tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89246212012-01-30T09:34:23.619+08:00Grouches, rants, ramblings and pure unashamed nonsense writings.Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.comBlogger1321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-83151915441491161862012-01-27T17:31:00.000+08:002012-01-27T18:12:29.534+08:00

This is Mr Lame Duck. Say hi to Lame, kids. Though there are loads of work to do, it’s an hour and fifteen minutes to the beginning of a weekend. Plus, my blog post lately has mostly been on Tamil films. Shouldn’t it be about some crazy wolf, some news shit, you know things that contribute to the society besides low-fat yoghurt. So I thought I comment on the world event today as per

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-57175846241194605262012-01-23T11:56:00.005+08:002012-01-23T11:59:32.275+08:00

In a crucial scene from director Linggusamy’s Vettai, actor Madhavan gets off his wheelchair, stood up with a broken leg and even climbs over a very tall fence to save his brother. It was a very stupid scene. A scene that I would have laughed at, smacked my forehead and blame my nausea for and probably even provoked me to leave the cinema – but Madhavan made me bite my nails. A

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-39969919084589902302011-12-15T16:43:00.003+08:002011-12-15T16:43:39.417+08:00

The Strange Orange Cat. One day a strange Orange cat came to the Catville. The other cats walked over to him and said, “boy, that’s strange”. The strange Orange cat didn’t understand that. “Dear brethren, what art thou meaneth by being strangeth?” he asked. “Well for a start, you talk strange. I mean, who speaks like that anymore,” said one of the cat, the older one. He had a Hitler

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-81244221993804058932011-12-09T16:19:00.001+08:002011-12-09T16:31:31.481+08:00

Note: Wrote this for the bosses to evaluate the writing style for the new property guide book we are working on. Its supposed to be light-hearted with a dash of humour. No comments so far. Early days there was no such thing as home. Home or property were unheard of during men evolved into homo sapiens, real estate back then was just a dude pointing to a plantation saying, “Look, a real

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-14386134083762776362011-11-14T14:49:00.001+08:002011-11-14T15:02:53.046+08:00

The title refers to “thousand reincarnation”. It’s a line by the films supposed protagonist, future nAttamai, Vijaya Kumar, to his lover, saying that it doesn’t matter how many reincarnation they take, he will continue to love her. I’d say, this, provided they are born again in the same specie. What if Vijaya Kumar was born again as a platypus and the girl a Mongolian giraffe? Not a nice

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-90335591483942356642011-10-31T10:21:00.000+08:002011-10-31T10:21:11.640+08:00

There are movies that move you. That’s why perhaps they are called movies, short for “moving pictures”. There are also movies that make you think. Often way after you have watched it. And then there are movies like that uncle of yours who keep visiting you, taunting you for being so stupid and a loser, when he himself makes a living by cutting grass and has similar intelligence of the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-42854235060135076652011-10-21T10:31:00.000+08:002011-10-21T10:31:17.197+08:00

Kamal, not looking at his fans. Back in the 80s, a regional Indian movie magazine, imaginatively titled, Indian Movie News, featured an interview with actor Kamal Haasan. The headline, “Kamal: I want to be a director”, and the pix have the dashing handsome actor peering painfully through a view finder. No prizes for guessing what image they would have included if the headline screamed “

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-70114909961400194372011-10-17T16:08:00.000+08:002011-10-17T16:16:13.204+08:00

The movie wastes no time in introducing the hero of this film, played by Rajini (going to be a regular in RetroReview, I guess). It’s motorbike racing. Assembled are bikes that looked like they came straight from All-In-All-Azhaguraja (AIAA) workshop. Rajini arrives in one wearing what looks like a swimming cap. Or was it his helmet. Then the race begins. The announcer narrates the entire

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-61447788867455925612011-09-23T11:12:00.004+08:002011-09-23T11:24:41.825+08:00

If there is one constant mistake celluloid god is doing is to provide Rajini with endless stream of soon to be dead sisters. Well, three* to be exact, as far as I know. Bhairavi should be Rajini’s first dead on-screen sister (the fact that an actress who played his sister in another film died off-screen should add to the eerie factor). Sometimes revisiting these old films, you discover a

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-53349137766097035282011-09-12T14:24:00.005+08:002011-09-12T14:43:19.778+08:00

Note: RetroReview will look at fun old films from totally contemporary sense. No disrespect to the filmmakers, just a mix of respect and tease. Rajini has made a total of five films the great actor Sivaji Ganesan. The most recent, Padaiyappa is a bore, with Sivaji playing Rajini’s father and quickly shuffling off under the guise of onscreen death, though I have a feeling that he’d rather not be

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-39141441100999845132011-09-05T09:51:00.002+08:002011-09-05T10:16:12.282+08:00

In a defining moment before the interval of Venkat Prabhu directed Mankatha, Ajith glowers at us audience and does something that would make Spielberg proud during his Jaws days. I jumped in my seat, never thinking that this actor that I once dismissed as pretty boy would move me, literally. It has been a long journey for him appearing as, yes, a pretty boy with buggy eyes in Amaravathi, which

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-69486691549765202172011-08-24T13:08:00.002+08:002011-08-24T13:17:28.662+08:00

For the second issue of The Analyst. Not sure how the edited version looks like, so this original draft would do.Lately the media has been buzzing on how the western brands especially the luxury items have been invading the Asian market and how it has been embraced. It’s true in most cases, but not altogether the reality in India. One such report quoted McKinsey and Co noting that spending on

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-24035075614727664562011-08-11T09:58:00.002+08:002011-08-11T10:07:11.784+08:00

