Beating the Odds

'It's all about beating the odds, right?' famous words uttered by Detective Kate Beckett on Monday's episode of Castle. Of course there were more words to it than just those, I just don't want to give away anything with the stuff she said before those words. They just kinda stood out, in their own nice, stark, crisp, mulling way. The moment those words were uttered, my mind was flooded with a bunch of images, snapshots of times past...probably it was a subconscious mental sweep to reassure myself that we (as in the collective me) are not strangers to the odds per-se and that we have always been able to fight the odds, maybe not beat them all the time, but it's the essence of that fighting spirit that keeps us going...(in this case I guess the us and the we refer to not just the collective me but the rest of us collectively)

I guess it's important we all have our quotes, our magic motivational potions and our lucky dice, besides probably something stronger than an espresso and more potent than an Irish coffee. Beating the odds is definitely a lot more tiring and draining than we expect or anticipate it to be. I'd like to say I've mastered the art of beating the odds, but, that would be a lie. I'm no gambler, in fact I'm pretty hopeless at it, but I've gotten better at riding the wave that goes with beating the odds. Some days it's a crushing, brutal force that knocks the wind outta you and sucks the life outta you. It does more than make you give up you know? It eats it's way through you from the inside out and at times it just obliterates you and makes you question your very existence.

It isn't just love that's all about beating odds, it's a concept that is weaved in with the whole fabric of life, whether it's the hem or it's the actual shroud of life that's woven, it plays a role. Brings to mind a quote from the Hunger Game series, 'May the odds forever be in your favour'. There's just such power, weight and responsibility that lies behind those words, no not just the quote from HG, it's easier said than analyzed, understood and interpreted. However, like all things that possess great power, they all come with great responsibility (Oh yeah Spiderman would be proud :P), it would be absolutely stupid and ignorant to believe that all odds can be evened out. It would be wiser to assume that all odds exist to strengthen our choices as well as chances with every randomly occurring moment of probability. Be forewarned, probability wasn't really one of my favourite subjects to tackle or handle in school.

There is a certain addictive nature attributed to probability....well perhaps it's a gambling thing. I wonder if gamblers view their lives as a probability problem where they can approximate with a certain degree of accuracy, probably to the 2nd decimal point, the outcomes of the decisions they make. I wonder if they're the kind of people who can plan their moments 40 steps ahead of a non gambler...imagine, if such a thing existed and if it was scientifically proven that gamblers made for efficient decision makers and planners, then I'm pretty sure every kid would get an all access pass to be the best at poker and blackjack by the age of 6. Scary thought 'en it? I think my folks would be stunned if kids who came up to my knees were all *psht, you don't know how to play poker? What's wrong with you?* Or actually knowing them, they'd agree with the kids and I'd be the proverbial 'sore thumb', you gotta love family...they know when to jump the ship to nominate you as the entertainer/regular stand up comedian...even if it's the sleep inducing kind. Now c'mon you know you wanna have the power to induce sleep...I mean imagine knocking people out without physically clocking 'em, but with the power of words...it's almost like uttering a chant or incantation loaded with the power of nature and majick :D.

Yes I'm in Harry Potter withdrawal mode, oh well what the heck can I do about it, except go into a crazy "I shall read all 7 books within the next 2 days mode?" Ooh speaking of books, I'm close to being done with this highly fascinating book, a review will be up as soon as I'm done reading. Anyhow, this post has nothing to do with reviews, it's all about beating the odds.

We all definitely hate those times when the odds don't favour us, thing about those times is they aren't just a one time event, but there's a bunch of them that occur simultaneously and make us feel like we're ready to be sucked into the depths of our own blackholes, never to resurface, never to reappear. Those odds of ours, break us down quite a fair bit, I wouldn't go as far as to say that they mock us, they sting us, especially our souls and our egos, 'cuz you all know we have that crazy egotistical thing going on within us, like freaking bee stings and our reactions vary from anaphylactic shocks to the slightest shadow of hurt, pain and disappointment. None the less, it's not reason enough for us to shrug our shoulders and say no...possibility is the parental figure for the basis/existence/establishment of all hypotheses, as well as the key ingredient in the composition of the delectable nectar of knowledge, and the stepping stone a visionary needs to fulfill and make their visions a reality.

