अर्ज किया है.....
ना शाखाने पनाह दी, ना हवाओने बक्षा
पत्ता आवारा ना बनता तो क्या करता
(Forwarded)
ना शाखाने पनाह दी, ना हवाओने बक्षा
पत्ता आवारा ना बनता तो क्या करता
(Forwarded)
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Books for a rainy day.....
Mother Where Is My Country - Anubha Bhosale
Million Dollar Women - Julia Pimsleur
Your First Leadership Job - Tacy M. Byham and Richard S. Wellins
Mind Hacking - How To Change Your Mind For Good in 21 Days - John Hargrave
The Power Of Habit:Why We Do What We Do in Life And Business - Charles Duhigg
Willpower: Rediscovering The Greatest Human Strength - John Tierney & Roy Baumeister
59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot - Richard Wiseman
Million Dollar Women - Julia Pimsleur
Your First Leadership Job - Tacy M. Byham and Richard S. Wellins
Mind Hacking - How To Change Your Mind For Good in 21 Days - John Hargrave
The Power Of Habit:Why We Do What We Do in Life And Business - Charles Duhigg
Willpower: Rediscovering The Greatest Human Strength - John Tierney & Roy Baumeister
59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot - Richard Wiseman
The Story Of God With Morgan Freeman (National Geographic, Fridays 10-11pm)
Watching any program being aired by this channel is a good investment of time. And if it is about God, there was no way on God's earth that I wasn't going to watch it :-)
The first episode was about the afterlife. They covered a lot of facets - the resurrection of Christ, the Day of the Dead in the Mexico City, the words carved on the walls of an old Egyptian temple, the Hindu belief that if you are cremated in Varanasi you get liberated from the cycle of life and death, the Buddhist angle on life and death. Just watching some of these places on TV gave me goosebumps. I wonder what it will be to actually visit them. My 'places to go before I die' list is growing by the day :-)
The second episode on Apocalypse was equally fascinating. They explained the origin of the Beast's number 666 and also why it is sometimes 616. I didn't know that both these things refer to the Roman emperor Nero. The Hindu concept of the circular nature of time and the cycle of births was covered. I wonder, though, why they missed out on the concept of Kali who is supposed to bring about the end of the world this time. The concept of Apocalypse was also covered from the angle of the terrorists organizations like ISIS who believe that they are waging a holy war. And lastly the idea from Buddhism that the end of the world is actually nothing different than your own enlightenment.
I am already looking forward to the next installment of the series - it's on Creation. :-)
P. S. I laughed out aloud when the monk asked Freeman to meditate by just concentrating on his breath and he said 'yeah, I can do that'. I am just taking my first baby steps into meditation (and hoping that I will stay on the path!) and find that it is one of the hardest things to do. If Mr. Freeman is able to do it effortlessly, hats off to him!
The first episode was about the afterlife. They covered a lot of facets - the resurrection of Christ, the Day of the Dead in the Mexico City, the words carved on the walls of an old Egyptian temple, the Hindu belief that if you are cremated in Varanasi you get liberated from the cycle of life and death, the Buddhist angle on life and death. Just watching some of these places on TV gave me goosebumps. I wonder what it will be to actually visit them. My 'places to go before I die' list is growing by the day :-)
The second episode on Apocalypse was equally fascinating. They explained the origin of the Beast's number 666 and also why it is sometimes 616. I didn't know that both these things refer to the Roman emperor Nero. The Hindu concept of the circular nature of time and the cycle of births was covered. I wonder, though, why they missed out on the concept of Kali who is supposed to bring about the end of the world this time. The concept of Apocalypse was also covered from the angle of the terrorists organizations like ISIS who believe that they are waging a holy war. And lastly the idea from Buddhism that the end of the world is actually nothing different than your own enlightenment.
I am already looking forward to the next installment of the series - it's on Creation. :-)
P. S. I laughed out aloud when the monk asked Freeman to meditate by just concentrating on his breath and he said 'yeah, I can do that'. I am just taking my first baby steps into meditation (and hoping that I will stay on the path!) and find that it is one of the hardest things to do. If Mr. Freeman is able to do it effortlessly, hats off to him!
The other day I was reading Jim Rutenberg's article about Panama papers when I came across an expression - if that isn't the raisin at the end of the sausage. It was evident from the rest of the article that it was an Icelandic expression. When I searched on the net, I came across a few more of such expressions. Take a look - http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2015/03/15-peculiar-icelandic-phrases/
X-Files - Event Series
I have been a die-hard fan of the X-Files though I must confess that I liked the case episodes better than agent Mulder's relentless search for the extra-terrestrials. In fact, when a couple of years back they aired all the seasons back-to-back I almost skipped watching the last season because it almost exclusively dealt with aliens. So when I read that a six episode show was being made I was curious and skeptical. Since the show ended there have been so many Hollywood movies about extra-terrestrials that we have probably seen all that is to be seen in this genre - so much so that the only thing that can cause any excitement in this area is the landing of an actual UFO in a public place somewhere in the world. So I wasn't too enthusiastic about the rehashing of the old tale. What more have they got to show now? But the curious side of me was yearning for more unusal cases that have absolutely nothing to do with aliens. A 6-episode series won't be enough to cover that.
Alas! The first episode was a major disappointment. They are starting where they left off all those years ago as far as the plot goes. Sure, Scully and Mulder have moved on with their lives. But now they are being dragged back into this whole alien abduction and creation of hybrid lifeforms drama. A few references to the recent events like 9/11 and Snowden episode have been added to try to make it relevant. But in my humble opinion, there isn't much left here to show and tell. Even the 180 degree twist in the plot - that it's not the aliens but the government that is doing all these experiments - sounds rather stale.
I have been through 2 episodes and ended up feeling sorry for Agent Mulder. I guess they should have left him alone.
P.S. BTW, there are other last names besides Gupta as far as the Indians go, you know. And someone please tell Agent Dana Scully that the word Gupta isn't Marathi but Sanskrit in its origin. Wonder how Donald Trump will pronounce it :-)
Alas! The first episode was a major disappointment. They are starting where they left off all those years ago as far as the plot goes. Sure, Scully and Mulder have moved on with their lives. But now they are being dragged back into this whole alien abduction and creation of hybrid lifeforms drama. A few references to the recent events like 9/11 and Snowden episode have been added to try to make it relevant. But in my humble opinion, there isn't much left here to show and tell. Even the 180 degree twist in the plot - that it's not the aliens but the government that is doing all these experiments - sounds rather stale.
I have been through 2 episodes and ended up feeling sorry for Agent Mulder. I guess they should have left him alone.
P.S. BTW, there are other last names besides Gupta as far as the Indians go, you know. And someone please tell Agent Dana Scully that the word Gupta isn't Marathi but Sanskrit in its origin. Wonder how Donald Trump will pronounce it :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