A piece I wrote for a brand new financial magazine, The Analyst. The inaugural issue is out, so I share it with you here, and it's not as goofy as my other pieces...The recent inclusion of China’s search engine, Baidu.com, by Millward Brown, a WPP-owned company, in it’s Brandz Top 100 brand evaluation report, raised many interesting questions. Is China already a brand superpower? Are the days of

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-47478827046577914922011-07-14T15:29:00.003+08:002011-07-14T15:37:59.332+08:00

A recent catching up of childhood friends at the online social network portal, Facebook, got me thinking about the school in a place I call my hometown. The little town called Cha’ah in the Johore state that I may have mentioned it in my other posts before. Though we were born in Kluang, my brothers and I spent a great amount of growing up and being educated (in and outside school) in Cha’ah, a

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-65194810572569734052011-06-29T17:47:00.004+08:002011-06-29T20:58:07.423+08:00

Warning: This one comes with strong language, so if you are offended don’t read. There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them as they ate like a, err, pig she fucking kicked their ass and told them to be on their own. Cursing under its breath, the first that went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: “Please, man, give me that straw to

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-60388567915676946122011-06-02T14:18:00.003+08:002011-06-02T14:24:01.619+08:00

Before leaving to Singapore for further medical treatment, a frail sounding actor Rajinikanth issued a voice message to his fans, saying he’d be back, blah, blah, blah. But the most interesting part of the message was that he’s baffled by the amount of love poured by his fans. Frankly, Rajini may remember his pals from the bus conductor days, still love and respect brother, and the rugged

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-11911556327286831532011-04-28T15:54:00.002+08:002011-04-28T15:55:15.218+08:00

I have come to a conclusion as far as KO’s director is concerned. I think KV. Anand hates us audience.You see after crafting a wonderful script, creating memorable characters, and perhaps even storyboarded the tight action sequences, he remembered that we would be watching, and sadistically decided to place songs at strategic places enough to get us reeling.The man for the job, Harris Jeyaraj

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-6093407668716206442011-04-18T16:52:00.004+08:002011-04-18T17:47:16.085+08:00

In the middle of his first concert, Tamil film music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja hung from a helicopter via cable as he descends stylishly down the stage. Basically a schtick pop singers or rock bands worldwide, (especially Americans)use to enhance their concerts. Except, Yuvan is a movie composer, no different from John Williams or Danny Elfman or T. Rajender. It was something new in any Tamizh

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-10397812115733706712011-04-07T10:06:00.002+08:002011-04-07T10:51:21.898+08:00

Argue as you may till the cows come home on how the recently departed actress Sujatha was much better actress than the stereotyped mother roles she has been doing the last three decades. Truth is, we will end up remembering her most of the times as mothers to the likes of Rajini, Prabhu and other leading stars who are themselves in their twilight of their careers now. These stars were icons for

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-89548812306122897762011-04-05T09:59:00.002+08:002011-04-05T10:03:50.439+08:00

Best Female Playback SinggarHere we are once again, with a handful nominations full of beautiful women who contributed to the well-being of Tibetans. Who am I kidding, I have here names of singers, most of whom I have not heard about singing films I have not seenHere we go, first we have Anwesha who invested her vocal in Mandhira Punnagai, a film that has nothing to do with Sathyaraj.Then we have

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-50757514674329610762011-04-05T09:34:00.002+08:002011-04-05T09:39:07.556+08:00

I participate in an online forum called The Hub, populated mostly by Tamizh speaking members from all around the world. You can learn more about it here. Anyway, every year they nominate films and individuals for awards, not sure they are given away personally, but hey it’s awards. This time I had the honour of making announcements through posts and the best part, in my own style, and here they

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-29634790461304653862011-03-01T16:58:00.002+08:002011-03-01T17:01:19.129+08:00

Yet, another gripe from a grouchy old man. Yes, I hated the Oscar show this year, and knowing well I would do considering the hosts are young actors, James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Don’t tell me watch it next year, as I am sure they are fielding Justin Bieber and Miley Cirus or is it Hannah Montana. Mily Montana? Whatever. For many years, I’d stay home and watch the show. Whether using my

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-547855402148313322011-02-21T16:13:00.001+08:002011-02-21T16:15:49.733+08:00

Follow-up to part 1 & part 2. Sorry for late entry. That night, the Indian cop gave us an address to go to, namely a temple where certain form of “exorcism” were conducted. Not sure if Harry Lee knows this, but who cares our need err…needs to be attended first, which is to make Puruso eating, sleeping, living & farting human being again, not a furniture gnawing freak. The cops left, slightly

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-77381390939372545002011-02-09T11:26:00.003+08:002011-02-09T11:34:15.779+08:00

A followup to my previous article titled. Sivaji & The Sadists and prompted by a youtube link forwarded by my pal, Joe Milton. There something about Avanthan Manithan, as an entity, that clearly hates Sivaji’s character, Ravikumar. It starts showing a very human Ravikumar, having fun, romance, singing duet and all the stuff a regular lead character in a Tamizh film would do, and it goes ahead to

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-21676074504162922662011-01-31T14:50:00.004+08:002011-01-31T15:40:09.580+08:00

The recently held D40 event in Tamil Nadu, India, was meant to commemorate the South Indian Director Associations 40th year. That was the intent, but the whole show ended up as praise fest for one single director whose last hit was when Bush was the US president. Senior. What ticked me off was a short film that glorified him and began with the line (in Tamil): In 1977, Tamil cinema gained its

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-15341606865377750022011-01-28T09:26:00.004+08:002011-01-28T10:01:17.843+08:00

