Bejeweled blitz

I've been enjoying the free games in facebook. My favourite is bejeweled blitz. Though the game itself doesn't demand flexing your brain muscles, off late I'm almost addicted to this game. Have decided to slow down a little and play less.

Unnai Pol Oruvan

In the evening, my hubby managed to come home early. Out of the blue we decided to watch some movie before dinner. We checked the schedule in the nearest IMC and started at 8 to watch the 8.30 show of "Unnai pol oruvan". We wanted to go a little easy on it and thought will miss the movie if we dont make it on time, as the theatre was 20 mins drive from our place. My hubby's "Bio GPS" failed us a little, so we ended up searching the theatre for 10 mins. We barely made it on time to the theatre. My hubby worrying that we may not get the best seats, checked with the seller for the sold tickets. We were relieved though a little skeptical, when he said 13 are gone so far. Finally we got our best seats too. Movie was good. We liked the storyline (though a little far from reality) and the cast. A decent movie portraying the better side of the police force. Shruthi Hassan's score was not bad for a fresher. Worth the watch.

Was it Kal Penn?

On Friday night, we (I, Chintu and Jolly) were driving to muniyandi vilas for dinner. When we were on lawrence expressway, Chintu saw someone just like Kal Penn in a car in the adjacent lane. We all got curious and wanted to confirm if it was really him. We drove past the other car to get a glimpse. After catching a glimpse of that person, I too felt it was Kal Penn. Now Jolly got really excited and wanted to drive parallel. But he didn't really want to break his good driver record and do gimmicks on the road. We also weren't  ready to annoy the people in the next car by tailgating. So we drove in our lane like good kids, only hoping that Kal Penn would somehow pass our car to give a darshan. Alas, I think the other driver sensed us, he switched to our lane to one car behind. We lost the car in the next signal. All this drama would have lasted for 2 mins but we ensured that we carry the excitement back home and convey it with more dramatic effect to the guys waiting for the muniyandi vilas briyani at home.

Interesting coincedence

I wasn't getting sleep and so decided to watch this movie "America's sweethearts" for a while.  Initially I started watching it for Julia roberts then suddenly realised that the movie has been shot in the same hotel (Loews Lake Las Vegas) were I and my hubby stayed last month during our Vegas trip. The whole movie has been shot in the same hotel. We ended up watching the whole movie just for this :-)

Colour, colour, what colour?

I've always been captivated by the beautiful white bridal gowns. When I was 7 I even persuaded my dad to buy me a white gown with a veil and a white hair band with lot of decorative white roses on it. I guess they were worn by the girls for their baptism. I also used to wonder why white of all colours and used to think it had some reference to something from the bible or some religious custom. Well I have the answer now. This practice of wearing white dress started with none other than the empress with longest reign in history, Queen Victoria. She started this practice and it has continued to this date. Before Victoria's wedding a bride would wear her best dress of no particular colour.

In south India, yellow or red are considered auspicious though there are no restrictions to the colour or texture of the dress. Mostly the brides wear exuberant silk sarees. Sometimes its a simple cotton saree for the knot tying ceremony, since the wedding saree doubles as a cradle for the first born.

A spectacular sight!

Last friday I and Jolly sighted a shooting star in twilight. It was so bright and the trail was long that we had a doubt if it was indeed a shooting star or a crashing plane. Good heavens after checking the local news we were relieved that we sighted an astro rarity. This is the first time that I've sighted a shooting star after sunset/before dark. August is supposed to be a month for meteor showers. We were in Las Vegas on aug 11, 12 perfect days to watch Perseid meteor shower. The observatory in vegas closed around 8pm and the perfect time to the shower was midnight to early morning. I was concerned about the luminescence and wasn't sure if we could spot few or any shower at all. We even thought of driving down to a far of place or red rock canyon. Our enthusiasm died over midnight and we stayed back at the hotel. However we could spot at least four shooting stars in 20 mins of gazing from the lounge. Our weary eyes said enough and we went back to bed. Awaiting for the Orionids on Oct 21st. Hope I can spot more shower then.

Planet Earth

Sundays are becoming even more interesting with the planet earth serial from discovery. Truly a landmark tv serial in HD. I've started enjoying even the re-runs. One of the episodes was on "Birds of paradise" (Not to be confused with the plant of same name).Was surprised to know that they are very closely related to crows & jays. I was under the impression that they are named after their flamboyant plumage, but little did I know that a misconception of explorers is the reason for their name.  Wikipedia says:

This species was described from specimens brought back to Europe from trading expeditions. These specimens had been prepared by native traders by removing their wings and feet so that they could be used as decorations. This was not known to the explorers and led to the belief that the birds never landed but were kept permanently aloft by their plumes. This is the origin of both the name "birds of paradise" and the specific name apoda — without feet.

 They also seem to use the swayamvara (lek-type) technique for finding their mates. Interesting :-)

    

Frustrating shopping!

Shopping? frustrating? Sounds like an oxymoron isn't it? Especially for a shopaholic like me it wasn't a possible phrase till y'day. Online shopping with "indiatimes" has become irritating off late. Ten days after placing an order, I got a mail saying that my order has got canceled. There was no explanation as to why the order was canceled or why the status update happened after 10 days? The order was for my nephew and I just had to pity that kid who has been calling me every now and then, asking when he will get his gift. This is the second time that I'm having a bad  online shopping exp with "indiatimes". Though I had few good shipments from them, I'm skeptical about my future purchases with this online shop.

Go soda go!

Its been 6 months since the carpet in our home enjoyed a shampoo. When I was just planning to rent a rug master from Safeway this weekend, a tip from a TV program came as a remedy. Here it is: sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and leave it as is for 15 mins. Then vacuum the carpet. This is supposed to remove odours from the carpet. Good for a house with kids or pets. I plan to try it this weekend. Let me see how it comes out.

Begin blog

After contemplating for a while I too have decided to jump into blogging. What a way to vent out after everyday chores for a housewife? Now that I have time, I hope to scribble a line or two everyday.