what goes up

Before the fall.

[Picture by Kedar Bhat]

Boys' Own

A football dangles in front of the goal.
The accuracy the male guests are capable of is now on the line and they have to "KICK" the ball into the goal.

Bull’s eye! And the ball changes colorur.
A lot of fun for top goal scorers!

Read on.

Slurp

Lines we have heard many times in the last couple of days (some, we confess, we have used ourselves), and have no desire to hear again.

It's a pain in the butt, na?

Laughing My Arse Off. Oops. Sorry. Mwahahaha.

Butt.. Hehehehe.

Butt naturally.. Hehehehe.

Bum deal, boss. Hehehehe.

Bummer. Hnphhsnickerhehehehe.

So, if you would make us the butt of your humour, pliss to try harder, hm?

Yes. Sigh. Comments are open. We are in a masochistic mood. Yes, we will turn the other cheek.
Update: Rahul's in pretty much the same, um, position.

Tum ti tum

An army marches on its stomach, as the Little Corporal said. With the current state of our fundament, our multiple personalities and widening girth, and the relentless assault of deadlines, that is now true of this blog.

When, a while ago, we got ourselves all gussied up and broadbanded, we made the ISP-walla give us much more cable length than we needed, so we have the laptop now installed on our sleeping mat, and are typing this with chin propped up on pillows. Such is our dedication to thee, Gentle Reader.

Also, we're bored silly.

Wanted: new media writers

The kind who are messing around with technology to tell their tales in interesting ways. People who are using things like hyperfiction or podcasts. Who are videoblogging their performance poetry, perhaps. Or playing with blogs in interesting ways. Or doing stuff that's way too cutting edge for an old fashioned blogger like me to grok. It doesn't matter if they're established writers playing with new toys or newcomers with potential.

Preferably, people from Bombay.

Why do I need these people?

Well, Crossword is hosting a mini-LitFest just before their Book Awards. And I'm going to be moderating a session, one that will focus on new media and how writers can use and are using them. It's on the playbill as Traditional Words vs New Media.

Why Bombay?

There isn't much of a budget. :)

Do let me know. ASAP, pretty please. The gab fest is scheduled for the 20th March.

PM, IM, SMS. Oh yes, you could also mail, or even gasp, call. :)

Pain in the butt

Note to self: don't tempt fate. The "back-breaking" remark in the previous post? Almost proved prophetic.

We, in the course of said assignment, decided it was about time we faced up to our vertigo. So we took a deep breath and took a parasailing run. Spent most of flight staring, as if hypnotised, at the Gypsy doing the towing, and wondering what would happen if the driver hit a bump or the engine cut off and such like. Came the landing, and we, concentrating hard, put our best foot forward.. only to have it slide on contact with the grass. The Gypsy continued to move forward, the chute still billowed behind, so one was suspended 'twixt the two for a brief second.

But then the jeep was slowing down, and the chute was collapsing too, so one's ample butt met ground with some force. Said ampleness was apparently not enough cushioning to compensate for speed of descent, and being dragged a few feet, so our tailbone is more than a little bruised. Staying seated for very long is a bit of a problem. Expect a drop in post frequency for a bit, you lucky things. At least till we get our pictures uploaded. [Update: here ya go.]

Auto-reply

This blog is away for the weekend. It will be catching a train tonight to go off and do back-breaking journalistic assignment of great import..

Heh. Sorry. Can't keep a straight face. We're gonna be at Pachmarhi, where we will laze for a few days, now and then asking a few questions and taking notes, while the photographer goes off and does the energetic things photographers do.

If there's anything urgent, please contact.. oh, anyone else.

Except for Windows, of course

Your equipment DOES NOT affect the quality of your image. The less time and effort you spend worrying about your equipment the more time and effort you can spend creating great images. The right equipment just makes it easier, faster or more convenient for you to get the results you need.

So says Ken Rockwell, in this rather nice essay. He goes on to tell you that "The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs" and this:

What happens is that for the first 20 years or so that you study any art you just know that if you had a better instrument, camera or surfboard that you would be just as good as the pros. You waste a lot of time worrying about your equipment and trying to afford better. After that first 20 years you finally get as good as all the other world-renowned artists, and one day when someone comes up to you asking for advice you have an epiphany where you realize that it's never been the equipment at all.

And he quotes Ernst Haas thusly:

Leica, schmeica. The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE.

and

Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward.

Hm, we've been contemplating buying ourselves a new camera, since our old Minolta point-and-shoot is now showing signs of age after more than fifteen years of faithful service. We're sad. We got some good pictures outa the little sweetheart. But now, perhaps, we shall bow to technology, skip the SLR stage and go straight to digital. Any suggestions?

memes, meta

All the meme-related definitions you want. Including the first one.