The New Straits Times carried a news concerning a raging issue this morning. The opening para goes: (Malay novel) Interlok will be retained as a literature textbook but sections deemed sensitive to the Indian community will be amended And it explained: Federation of National Writers Association (Gapena) executive secretary Abdul Aziz Mohd Ali said the body supported the ministry’s decision to

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-84544750634260630002011-01-24T15:46:00.003+08:002011-01-24T15:56:28.406+08:00

One thing I couldn’t believe was my cousin’s form. A vigorous active skinny lad, here he was doing the elephant thingy. Of course, I learned later that he used to take on that form in estate festivals and on Thaipusam events. Disbelief aside, I need to do fast thinking on what to do. The “Kali” was taunting Puruso, making snappy wordless sounds either asking Puruso to shut up and calm down, or

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-35349826233602272572011-01-21T17:28:00.001+08:002011-01-21T17:29:36.166+08:00

My cousin, Devanand (my dad’s sister son) passed away on 19th January, 2011, and was cremated the next day, which happened to be Thaipusam day. His mother, crying her heart out, mentioned that his birthdate was number 1 (first of January) and he died on the same month, on a day numerologically totalled one as well, and he was born on Wednesday and died on the same day. That was not all the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-77322847339212939992011-01-11T16:52:00.002+08:002011-01-11T16:54:40.790+08:00

I realise lately that I need to get myself a new mobile phone, especially when each time I make a call or do text messaging, I have to reassemble it. When I look at it, a Motorola, I am reminded of how far it has come. My first phone, bought in late 90s was a Motorola Microtac (above pix), a piece of equipment that never forgets to remind you that the bulk in your pants is unfortunately not your

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-52951040483243242132011-01-06T17:38:00.003+08:002011-01-06T17:44:27.904+08:00

It’s the first week after new year, and boy are you tired of responding to inquiries about your New Year resolutions. This would be typical scenario: Friend: Hey, what’s your new year resolution, bro! You: First to lose weight, then_ Friend: I didn’t ask your Ten Year Plan. See what I mean. Common new year resolutions are just that, common. You got to stop thinking up the same resolution

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-68837763789849995032010-12-29T10:14:00.002+08:002010-12-29T10:26:16.831+08:00

In Man Madhan Ambu, Kamal Haasan proved once again that he can be a hell of a dialogue writer. That leaves fans of Kamal Haasan the actor cold because as a scriptwriter overall (in Tamizh films, dialogue writers are usually separate from screenplay writers), he wrote one of the dullest role for himself. This celluloid masochism takes a while to digest, especially for this writer who has been a

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-68839593895128163172010-12-21T16:03:00.004+08:002010-12-21T16:14:41.798+08:00

Tune in to MusicFM (95.3 for Malaysians) from lunch hour onwards on weekdays and you will encounter a barrage of hard rock songs, both English and Malay language. What’s so great, you might ask. Well, for one, you might know that I am a fan of rock music, mostly hard and metal variety. Not many know that. Once, when I played a heavy metal music on my desktop at my place, a colleague looked at me

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-58889425469276465312010-12-08T14:13:00.002+08:002010-12-08T15:06:52.073+08:00

A newspiece the other day intrigued me, because a politician was talking about shoe. You see the only time shoe and politics is mentioned in the same breath is when both meet, or should I say, when the shoe becomes projectile. There is a long history of shoe and politicians, most prominently in Taiwan, and the best in the recent memory should be when a Iraqi journalist decided his shoe would

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-15978778526196673422010-12-06T16:57:00.000+08:002010-12-06T16:59:16.152+08:00

I have a scaled-down version of the Concorde aircraft on top of my car dashboard for sometimes now. Yesterday, that is after three years of driving with and one year of living with me, my wife asked what happened to the real aircraft of that model. At that moment, I wanted to turn to her and ask, “what’s my name again?”. Explaining to her what had happened, I mentioned that the Concorde once

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-91027823120317318962010-11-26T10:09:00.007+08:002010-11-26T10:21:06.415+08:00

Recently my wife and I embarked on mini-movie marathon; films with plot involving rescuing looking for missing or kidnapped family members. It’s not that we are plotting something similar in real life, considering we are still cracking our head on whether or not to kidnap a cute stray cat near our apartment (Risk: They scratch). No, it’s just that we stumbled upon the excellent action fare Taken,

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-75609274116239266322010-10-25T15:22:00.002+08:002010-10-25T15:26:48.375+08:00

There is an incredible amount of beards found in Tamil film these days. From barely visible stubble, to Che Guevara-ish spacious growth to full blown facial mess, you just see them everywhere, whether it’s the films the fuzzy owners are acting in, or in off-screen functions where the number of beards compete directly with the number of cleavages. Comparatively, the latter is less disturbing.Its

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-9131246479460667672010-10-08T14:50:00.001+08:002010-10-08T14:52:38.820+08:00

Oh man, the ruling party-linked press is having a field day with news surrounding Parti Keadilan Rakyat, seeing that it is going to have an election. I typed PKR in google news and boom! Many headlines with first few lines appeared. Too lazy to read the rest, I decided to come up with my own conclusion, as this is how reading news is done anyway these days. The lines in italics are those that

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-42591974116676818872010-10-04T10:05:00.005+08:002010-11-02T09:23:09.638+08:00

In a way Endhiran still works like a Rajini-fan list: Rajini in multiple getups. Check. Rajini in uptodate chic costume. Check. Rajini in awesome fight sequence. Check. Rajini in beautifully shot song sequences. Check. Rajini with gorgeous, but actress half his age. Well…check. Rajini in Baba (film) look. Check. Okay, this is my wish, so be it. Rajini doing verbal spar with bad guy. Check.