Do yourselves a favour, besides making lemonades galore and downing tequila shots with the lemons life hands you, go with the odds, 'cuz one way or another they're only preparing you to realize your full potential and unleash all that you've got. Remember they may make you think you're weak, but there's nothing more powerful nor stoic than facing your most crushing moments head on, nor looking your failures in the eye and overcoming them. Not a lotta people are lucky enough to do so, so don't you dare hesitate nor feel embarassed while relating or reliving your failures and fears, because nobody is perfect and everybody has a story to tell.And don't you dare gloat and boast nor let your victories get to your head, 'cuz pride always comes with a downfall. For all you know your story and your experiences may give some people the solace, advice, support and strength they never realized they needed, and there's nothing more gratifying nor satisfying than knowing you managed to change someone's life.

Well that's my random schpiel 'bout odds and probabilities, I just had to throw in my 2cents about it. Don't worry nothing cataclysmic nor catastrophic has occurred...take care people and I hope you have a great week ahead!

How To Save a Life

Hey people, welcome to another episode of verbal rantage, the perfect place you wanna be in when you have too much built up in your head and the only way to get it out is via the gift of words. Yes it's a non-refundable gift, them gift of words are....none the less, I hope the week has treated you all well. If anything, Happy Harry Potter Day!!! and for those of you alien to the concept of the boy wizard...well Happy Friday to you.

So let's get to the point shall we? Besides loving 'The Fray' 's music....Right, well I was watching the tube yesterday and while going through the guide to see what was on the regular programming list I came across something on the one channel that had NOTHING to do with, thankfully, home improvement, or fashion tips or whatever the hell goes on the tele during the day. Man I'm telling you these darn shows ruin morning tele watching goodness, instead I wind up watching Hannah Montanna and Wizards of Waverly Place and Disney goodness lol. So, I came across this program on the guide, running on one of the channels that said it was an insight into Leprosy. I got all excited 'cuz you know there's this huge stigma 'bout what leprosy is and it's not something commonly seen around the Northern quadrant, except maybe in some very select cases/situations. I couldn't resist the educational experience and tuned in to watch what I thought was a brief documentary or you know of those health show things that is all out to enrich the human learning experience. I switch out to it and I think I was met with quite a fair bit of disappointment....it was like one of those infomercials that was basically asking you to sponsor if not call up and join and donate money on a monthly basis to make sure people get the treatment. I have no beef with the whole collect money to make medical supplies more available to those who are not in a situation to do so. What I dislike majorly and severely is the need to have religious attachments/affiliations to said charitable causes. Seriously, what the hell does religion have to do with saving lives? Then the program went on to show personal life stories of victims of leprosy from Nepal and India (to name a few places, they wouldn't name the rest) and they tossed in shots of people representing pretty much all the age demographics. And the dude doing the whole infomercial thing was all,

"Please call now and please help make a difference. While were talking about X's life story many more people have been diagnosed with leprosy. Every minute 3 people are diagnosed with leprosy. Please call, send money for a good cause so we can stop this disease from ruining more lives."

This was followed by a 'True story' incident thing, where the guy goes on to explain oh next we'll show you a segment 'bout the life of X. Listen to her story and see how she was treated like if not worse than animals by everyone, especially those closest to her heart when the more devastating aspects of this disease ruined her life. This was followed by panning into pretty much filthy surroundings that one would expect a '3rd world' nation if not a developing nation to have. This only adds to the ignorance of the common man living oceans and continents away from said 'Developing nations.' So next thing you know people have the 'Oh this shit only happens in Slumdog Millionaire places, we're good and have nothing to worry about' mentality creep in. On a more personal note...I hated that movie, it was plain garbage, I've seen better Hindi movie adaptations of the concept them lads from the UK were trying to adapt and bring to the big screen. Anyway ranting about that movie is something for another post.

Going back to what I was saying...I think it's necessary that people get a general idea of what leprosy is and know the more debilitating effects of leprosy but stop treating it like something that happens only in some ass backwards place...because it can happen anywhere. I mean it's a freaking bacteria that kickstarts the process, and those bacterial buggers are more resilient than bleeding roaches, they have the possibility and flexibility to mutate and evolve into more hybrid forms...forms that may turn out to be resistant to any form of therapy that's out there in the market today. Honestly...quit playing the ignorance card...I understand the need to set up charitable organizations that enable if not help the needy/poor/destitute from gaining access to medical supplies, but stop tagging religion into something that it has nothing to do with.

