Schindler’s List

“Whoever Saves One Life, Saves The World Entire”

When I started playing this movie on my DVD player people said that it is a disturbing, depressing and upsetting movie. I somehow watched the movie completely over a span of one week. I reckon they did not watch the movie till the end. I agree that there were certain scenes that were downright upsetting. But, they justified the ending.


Schindler’s List is about the roster prepared by a bodacious business man, Oskar Schindler. He saves the lives of 1100 Jews during the Holocaust. I am not going to give up anything more about the ral story. Read Wikipedia entry for spoilers. Watch the movie till the end. The ghastly disturbing scenes are worth and are justified at the end. I highly recommend watching Schindler’s List.

It is not a surprising fact that this movie is currently rated 7th in the IMDB rankings.

Free access week from NY Times

What would you do if you are given free access best quality news articles? Download them and read it later.

This week, from Nov 6 to Nov 12, NY times is offering free access to selected articles. Check out the archives for more. It is available in PDF file format.

I guess this is an opportunity to read some of the best writings in fourth estate. Some of articles that I find interesting, in chronological order, are:

1. An Interview With Thomas A. Edison, Oct. 11, 1908
2. Sinking of the Titanic, April 16, 1912
3. Stock Market Crashes, Oct. 24, 1929
4. Review: Charlie Chaplin in City Lights, Feb. 7, 1931
5. Review: The I Love Lucy Show, March 31, 1954
6. Sneakers Cause Dismay, October 26, 1962
7. Moon Landing, July 21, 1969

Rainbow

Here is a rock with holes in it.

Fall Colors

Fallen Leaves

Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils. — Cyril Connolly

Mail

I received this package in mail. See the note: "Open Immediately".



I opened the package to find some catalog. So, it directly went to the dumpster (not trash).

Halloween

Never upset the kids during Halloween Trick or Treat.

Yesterday was Halloween. Even though I did not participate in the Halloween costume party/contest, I like to be involved in the festivity. The trick-or-treaters started pouring in at around 6:00 pm. Soon, I was out of candies. Out of fear that I might disappoint the tots, I rushed to Smiths and got the candies. Not a single person stopped after that.

Phatic Communions

How often do you use them?

It is common to see people starting a conversation with unfamiliar people in a small school campus, an office building, a small town, a party etc. I jotted down some of the most common spoken greetings that can take place among strangers. I intend to update this post as and when I remember more of those.

How are you?
How you doing?, How do you do?
What’s up?, ssupp??
How is it going?
What's happening?
Have a nice day.
You too!
Yo!

The following phrases were contributed by yugan:

Hey!!
Hi!!
Morning!!
Good Morning!

One thing is for sure; these communions leave a healthy and positive aftereffect.

Plagiarism

The more popular phrase among academia, “publish or perish,” is undergoing so many makeovers. Publish or Plagiarize, else Perish is one such expression. The article is a very interesting read. But, I am alarmed to see that plagiarism is widespread practice among Indians. I sympathize with the author’s personal experience in dealing with such inquiries.

I am impressed with the following quote from Nonoscience’s.

Publishing in peer reviewed research journals is to be seen a ‘personal academic duty’ of an academician, as a contribution to the growth of scientific knowledge rather as a means for (any) professional gains.

Spending enormous amount of time and earnest effort in the seeking of the ‘primary recognition’ naturally yields the ‘secondary recognition’ as a bonus. This is the only way one can become a successful researcher with conscience.

Apple Store

I have been yearning for this news.

As an avid user of many Apple products, I am glad to see an Apple Store opening up in Albuquerque. I am curious to see it open in the new ABQ Uptown mall.

Bookshelf

Whenever I am in need of a book, paper, or invoice, I forage into all shelves and closets both at my home and workplace. Today, I tried to organize all the documents and books in my house. I excavated all the memorabilia and looked at my book collection. I had all kinds of books: technical, children's, fiction, thriller, hornbook, documentary, etc.

All children's books are about ideals. Adult fiction sets out to portray and then explain the world as it really is; books for children present it as it should be.
– Humphrey Carpenter

Currently, I am reading “The Innocent Man” by John Grisham. The book is based on real-life incidents. It even has the pictures of the characters described. That proved the verity of the quote above.

"There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Is the quoted phrase really true?
Let me explain my situation. I have many email accounts. Some services are free and some are paid. Since I pay for the school email account, I use it as my primary means of communication for all official purposes. Strangely, I am facing more service downtime from the school email account than my free email services. This means that I am available for all personal purposes than official purposes. It has been happening for over more than a week. So much for paid service!

I guess I am going to rely on the free email service and use it primarily. I find that free lunch is filling my appetite than paid lunch.

Don vs. Jann-e-Mann

These two Hindi movies are the subject of comparison as they were released at the same time for Diwali. I heard that they are going to play these movies in Albuquerque. I look forward to watching them and provide first-hand reviews.

Freedom

People do not deserve freedom unless they are wise enough to make good use of it. There are many instances where people don’t qualify. I am listing some of the instances below:
------------------------------------------------------------
Irresponsible students misuse the liberty given by teachers.
Negligent employees abuse the independence and trust of their employers.
Shameful criminals overuse the coddling of courts.
Disobedient children break the confidence of their parents.
And the list goes on.
------------------------------------------------------------
You might say that I am making a bold statement based on my experience and observations. You would be wrong. So, is freedom unwarranted? Not according to Constantine Karamanlis.

Let us hope that everyone on this earth will enjoy the blessing of freedom, and that when they attain it they will make prudent use of it.
— Constantine Karamanlis

Share your happiness

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
— Buddha

Stalin

Date: October 22nd
Time: Evening show (6:15 pm)
Venue: At SUB THEATER (Student Union Building, University of New Mexico, 87106)

National Boss Day

National Boss Day “offers employees an opportunity to recognize their supervisors.” Wal-Mart sold out of all Boss Day greetings cards. Smiths had a very limited number. We wished, thanks to the efforts of our secretary Monica, Peter Anselmo with a cake and card. ;)

Little Hail

The probability of hail for Socorro seems to be more in the month October. In 2004, the great hail storm took place on October 5th. Today there was little hail, and it was good and did not cause much damage.

Alternate ways to send SMS

One could either use SMTP, SNPP or WCTP for sending SMS to mobile phones.

Superstitions galore

When I woke in the morning I realized that it is Friday the 13th and is supposed to be a day that brings bad luck. I am no praskavedekatriaphobic (fear of Friday the 13th), but I would like to make an account of the things happening today.

So far today, I gave a ride to one of my friend to contest a traffic violation ticket in the courthouse. (Will update this section if I encounter anything idiosyncrasies for today)
Update at 12:50pm
The friend had to pay the price of the ticket.
I just heard that a guy wrecked his Porshe Boxster.
And the day is still young. :(

On another note, I have observed that I happen to look at my wristwatch mostly at the following times:
1:11
2:22
3:33
4:44
5:55
11:11
12:12
10:10

I did not peek at my watch deliberately. It is completely unintentional. I think a “superior power” is trying to tell me something. :p
As always, I looked up to Google for an answer to my puzzle.Spiritual Guardians reports that I am not the only person who is getting that message. Well, good to know that I have some company. ;)

I am not superstitious, am I?