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-3720008906180433222010-09-30T14:02:00.003+08:002010-09-30T14:07:01.731+08:00

(L to R) Standing:Jim Garner,Jack Lemmon, Charlton Heston. Sitting:George Chandler, Sivaji Ganesan, Walter Pidgeon.Though not a fault of his, the late Tamizh film actor Sivaji Ganesan was born in India. Fate can play a cruel hand and in this instance, Sivaji, who has the distinction of being the greatest actor ever produced from that sub continent, fell into a fate that denied him the recognition

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-50058771412404536272010-09-09T10:51:00.001+08:002010-09-09T10:56:36.376+08:00

In the era when gritty reboot was the order of the day for action/fantasy films, one actor took the most famous franchise in the world back to the pages of the author Ian Fleming…and was never appreciated for that. If history has been unkind to any actor - well there are thousands but it will not sit well with the content that I am about to type – it will be Timothy Dalton and his performance

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-79409695783534738862010-08-25T12:03:00.001+08:002010-08-25T12:10:17.101+08:00

I would have liked to start this piece by saying, “His name is Connery, Sean Connery”, which I did, but it would be too clichéd. Lazy journalism, they say. Plus, his name is actually Thomas Sean Connery and he is referred to as Big Tam in his hometown, Edinburg, Scotland. Hardly a reference to the sophisticated, suave gentleman spy he would play in 1962. Today is Connery’s 80th birthday and he

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-88776766516930003592010-08-19T14:19:00.005+08:002010-08-19T14:43:33.966+08:00

Aside: This was something I worked on in order to have sold to www.cracked.com, arguably one of the funniest online comedy site I’ve read. Initially I wrote it in their style, strong language and all, and realised that it didn’t look good. I mean, it had enough profanities to make Tarantino blush. Why trying to sound like someone else when already I sound bad. So, you guys get the torture as

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-45106484922747799202010-08-13T15:58:00.001+08:002010-08-13T16:00:59.884+08:00

The Star Online (newspaper) this morning screamed “Superman or just stupid men” while the linked news story blared the clichéd headline, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane...no, it’s Rempit-men” and the above pic was featured. It is a sad statement indeed. For one, I always thought Superman is stupid, a safe judgement to someone who wears his undies outside and thinks he can hide his identify by

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-48296358614103806042010-08-02T17:43:00.002+08:002010-08-02T17:47:42.298+08:00

Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) is probably the easiest location to find in Malaysia. Once you have entered the Putrajaya province, there’s signboard every kilometre informing you where to turn, appearing again at every turn, every nook and corner, in your face that when you reach the place, you expect to see a sign that says, “PICC: What GPS?”. My wife and I were there last

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-33000831222727482852010-07-07T11:43:00.002+08:002010-08-19T14:08:30.475+08:00

There is a popular shot of Diego Maradona freeze in the air, with his hands touching a aerial bound football. Fortunately, that will not be all football fans all over the world will remember the player acknowledged as one of the finest in the world. In fact, never has there been a footballer who was both loved, adored, hated and despised like Maradona. Look, one can argue till the cow comes home

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-69185188323265551902010-06-21T10:01:00.005+08:002010-08-19T14:09:01.419+08:00

While driving back, I was thinking of Vikram’s performance in the new much awaited Mani Rathnam film, Ravanan. The gestures, the facial expression, the way he tilts his head and gaze, the roll of the eyes, the screams, the yell, the shout, the whisper….I was impressed, but something hit me. I have seen that before, and it was in a modest little film called Thambi and Madhavan utilised this

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-41840029584142033902010-06-11T11:40:00.004+08:002010-08-19T14:10:02.558+08:00

The World Cup 2010 will kick off today, and I can already see some of you reaching for blade to cut your wrist saying, “We know that!!! It’s all over the place and we are sick of it! And can you stop using ‘kick off’, why can’t you say ‘starting’, ‘opening’, ‘launching’, fer Pele’s sake” Alright, relax. I am too afflicted by this barrage of media advertisements, promotions, riding on,

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-6902637137343844922010-06-01T16:01:00.005+08:002010-08-19T14:10:35.765+08:00

We all know what is happening in MIC*, with Samy Vellu the president still hanging on to his chair, and his party ex-members forming comically named group called GAS (Gerakan Anti Samy, [Anti-Samy Movement]) which makes sense, unless you take into account that Samy also means God in Tamil. This is not new as we all know that many who have tasted power wants to cling on even if it means that they

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-55314692262896272082010-05-25T13:48:00.003+08:002010-08-19T14:11:00.547+08:00

*Contains spoiler, which is actually cliché of these kinda films, so I warned you* Somewhere in the middle of the big budget Mallu film called Pazhassi Raja, the name of the leader of the freedom fighters out to oust the East India Company, was the scene all the purveyors of this kind of films waiting for. Speech time. Scriptwriters and the lead actors die for this kind of scene that will

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-88358400237637333762010-03-24T11:16:00.004+08:002010-08-19T14:12:06.350+08:00

Yesterday I was almost involved in a tragic disaster involving the light rapid transit (LRT), except that it was more of a bummer. For non-Malaysians, LRT is something like Mass Rapid Transit (MR) that you get in Singapore, except that it’s smaller, more compact and look about as safe as going nudist in crocodile farm. What surprised me was at that moment, that lasted maybe about two minutes,

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-50885309964696756312010-03-20T10:13:00.008+08:002010-08-19T14:12:42.054+08:00

What has footballer Ashley Cole, golfer Tiger Woods, Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo, so-called Indian godsmen Swami Nityananda and Shiv Murat Dwivedi have in common? That’s right, they make shitload of more money than you and I and the dog named Boo. But what else do they have in common? If you don’t know the answer, chances are you are still trapped in that cave and decided to continue living

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-82127319902992064052010-03-08T09:40:00.003+08:002010-08-19T14:15:04.536+08:00

So, it has been two years since the March 08, 2008 election which saw promises, especially one where Malaysians who are politically matured will help guide the elected officials to steer Malaysia into greatness. Malaysians. Political maturity. Okay, I can’t help it; I am stifling my laughter here. Malaysians political maturity is about the same as whining three year old outside a toy shop.