Religion is not the poster child for one's humanity and one's compassion. If anything, it guides and highlights that through tales/myths and verses from passages of scripture...regardless of the book you follow. It is not religion that defines humanity but humanity that defines religion. It is because of what we think and feel, that, we interpret faith the way we wish to. Religion is a funny thing, it's malleable yet when asked questions about it we seem to have such concrete answers. Anyway...Humanity isn't all that dead and gone yet ya know? Just appealing to one's compassionate side makes a helluva difference...people should honestly believe in it and try it sometimes, instead of being ignorant ponces who don't use that brain in their heads to think before they act or speak and have that whole foot in mouth syndrome going.

All of that being said though...you gotta give credit where it's due as well. It's a good thing that there's people out there who cares enough 'bout their fellow citizens that they actually try and spread awareness 'bout diseases that most people are lucky enough not to encounter in their lives. I'm big on the awareness spreading and the campaigning that goes into awareness spreading, I'm just not big on the need for religion to do so. Religion gets in the way too often these days for pretty much anything and everything and most of the times it's in the news these days, it's all for the wrong reason. Whatever happened to the messages of peace and love? Are they just a myth? Or just something the hippies were hip and happy with back in the day?

Well that's a wrap for now...and so here's me peacing out...Until next time, hope all is well with you guys and have yourselves an awesome weekend.

Thoughts a Million

Well I actually do have quite a bit on my mind today, I mean it's all jumbled up in terms of me wanting to present the few ten thoughts outta the gazillion. Well here's what's gonna go down, lots of thoughts churned out as a result of watching a movie...well okay usually when I watch a movie there's about two things that happen

1. The brain has the thought processes going in Overdrive where a lotta things that I think of or rather have shelved away come to the forefront and take a life of their own. Don't get me wrong I actually enjoy movies that make me go through those thoughts archived in the upper chamber.
2. Movies that just bore the crap outta me...and well these also can be further categorized into those movies whose scripts were novel and worth appreciating but failed to hold onto it's initial narrative and then there's the other kind that just plain sucks.

