin for upping the total aid package for Tsunami relief and reconstruction to $950 million.

Most of the money will go to Indonesia & Sri Lanka since India & Thailand aren't accepting aid from other governments. In a good sign, some of the money will go to replenish funds originally intended for other needy nations. This will hopefully ensure that other countries aren't forgotten in their times of need.

Overall, it's probably time to start focusing on other countries which need aid. But it's still great to see that this aid aims to be pretty comprehensive.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Aishwarya in America

Man, wouldn't you know it...I wrote this long-ass piece about Aishwarya's recent appearance on Letterman, included some insights in Dave, his comedy, and all.....and I lost the post!

So anyways, here's the net-net:

1) Much better than the 60 Minutes interview
2) Still an annoying laugh
3) Aish didn't seem to get much of Dave's comic schtick, but still presented herself pretty well and as less of a flirty, coy star.
4) She should have gone on Leno to keep the self promotion simple and straight forward.

Here's a blow-by-blow account: Anna John's Diary

And since I'm sure you're tired of reading about her and listening to her laugh, you can just stare at her: Aishwarya Rai Forever

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

The Devolution of the Indian Man

Just to beat this topic to death...

Here's a piece from Nirali Magazine on The Devolution of the Indian Man.

I discovered the magazine via Sepia Mutiny (like a lot of things desi). It's an online magazine aimed at Desi Women, so give it a read. I haven't read too much, but my visual background thinks I really like the design & layout. My writer background thinks the writing is pretty decent and definitely much better than that chick with the blog.

Stick your gramophone up yer...

If you haven't noticed, the Grammy's are coming up next week. I couldn't care less about the awards since they're almost always out of touch and meaningless when it comes to the music that really mattered in the past year

The 2005 Grammys are more of the same. While there are some good nominations in there, it's pretty clear that the most deserving in specific categories will not have a chance to win. Heck, some of the best artists of the year haven't even been nominated!

Take Franz Ferdinand, for example. Here's a band which is the perfect thing for the Grammys to latch onto. Not only are they critcally acclaimed, they're very, very popular. But alas, they're only nominated in 3 categories, and those are pretty lame: Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Alternative Music Album, and Short Form Music Video.

Huh? The best rock band eligible for 2005 Grammys gets only that? How about Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year?

The Grammys have latched onto one good artist and that's Kanye West, but the sad fact is that he'll get blown out of the water by all the post-humous awards that Ray Charles gets.

This is the problem with awards shows, people who think they know music and the industry try to dictate what's good and not good. Sure, the opposite extreme of the People's Choice Awards is lame too, but seriously, when people who supposedly know music give nominations to Nelly, Maroon 5, and Los Lonely Boys over artists like Franz Ferdindnand and The Streets, there's really no reason to watch.

Except for the U2 act.

So I'll set my DVR to record the Grammys, but I'll be skipping through everything except the two or three acts which actually matter.

Oh, and another thing, the folks who run the Grammys clearly don't understand how to run their website either. I went over to grammy.com to double check on the nominations, I clicked several times on what I thought would give me a listing of 2005 nominations, but nothing works. One link opened up iTunes so I could buy the lame 2005 Grammy CD. One link took me to a description of their awards shows. Finally I gave up, went to google, and searched for the list. First link in the results? The 2005 Grammy nominees...on the Grammy website. Instead of putting 5 ads on their homepage, why can't they just put a nice big graphic which leads straight to the nominees??

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

De-Assifying and De-Fluffying

So I've gotten a few posts from friends regarding my previous post on Dating an Indian Man. So let's take this a step further. What are the major things which could be changed so that both sides could "just get along"?

First, let's deal with the problem on both side: Wanting everything.
Boys:
As my friend said, Indian guys can be asses at times. So de-assifying them surely includes getting rid of the need to have everything. As any desi chick will tell you, Indian guys want to play with girls and have as much fun as possible before getting married, but when it comes to marriage, they want a virginal beauty who can cook, clean, take care of the kids, and speak to his parents in their native tongue. Obviously this isn't true across the board, but it's prevalent enough that it's become a stereotype.

So what to do? Give the chicks a break. Guys, you can only expect as much or as little of girls as you're willing to give yourself. If you expect girls to be all goodie-goodie, then you damn well better be the same way. Besides, if you're a playa, why would you want a goodie-goodie after marriage? Wouldn't that make wedding life boring? So if you're a playa, just think of it this way, you get an interesting (and fun) marriage if you end up with a chick who's down wit it too. If you really can't stand the idea of being with a girl who's down wit it, then don't play around. Be a man and treat your woman like you'd expect to be treated. Going from assy to classy isn't that hard guys...

Ladies:
Admit it, you want everything too. You want to all the independence in the world to pursue your career, buy whatever you want, and generally live like you're in Sex and The City. You also want a guy who will treat you like a queen, pamper you, and generally worship the ground you walk on. Ain't nothing wrong with that. Afterall, your significant other should treat you like there's nobody better in the world. The problem arises when you want all this "fluffiness", but don't want to give anything back to the guy. You're just waiting for the guy to mess up. As soon as he does something slightly imperfect, you rip him up and bitch to your girlfriends about how desi guys are useless and will never learn.

So what to do? Give the guys a break. At least acknowledge what the guy gives you. C'mon, you're with him for a reason, afterall. Maybe the reason is just because your parents want you to end up with an Indian guy. Maybe the reason is because you actually love the guy. Regardless of the real reason, more than likely, the guy is actually trying to be a good boyfriend. Mistakes happen, but you can't expect things to change if you go straight to complaining about all Indian men. If you acknowledge, that guy does indeed give something to the relationship, he might actually listen to you and try to be better! If you're really sick of the guy, just leave him. Go find a non-desi guy if you truly believe there are no good Indian men out there. Just don't continue bitching about it.

Ok, this post can obviously go on forever. I'll post again if there's enough response. I've clearly got no more knowledge about this than any other desi, but hey, I've been married for a few years and, at the least, I can look back and laugh at those woeful days. Besides, I'm still an ass at least 49.06461947% of the time, and I can learn more by reading your comments and writing more. It's called carthasis :)

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Dating an Indian Man

Amongst desis, I'm sure this topic has come up more than once a month:
Your Guide to Dating An Indian (via Sepia Mutiny)

This girl (or woman) clearly has issues with Indian guys. It'll be interesting to see what else comes of this. She says she's writing a book (or two) on the matter so that may mean the blog doesn't get updated much. A couple of notes about the potential for the book:
  • Nothing new can be added to this topic other than what's been re-hashed a million times amongst desis. That doesn't mean it wouldn't sell, just that most people aren't gonna get anything new out it.

  • Of course, one could argue that Sex and the City provided nothing new, but the reality is that the show was so popular because of the way it was written and the way it did things, even if the topics had been re-hashed a million times. That said, this girl better find an editor because even my amateur ass can find lots of problems with the writing.


My thoughts on the topic of dating Indians? Obviously both sides exaggerate and focus in on specific things that aren't really that common. This type of debate can never be won by telling the exact truth. So in that sense, both sides are at fault. Since I've been married for 3 years it's easier to "look from afar" and laugh at this. Yes, Indian men, in general, are guilty of many of these things (some in higher doses than others). However, Indian women are equally guilty of blaming their male counterparts for all their relationship woes when many of them need to spend a lot more time looking inwards.

How's that for being nice about calling Indian men doofuses and Indian women overly demanding and mis-guided :)

Ok now...please please please leave me some comments. I feel neglected when you people read but don't leave your thoughts. This is a funny enough topic that we can start some controversy here!