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-31593029905319938262010-02-25T09:09:00.004+08:002010-08-19T14:15:55.033+08:00

During the Chinese New Year holiday, my wife and I went back to my parents’ place, a small plantation (known mostly as ‘estate’ in Malaysia) in Johor. Owned by Atlas Holding, the estate is located between two small towns called Yong Peng and Paloh in Johor. We went to visit my parents, of course, as well as to satisfy my wife’s curiosity about the one and only monitor lizard! Actually she wanted

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-74960598650276945682010-02-11T16:42:00.002+08:002010-08-19T14:16:32.931+08:00

Yes, you have had it up here with working people, lecturers, seniors, and some helpful blokes giving you advice on the "dos" and the" don'ts" of job interview. You are always ready, but you can slip.Yes, there could be some serious no-nos you have commited without knowing. “But dude,” you may ask, “I am very aware of what I am doing and saying, how could I have done anything wrong”. Well, for a

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-21973890916801159962010-02-02T14:31:00.006+08:002010-08-19T14:17:22.527+08:00

Note: Article I wrote for JobsDB.com First, I thought of picking just tough interview questions for this article, but I guess that would be subjective. You can probably give an easy answer to the question, “what will be the best contribution you can give to the company?”, unless you give answers like, “my entire EPF”. Other candidates may be stumped. They might go, “Contributions? I did it in

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-12416576818857106772010-01-19T11:10:00.003+08:002010-01-19T11:13:34.013+08:00

Note: Something I wrote for my present workplace that I thought could be useful for all.7 Things about Resume Writing (that won’t get you the job). 1. Resume gets you the job. Nope. It does not. It gets you the interview. That is if you are shortlisted. No use moaning that you have a fantastic resume yet you didn’t get the job, as you were not even invited for an interview. Take a look at the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-56913497233905574972010-01-14T11:20:00.004+08:002010-01-14T11:30:18.499+08:00

When someone approached Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about reviving Sherlock Holmes in a play and whether he can get the Great Detective to marry, Doyle said, “Marry him, or murder him for all I care”. Hundreds of pastiche, plays and films that followed did that. Director Guy Ritchie certainly took note of that. Having read and seen them (except the plays), I conclude that Ritchie’s very entertaining

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-65724005170546267632009-12-31T15:13:00.004+08:002009-12-31T15:56:33.756+08:00

If one word could be used to summarise 2009 as far as Malaysia’s socio-political issues are concerned, it would be a very qualified, “shit”. On the upside, I got married, so it sort of balanced things out. Here’s my skewered take on the happenings in 2009. Some incidents are left out basically because of either space constraint or just that I have a memory of a bar stool. In January Malaysians

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-79175686938225017792009-12-21T17:04:00.009+08:002010-02-25T12:12:40.042+08:00

My article on snakes, Creepy, Crawly Caper caught one very attentive reader, Jeremy De Silva who had much to say about that subject, so much so that I did an online interview with him and came out with a sequel. Jeremy, if readers would remember, was the guy in my past blog post who wore diapers and cycled. Wait, wrong guy. No, he’s in my Cha’ah in USJ post, my schoolmate remember? First, he

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-71659224095495353852009-12-21T10:14:00.002+08:002009-12-21T10:23:18.760+08:00

In a superb article, A Whiter Shade of Guile, Joe Queenan articulated about how in films Americans, especially whites, are always portrayed as the saviours, representing the minorities, the underprivileged, purveyor of the streets and those endowed with lesser technologies usually involving sharp implements. Hell, even king of the Jungle was Tarzan dethroning the cat with awesome mane back

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-70573212142384927092009-12-16T15:57:00.004+08:002010-02-25T12:08:59.744+08:00

A news feed appeared in my email and immediately sent me back into my childhood which was filled with peril, traumatic & venomous moments. No, I was not molested by my Math’s teacher, you dirty brained readers! I meant actual perilous situation involving dangerous, venomous animals in the plantation my family and I grew up in, though I suspect the Mathematics teacher was a reptile too. Before

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-2413731500330795882009-12-09T15:19:00.007+08:002009-12-09T18:00:17.675+08:00

The third part of the marriage process is now over. Finally. For those who have been following this blog subject, they are probably relieved that I can finally stop writing about the marriages and go on writing about cycling in diapers or coffee bean poos. Aside: The sub-heading A New Hope is nothing new. It was initially used by George Lucas when the film Star Wars was re-released after the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-55731215493823852342009-11-10T17:02:00.005+08:002009-11-11T10:47:07.628+08:00

On October 31st, 2009. I got married at the church. Of course, it didn’t begin smoothly as it should no thanks to my punctuality conscious family. Sharp 3pm I was suppose to leave my apartment with the best man who lived a door away from my apartment. When I went there, with my suit on, overnight bag slung over my shoulder, there he was, all six foot of him, topless with a rack of ties, looking