So while we're on movies, my strong recommendation in the Hindi department for this current moment is My Name Is Khan...All said and done its a beautiful movie, besides the performances...the word outstanding is an under-statement...it was just beautiful, the cinematography was fantastic, a majority of the narrative was fantastic, the pace and the tone of the movie is pretty much consistent all the way through. Oh and here's some definite FYI, once you're done watching the movie make sure you check out the deleted scenes, just so you know its available on a facebook page lol, yes I had to google it to find it. A few of the snippets from the deleted scenes give the movie some more flavour and makes it a lil' more wholesome. The entire story and script idea while not necessarily novel in the age and times we live in, was unique in it's own way. The basic story line is conveyed or rather plainly stated in it's popular tagline/dialogue --> "My name is Khan and I'm not a terrorist." When you hear such a line you go hmmmm what's this all about? Is it going to be over the top dramatic-ness? Is it going to be Anti-American? Or is it gonna be one of those "Oh man woe is us" kinda movies. The first few things that grab your attention in that promo include things like hmmm okay the main protagonist has a disability of sorts, then as the promo progresses the background score seems to be keeping up with the scenes being aired in the promo, in addition to that you see who the main protagonists are, you're informed it's a love story that includes a journey to meet the President of USA, you also find the story based on the backdrop of 9/11 and that's when I guess one stops and wonders, wait what kinda love story could you possibly have with 9/11 as a backdrop? Oh wait, one where the main guy is a terrorist and falls in love with a civilian and is responsible for coordinating terrorist attacks or is in charge of a terrorist cell or wait turns himself in because he's fallen in love and wants to be the best person he can be? Oh wait...but that's already been done, do the titles New York and Kurbaan come to mind? Then there's the other possibility where the main protagonist is one of the victims of 9/11 who is directly affected and may have lost loved ones and so is fighting for justice and he also happens to have a disability..hmm..there's another possibility. AND THEN while the wheels in your head are spinning you're presented with the last scene of the promo which comes after all the building up of the background score and after the crescendo..."My name is Khan and I'm not a terrorist" and it ends there followed by an emphatic silence. My reaction to that was "DAMN! I need to watch this movie now!" Well I could be biased :P, considering I'm such a fan of the ultimate trifecta that's ever come to the forefront in Indian cinema, that's right folks...well to the newbies, they would be the trio of Karan Johar, Kajol and Shahrukh Khan. Now shoot me for being such a huge fan of all three of 'em. Karan Johar has grown leaps and bounds from when he started off, and it's funny to note after watching this movie I had a sudden urge to watch Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge just to see the transition of these three individuals. I mean besides going "Wow they were so young there." and stating the obvious, there's a certain maturity that's come along with the scripts and characterizations. K-Jo is now at the helm of a production company that has generated a wide variety of scripts ranging from Dostana to New York to Wake Up Sid and lets not forget his biggest blockbusters ranging from the evergreen Kucch Kucch Hota Hai to Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham to Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna - the movie where he started veering a lil' off the "Karan Johar candyfloss magnum opus flicks"...well at least script wise, costume and setting/set wise not really lol. Moving on to the actors, Kajol..I consider her to be one of the best in the movie bizz, one of my all time fav. movies of hers is Dushman...besides a brilliant soundtrack...her performance in that movie was spine chilling, volatile and bloody brilliant. There's just so much conviction and honesty that she puts into her role that for that moment you're enraptured and caught up in the movie you forget that it's only a fictional character, you actually believe that such a character exists which is really hard to find these days. And last but not the least there's SRK or Mr. Shahrukh Khan...I could write pages 'bout the reasons why I love this dude, but I'm gonna try and make this brief and short considering how this isn't a post 'bout him :P. Its not that he doesn't know how to act, each of his movies are different even though the characters he has played may seem to overlap each other there is an undertone of difference between those characters. Over the years I wouldn't say he has matured but every movie has nuances of him trying to break away from the standard set bars that a character can portray in said role in said story setting. Now while I do love watching his movies, my all time fav. SRK movies besides Kal Ho Naa Ho are; Swades and Chak De India...I guess now you can add MNIK to the list as well.

A'ite I'm gonna leave that at that or else it can get extremely tangential and the G-man knows where exactly that's gonna lead. Next on the agenda is this odd sense of not accomplishing anything thus far in life. I look around and I see friends of mine working, setting up RRSP's, accomplishing their dreams and getting close to presenting and projecting all those ideas their thought factories used to churn out during our younger years onto a much bigger platform....and it makes me proud to see how far they've come, but, at the same time it makes me take a step back and ask myself so what have you done lately? or, how far have you come kiddo? 'Cuz the last time I checked I feel like I'm in the exact same spot I've been for a while with the only difference being a change in my settings and a very marked physical difference in terms of growth in things around me. Heck even my rose bushes seem to have grown quite a bit. Anyway, I'm gonna sign off on this note just and re-address this topic some other time, for now I gotta go take care of a few things, today's a relatively big day as far as FIFA fever is concerned, so I just wanna go do some work before the play and fun starts :D. Take care peepz and I hope all is well with all of you!! Much love and best wishes, cheers!

Dum dee da dum....the song of the moment

Alright so this is one of those posts where the title of my current post shall be inspired by whatever eventually transpires in the next few sentences or paragraphs...I'm not quite sure how long or short this is gonna be. Man...lately the number of natural disasters has been on the up and up, earthquakes, after-math of the quakes, tornadoes and now volcanic ash? Someone really pissed Mother Nature off and now she's striking back...quite hard at that too. I had quite the metaphorical day actually, well its always interesting when your Saturday starts off on a metaphorical note. My day started off with me waking up to a dream involving fire trucks, smoke, electricity, water, buildings, bunch of rookie firefighters and here we all were on our first "mission" and we all had our portable kits. The sky was a bit on the grayish yellowish side, such skies always remind me of thunderstorms...seemed like a day of lightning and thunder. Then came the part where everybody rushed out with their portable kits...yeah it kinda seemed like something outta Batman's utility belt, only it wasn't a belt as much as a convenient zippy pouch. I rushed out too and in my excitement forgot to take my portable pouch and so everybody got a piece of the action and I watched in not so many words. Then the fire trucks were leaving, when I was running to grab my pouch, but it was one of those and there goes your bus/train moments. Then the eyes opened and the bridge of my nose felt like it was being clamped or something along those lines, gotta love them sinuses for making one feel so special, and then the day began...dun dun dunnnnnnn....