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-30808628724567261542009-11-10T16:56:00.003+08:002009-11-10T17:14:58.757+08:00

Good evening everyone, first allow me few words in Tamizh. Anaivarukkum Vanakkam. Intha Iniya Manavizhavukku Varugai Thanthu Sirappitta Enggal Nanbargal, Uttraar Uravinarkal, Udan Panipurivor Anaivarukkum En Saarbilum, En Vazhkai Tunaiviyaar Sarbilum Manamaarntha Nandri Kalantha Kadapaattinai Terivittu Kollugiren. Unggal Anumathiyoodu, En Uraiyai Aangilattil Todarkiren. Back to English. Okay,

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-2054375240750406012009-10-05T16:29:00.004+08:002009-10-05T16:41:24.081+08:00

Disclaimer: Okay, October 2nd, 2009 is one of the most important days in my life, so regular readers might just want to skip this as the content mood may not be the same. My wife wanted me to record this, so this is exclusively dedicated to her. It’s the day when I was legally registered in the government’s office as Linda Marina Fernandez’s husband. We have three more marriages to do, one in

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-42723491865209620932009-10-05T10:09:00.003+08:002009-10-05T10:13:59.844+08:00

Wow, my story on NT, that got featured in India Glitz and Behindwood are the search results to come up, even ahead of Kamal, if you type Sivaji Ganesan in Google News. I got to record this.The features:India GlitzBehindwoodsThe screen cap of news search:

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-55453233864084335262009-09-30T15:32:00.003+08:002009-09-30T15:35:44.699+08:00

Note 1: This is a lighthearted piece, so take it easy NT fans. Note 2: There are many films that need to be cited here. Feel free if you like to include your examples. We all know what a great onscreen performer Sivaji Ganesan was. Having played many roles in films directed by directors so many, it is easy to assume that Sivaji or Nadigar Thilagam (loosely translated as Greatest Actor &

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-35083440263803357872009-09-19T10:35:00.002+08:002009-09-19T10:35:55.400+08:00

This film is a remake of a hit Hindi language thriller, A Wednesday. A lot has been said about the original, especially the plot, the script, the performance and the overall gritty realistic feel. I haven’t seen it. But judging from what I have seen here, it’s safe to say that the original is not that original at all. If you have seen the Die Hard films and the films that novelist James Ellroy

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-28152045455712340802009-09-16T15:53:00.002+08:002009-09-16T16:09:13.874+08:00

An ad agency babe whom sometimes I freelance with gave me a buzz and mailed me a query on a Deepavali ad layout they have been working on. The note from the client goes: “Check the word 'Hindu' coz I believe should be Indian friends. Hindu is only targeted to Singh/ Punjabi?” It’s mind-boggling because the ad clearly belongs to a Malaysian company and I wonder which cave the knucklehead has

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-50470027045785422212009-09-11T16:07:00.003+08:002009-09-11T16:14:47.151+08:00

In one of today’s newspaper, the Johore Menteri Besar (chief minister) was reported as calling for more investment to boost tourism in two towns, namely Kota Tinggi and Mersing. I know these two place well, since Mersing is right next to my birthplace, Kluang and is gateway to Tioman Island and Kota Tinggi as our family was based there for a few years. Despite the fact that I have grouses about

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-3093240374274075202009-09-03T16:49:00.001+08:002009-09-03T16:52:06.428+08:00

When I read my cousin’s blog Eastern Prism recently asking what the heck 1Malaysia concept is exactly, and I must say that I am baffled too. I told him it’s basically old shoe, patched and polished and worn again. But I have to think deeper than the current cobbler-esque level. Aside: Before visiting my cousin’s blog, don’t go with one mind set. The feller’s subject varies from criticising the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-40934356488820768862009-08-24T11:52:00.003+08:002009-08-24T13:49:44.166+08:00

During my recent sojourn to my second hometown, Kluang, I was assaulted by the thought that I am really going to miss it even it was there. I was driving frantically trying to track down the old favourite Chicken Rice stall which has since shifted, when it occurred to me that Kluang might just become… (Cue horror music here) Johore Bahru! You see, for years I have been tormented by this

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-84922975002049473112009-08-18T13:47:00.006+08:002009-08-19T17:43:18.901+08:00

She kept saying this, as we walked out of the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara’s (National Registration Board) Marriage Registration Office, “This is the second phase of your life.” That’s my future wife, Linda Marina Fernandez, who’s going to be part of my “second phase”. I brushed it aside, saying that we have just applied and the actual registration is a month away. Chances are someone can object

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-30845801792330601542009-08-10T15:26:00.004+08:002009-08-19T17:57:24.260+08:00

I met an ex-colleague the other. A freelancing yoga instructor, football coach, practitioner of Aikido and fitness guru, Subendran Dali is also one of the funniest guys I’d ever met and we shared so much laughter bitching about a former boss. And then, he dropped the bomb. He said that recent surveys revealed that Malaysians are the most obese people in Asia. Shocked, I managed to respond, “That

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-27920388607078354692009-08-03T16:05:00.002+08:002009-08-03T16:28:12.997+08:00

A query from a pal of mine asking what gift is suitable for men triggered me to write this piece. Also, there is nothing much to do so I decided to torture you with, yet, another informative; fact filled posting about…gifts for men! It is not true that men dislike gifts, because it makes them feel obligated to, for example, wash the gift giver’s toilet. It’s totally untrue unless you are married

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-71807118038027066662009-07-29T17:10:00.002+08:002009-07-29T17:11:59.868+08:00

Name the King of Fruit there is only one that comes to our mind – fruitcakes. Okay, I am kidding, the King of Fruit in Malaysia is definitely Durian. Mention Durian, the mental picture that comes to my mind is a roadside makeshift stall, with Durian piled up from ground, often segregated into grades and with serious looking people smelling the spiky fruit and shaking it with intense look on the

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-82203024942824008752009-07-21T15:23:00.001+08:002009-07-21T15:28:41.024+08:00

Today marks the eight year since the passing of a brilliant stage and film actor named Sivaji Ganesan. A showman par excellence and screen performer whose fierce energy sometimes tears right out of the screen, big or small, and catches you by the throat, Sivaji Ganesan is not your average by the number hack actor looking to cash their paycheque or ply the trade for pride and glory. No. Sivaji as

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-38229874154233766282009-07-15T15:01:00.001+08:002009-07-15T15:06:24.687+08:00

Looks like reading paper is the best way to annoy you. I was especially miffed when I read that tourism minister Dr Ng Yen Yen saying that more money is needed to promote Malaysia. Haven’t they spent enough already? Also, it’s ironic because her name has Japanese currency in it, and that too twice. I say this: change your strategy. The tagline “Malaysia Truly Asia” is corny, cheesy and Nasi

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-32912273589144441592009-07-10T14:38:00.001+08:002009-07-10T14:42:19.916+08:00

Remember the article I wrote about the cyclist in diapers? Well, I sent the news to Dave Barry, the funniest writer I have read as he highlights stupid thing in his blog. He featured it here And he finds my name funny too. Good man.

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-68999539545263740812009-06-29T15:29:00.004+08:002009-06-29T17:48:57.213+08:00

It was when driving back after watching the latest Transformers, when it struck me that they cribbed the plot from the Bible. Yeah, I am that slow. But then, tell me which part of the Bible did not become source for story telling in Hollywood. If not God, Satan has helped to make Tinseltown’s cash registers to ring. It’s all there. The bad guy is The Fallen, who was a Prime (yes, they have races

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-15588841504019268802009-06-26T16:39:00.002+08:002009-06-26T16:47:41.537+08:00

The career of being a pop or rockstar can be rewarding, but it is also one that is susceptible to short life expectancy. As you know, Michael Jackson died today (our time, Thursday their time) at the age of 50, a young age for these times. This man, the icon of those who grew up in the 70s and 80s, is perhaps the most influential person in the pop/lifestyle/entertainment scenario. His popularity

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-15481518725356463112009-06-19T11:39:00.002+08:002009-06-19T11:41:03.127+08:00

When I saw this headline in The News Straits Times Newspaper today, I didn’t know whether I should giggle, cry, shout in rage or stab myself for living in the same world like the moron in the subject. Here’s the headline: Cycling in diaper to set a record And the lead (opening para): By tomorrow, a personal instructor wearing a diaper could become the first person in Malaysia to cycle nonstop

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-35726302111165694402009-06-01T13:08:00.001+08:002009-06-01T13:10:03.950+08:00

It finally happened. In fact, it was 20 years in the making. Sprinkling of schoolmates (only a fragment, unfortunately) from the high school my brothers and I went to, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Cha’ah, finally got together last weekend. First and foremost, for the benefit of non-Cha’ahrians (as we call ourself for now) Cha’ah is a tiny town, which if you are travelling from Yong Peng to

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-23840954697093725562009-05-28T11:23:00.004+08:002009-05-28T11:25:18.378+08:00

I bet that you guys hate it when a writer starts a sentence like this: “Normally/usually, I don’t watch/listen/eat/etc ____, but…” The writer is basically trying to put himself above the readers by saying that, look I got class, but I can compromise on my taste too. What an arrogant prick! Okay, having had that off my chest, let me state for the record that I normally don’t watch American

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-53370670816196132402009-05-07T16:44:00.003+08:002009-05-07T16:51:26.223+08:00

A coffee a day. I have not been well of late. First, about a month ago, the doctor told me that I had high blood pressure. I was experiencing headache, dizziness, nausea, heart palpitation for few months by then. It could be anything, work related stress, early middle-age crisis or, I feel this is more accurate, too much of Cartoon Network, especially too much of Tom & Jerry, and especially

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-43332640651843736682009-02-14T10:40:00.002+08:002009-02-14T10:43:47.791+08:00

With still half an hour to enter the cinema hall, I sat in a little restaurant nearby with a drink, a book, but with wandering thoughts.  I was going to watch Naan Kadavul, and I saw cinema patrons, Indians, and many of them women and children. Whoa! Because I heard from many that this film is not suitable for children and the soft hearted. Alright, I thought, you people asked for it. Of course

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-19017922058621761642008-12-31T11:29:00.002+08:002008-12-31T11:32:12.996+08:00

Will you or not agree that 2008 is easily one of the worst years in the recent memory? At least for us Malaysians. Here’s my take on the happenings in 2008, especially on local politics. Aside: Humour impaired politicians reading this; I’d like to remind you that this is more of a satiric take on what happened so save your money on hiring lawyers. End of aside. Malaysia From January to March,

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-64516939533352594192008-12-24T14:28:00.000+08:002008-12-24T14:31:04.622+08:00

Fans of hard rock & heavy/trash/speed/etc metal, beware! Head banging is dangerous. Or so, says an expert.   I was driving home last night, listening to BBC world over the radio, and the show featured an Australian associate professor, Andrew McIntosh, who said head banging not only can cause neck injury, headache and dizziness, but also brain damage.   Head banging is bad? In a song called