So a few hours into the day, the whole atmosphere and weather outside just went gloomy and it got darker and then CRACKLE BANG BANG there was Mother Nature's own light and sound show...there was this unusual silence that I normally associate with thunderstorms...its like everything just stops and takes a step back and marvels at this show both in awe and fear all at the same time. It really is strange how one can feel both a sense of awe as well as a sorta bone chillin' feeling of fear...oh trust me the fear gets me plenty when it comes down to lightning. Anytime and every time there's some natural light activity outside I keep thinking I'm gonna b struck by it. I just get paranoid when I'm caught in a lightning storm..I mean I literally stop doing everything I'm doing and prefer staying indoors until the storm passes. Good thing I don't live in Florida on a permanent basis, I prefer Florida in the winter, Florida winter is like fall back home and Fall happens to be one of my favourite seasons. My least fav season is definitely Summer. Anyway I do digress, so going on with the day, it started off gloomy et al. and n ow the sun is all out and it's bright and all that fun jazz. It made me think of life, I mean it was very metaphorical with the whole yeah sometimes life tends to get a lil' stormy and gloomy but it always clears up and makes way for one's life to be filled with brighter and sunnier moments. The only way from the bottom of the pit is up, you dig your heels in and make your way up that ruddy wretched hole.

OOHHH there is one more important thing to celebrate for the end of April and the beginning of May :D...CC is GONE!!! WOOHOOO!!! The rotten piece of humanity has now officially moved and it brings me much joy and peace knowing so. The place is really much more peaceful and there's a degree of comfort and ease...I mean it's in the atmosphere really, it just feels so much different and so much better...All I gotta say right now is 'Live Long and Prosper' oh that would be for us current tenants...as far as CC goes do whatever the hell you wanna do you psychotic thing you and stay the hell away from me.

On that note of joy and exultation I must go and enjoy this beautiful morning :D, happy weekend people and enjoy the rest of yer Sunday! Cheers fer now!

Oh and this time around I'm sure you can come up with your own soundtracks, 'cuz I got way too many playing in my head to put 'em all down here.

The Hourglass

Isn't that pretty much what makes us tick and tock and get involved in this race to beat the clock? The hourglass, I think every day of our existence seems to be ruled by time. Who ever imagined that the time-keeper would become the very pace of our ever beating, ever thrumming lives? Okay maybe somebody who had futuristic perspectives wudda thought so, but I wouldn't have, and if they did then dude they had way too much time on their hands.

Oh updates, PETA need not send in their troops to storm CC's lair, the bunny has been rescued by the owner, i.e. CC. That storm trooper stormed in today and rescued it, though I'm not quite sure if it was alive or not, maybe it was sleeping but I do hope the ickle bwunny is 'ite and not traumatized for life.

So lets see,today was a day of loss, of freedom, of reflection , of re-assurance and of laundry...what? Were you expecting me to spout more regular fare heavy duty activities? Well if you were then stop limiting yourself and my abilities :P...I can go a lil' light weight in the thoughts department, and besides we're homo sapiens, we're built to experience a wide spectrum of emotions and thoughts and what not...Since I am on a break my brain has had absolutely no motivation to pop open a book that's akademik in nature. Now I'm hoping that isn't gonna be the end of me, 'cuz sometimes looking, learning, absorbing stuff all the time does take a toll on the mind and I only have limited space/capacity in that upper chamber. Maybe the prototypes and models that came after my month/year of manufacture were further upgraded/enhanced with sharper upper chamber skills and more space and all that good stuff. But yeah, the brain has been craving to do something different that doesn't involve memorization of enzymes, body parts, regulatory functions, statistical inferences or the way sociology perceives the things we as a society do. I mean hey I respect all these disciplines of education, I do, but at the moment my mind is primed to read up on whirlwinds of adventure that get the adrenaline pumpin', the heart thumpin'...and no I'm not gonna take up bungee jumping nor do I have any intention of riding roller coasters, I like my speed boosters to gimme a linear speed boost, not corkscrews that make me wonder at which point it was that my gut and I parted ways. So yeah I am a chicken when it comes to stuff like this, and I don't care if you call me one either lol, I've grown up being called one for various reasons; reasons that we shan't get into at the moment or anytime soon :D.

Aah, I'm having these 'return-to-childhood' moments where I wanna go back to the days of watching Gummi Bears , Duck Tales , Chip n Dale and Rescue Rangers, and then before all of that the broda and I used to sit around and watch Transformers . In addition to that definitely throw in Pink Panther and Scooby Dooooo...and you got yerself a cocktail to refresh and uplift your senses...shaken n stirred! :D....Ooh and top that off with a nice dose of my all time fav. TV Show --> Life and booyakasha you got yourself the best mix in the house! :D....Sucks that NBC cancelled the show, idiots they really don't recognize a gem when they see one. Nah I won't go NBC bashing, that's too much of a heavy title to go bash up and besides I don't know much 'bout their economics, promotions, plans and strategies to go all against 'em...instead I do have other things But yeah now that show had some quality writing, especially the first season, and lets not forget the pace of Season 1...it was one action packed adventure that you wanted more and more of....and AND it had an amazing and brilliant soundtrack too, and a brilliant if not excellent star cast. Yes I do realize there are lots of 'ands' in the sentences above and if an English teacher is going through this they'd probably give me an F, for the incorrect use of language, grammar, and, my ridonculous run-on sentences.

Now I do have a shout out for a buddy of mine, Sunny B, good work on getting all your projects done and done and being so close to achieving the MBA crown, here's wishing you much success in the times ahead :), I know you're gonna kick some major arse. It is heartening to see people achieve goals they set out for themselves, and I only hope and pray that I attain or rather have the ability, strength and grit to make it through and get what it is I'm trying to attain. I also hope all you guys out there also stick to the plans and dreams you see, its never too bad to have dreams, they are the very things that spur you forward...the ever brilliant sparks that ignite the flames of inspiration and passion. So regardless of where life takes ya, NEVER stop dreaming...they are what keep us going and they are what makes the darkness melt away and fade away to shades of gray that are further obliterated by bursting rays of light. And who doesn't love to see the darkness fade away? I sure as hell know I love seeing a dark spell come to an end, it re-affirms my optimism and hope.

A'ite so I know I'm getting carried away with all these metaphors and all that jazz, but hey there are some days where even I can't stop myself from having an overspurtation of verbal moments. A'ite guys, I think I'm gonna reel in the flow of words, and give your eyes and head a bit of break, dun' exactly want a disaster on my hands. Unfortunately I think the verbage is a result of the crazy sleep I got, I kept waking up every hour and finally managed to sleep 3 hours straight...so the end result of wonky sleep = wonky me :D...dangerous equation at times...its like me on Monster and a bag of M&M's...and trust me I have tried that...lets just say or rather imagine a nice bouncy rubber ball being tossed at a wall and bouncing off all over the place, I had my reasons for doing that though. I had 2 exams back to back and I had to make it through the night. It was an amusing sight, I'm certain of that, and then I crashed that evening and I somehow did manage to drive myself home and CRASH!!! Crashing was the best part, I don't remember much from those exams though, which I reckon is a good thing at the moment :p. A'ite guys, I'll catch up with ya'll later, I hope everything is going well for you guys and if they aren't, just hang in there they will get b8r, things go down before they shoot up all the way to the top. Your silver lining is waitin' fer ya, don't forget that :) and it'll be yours soon. Take care and g'luck with everything! Cheers!

Songs of the Day:

Song: Everybody Loves Me
Artist/Band: OneRepublic
Album: Waking Up
Release Date: Circa, 2009

Song: Aahun Aahun
OST: Love Aaj Kal
Release Date: Circa, 2009

Song: Innocent
Artist/Band: Our Lady Peace
Album: Gravity
Release Date: Circa, 2002

Song: Feel
Artist/Band: Robbie Williams
Album: Escapology
Release Date: Circa, 2002

Ps: Another HTML messed up post, great half italicized and half un-italicized schnazz, anyone got a solution for this? It doth annoyeth me much.