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-82391963109585215652008-12-11T11:49:00.002+08:002008-12-11T11:53:34.971+08:00

Warning: Strictly for Tamizh Film fans, especially of comedies.Its phenomenal. About a decade ago, Tamizh film comedian Goundamani (or Kaundamani, or Koundermani) was dismissed by many has crude, crass and rude by many. He can only be enjoyed by those who don’t use their noodle all that much and enjoys slapstick.Goundamani’s slapstick consist of only one thing – beating up his Hardy-esque partner

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-71347432044327655882008-12-04T11:09:00.003+08:002008-12-04T11:12:42.077+08:00

There are those of us who read newspapers, and then there are those who don’t. There are those who read news online, either the mainstream ones or the alternatives, and then there are those who don’t either. The “don’t” type usually gets their news from text messages.Anyway, those who do read either the physical paper or online, are bound to sometimes just scan headlines. I do too…not because I

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-7536314269488917492008-11-27T11:51:00.001+08:002008-11-27T11:57:27.089+08:00

Does KL food Suck?Yes says a local member of the parliament. Bernama reported that Mohamad Abdul Aziz, MP for Sri Gading saying that he was disappointed with the quality and price of food in the federal capital, besides the taste not being authentic."If we eat nasi biryani, asam pedas, mee mamak or tomyam, we know how it should really taste,” the report quoted him."But I'm sorry to say that

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-7823256100781645592008-11-11T16:55:00.003+08:002008-11-11T17:13:04.616+08:00

The news that the Indian Muslim (commonly known as Mamak restaurant here) restaurants are reducing the price of nasi kandar, the tari and roti canai came as a shock to me.Because I was saying, “Naaaaahhhhh…..”Why? Because way before the hike of petrol price, way before people started bitching about the rice of the food price, heck way before the comet wiped out dinosaurs and thousands of species

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-80898268970044144132008-11-07T10:21:00.002+08:002008-11-07T10:25:34.833+08:00

Review of the latest Bond movie. Those who had not seen it, better don't read it now. It may have spoilers.If CR is a legitimate standalone film, would QOS be Godfather II, or Star Wars: TESB? Well, sadly it would be Superman II…which is not bad, but not as good as the first.Where do I start? Allow me to break it into elements that we normally would like to look out for in the Bond

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-33952097137693187232008-10-31T11:39:00.001+08:002008-10-31T11:39:40.779+08:00

Kamal Haasan, a wonderful actor, has many titles conferred to him, either by authorities or fans. To me he is simply a good actor. But otherwise, he is also Padmashree Kamal Haasan, Aalwarpet Andavar, Super Actor and more recently, and most popularly Ulaga Nayagan (Global Hero…a title that is not sanctioned by United Nation, unfortunately).But how many fans, especially the younger ones, know that

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-2480350111137139142008-10-29T12:10:00.001+08:002008-10-29T12:11:22.748+08:00

I am a cat lover and had always been bar one incident involving clawing incident in the dark. But I forgave that cat long time ago. Plus it might be dead by now, and there is no greater sin then bearing grudge over a dead soul.As much as I can, I had always been instrumental in promoting the act of loving cats, and at times accepting them as the only saviour of the human race if the whole world

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-87666729864251436922008-10-17T16:40:00.002+08:002008-10-17T16:45:47.815+08:00

Disclaimer: This posting contains the use of the word “shit” sparingly. You will see the reason why I have to use it. Its highly disturbing and I shit you not.To say that I used to be addicted to drinking coffee would be an understatement. I’d drink away six to eight mugs (yes mugs as opposed to jugs) of coffee a day! This was during the earlier of journalism when I thought I was the smartest

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-65899256352913007512008-10-03T10:44:00.002+08:002008-10-03T10:54:22.392+08:00

Aside: The production of Batam pt 4: I Never Planned For Part Four has been postponed indefinitely due to budgetary problem and poor response from Pt 3. The producer regrets to inform that plans for further sequels and animated TV series too has to be shelved. End of aside.Hang on. Aside again: This blog will be the first time I attempt something on horror. Yes, this is scary. It is happening in

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-65934830993059120062008-09-29T09:54:00.000+08:002008-09-29T09:56:07.094+08:00

The death of Paul Newman was not shocking. We all knew that he was dying of cancer when reports came out months ago. It was just a matter of time, and that time came last weekend.There will be talk about what a great man, finest human being, etc about him. But how many would rate him as one of the best screen actor ever in Hollywood? I mean, right up there with Marlon Brando and Spencer

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-82319517813929512052008-08-26T12:49:00.001+08:002008-08-26T12:50:45.893+08:00

Recap from my previous blog, Batam Pt2: The cabbie speaketh. Planet 9 From Outer Space… Agent ZOR985XZ2…Bermuda Triangle…Urine…Perfume…missing Ewok. Aside: This part may contain materials, facts and information that may deem offensive to certain quarters, namely lovers of dogs (or freaks) or supporters of Jerry the mouse. And it has nothing to do whatsoever to African cheesecake, which till

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924621.post-49024691594984229562008-08-22T10:52:00.002+08:002008-08-22T11:21:02.414+08:00

Recap of the last blog: Pua Chu Kang….Batam…Jar-Jar Binks…piles…Led Zeppelin…cheeseburger (double)…cabbie. As mentioned, the cab driver was a polite guy. Here is the thing about the cab drivers in Singapore: They are as polite as heck. Can you believe it? In Malaysia, you have to tell them where you are going first and chances are they are not going there. Name any place, including Planet 9

Rakesh Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886972303834304415noreply@blogger.com0