Sunday Evening Incident

Mein Verlangen Ist Bemannt

Just picked up this from iTunes.
Getting addicted.
All artwork from R's site...

Call Of The Zombie

Saw him at the Wiltern tonight. Awesome show. Loud! Rob's been around for about 10 years as a solo artist and for over twenty as a musician. Apart from doing his own art work and animation, he's also done a couple of grisly movies. The crowd went crazy when he got on stage. No better way to end a day after a twelve hour stint at work.

Now We're Talkin'

In the first-ever such initiative to tap top brains, the IAF will now host as many as 57 IIT students for a two-month summer training stint in a bid to motivate them to become “air-warriors’’. Being a technology-intensive force with frontline fighter jets, radars and missiles, the IAF wants bright youngsters to joint its engineering ranks. And what better talent can it expect then the globally-recognised IITians, who constitute one of the biggest Indian exports to the US?

The IAF, in fact, even wants to attract IITians to join it as pilots. The idea is that with fighter jets getting more and more advanced, pilots should have more technical knowledge than merely having the skills to fly the sophisticated machines. “This special summer training drive from May 15 is being conducted as a step forward in our efforts to attract better quality talent from premier institutes,’’ said Wing Commander Ashim Kapoor. The 57 pre-final year IIT engineering students will be attached to IAF’s Base Repair Depots (BRDs) in Kanpur, Chandigarh, Nashik, Delhi and Pune, among others, with the force footing their entire travel, boarding and lodging expenses. The IITians, from streams ranging from electrical and mechanical to aerospace and computer engineering, will gain an insight into how the IAF maintains, repairs and upgrades different systems. The BRD in Kanpur, for instance, handles engines of Mirage-2000 s, MiG-23 s and MiG-27 s, while the one in Delhi services the different missiles and radars in the IAF’s inventory.

That’s not all. The Air Force Technical College (AFTC) has approached IIT Chennai with the aim to set up a full-fledged IIT-IAF Engineering College (IIEC) in Bangalore spread over a 310-acre campus. The AFTC, at present, takes qualified engineers from various disciplines and converts them into “aeronautical engineers’ ’ in the military arena. “AFTC trains around 150 engineers every year but we have a shortfall since IAF requires around 250 engineers per year,’’ said an officer.

(source: TimesOfIndia.Com)

Fabric UndeaD.

Clothes hangers. Metal ones, they come back... Like the undead. They seem to keep coming back! Every time I take my shirts, jackets and trousers to the dry cleaners, they re-appear! I dunk them into the trash. With renewed hatred. And fumbling rage. Little paper webs between the steel braces that read "Fresh as a flower, Professional Cleaning".... There are the other ones with little wooden rounded ends for the trousers. By the end of the week there's a whole pile staring me in the face. Don't the undead do that? And I dunk them back in to the trash. My laundry bag is filling up. I go back to the dry cleaners on Saturday mornings. I collect the dry cleaned stash on every other Tuesday. The undead gather again. One by one. Sometimes in pairs. I rid the stash of the thin plastic bags that protect them from dust and dirt. The jackets, shirts and trousers are hanging off of these unpleasant entities. They're back. Wuuuuuuuuuuuu......

Good Morning?

You Raise The Blade, You Make The Change

The lunatic is in the hall,

The lunatics are in my hall.

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor,

And every day the paper boy brings more...

Caricature: Shekhar Gurera
Lyrics: Brain Damage, Pink Floyd
Beast-In-Question: Arjun Singh

Would?

Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way

Alice in Chains is on tour again. We the fans will miss Layne, but we cant let the spirit die. There's too much to lose. Rock On!
(picture from: AliceInChains.net)

The Second Coming

As someone noted on iTunes... "the rÿche are back!!!!"

A Tale of Tenacity

I just finished lunch. To me, the lunch hour translates to non chal antly munching away while I stuff my face. I also read the news in this one hour time window and it helps me get an education. I was browsing through the TOI page and I saw this little image, a broadband video link with the text, 'Medha's battle.'

Medha Patkar. A woman who has epitomized social activism and won numerous accolades and appreciation for her selflessness. She's back in the news. And it's been more than 10 days since she's eaten. Medha is on an indefinite fast to oppose the proposition of the Center to increase the height of the dam over the Narmada. Makes me wonder what she's made of that lets her persevere and last unto what seems like forever. The shame's on us for the lack of such tenacity.

True.

More Strength Training Tips..

Can't help it bro, but these days, the bench pressing routine has been amazing. A few variations have been introduced and the effect is definitely visible. Long story short, I can lift more and the number of reps have increased dramatically. Try this:

I. Close Grip Bench Press
1. Starting Position
Lie on an exercise bench and grasp a barbell with your hands about 12 inches apart.
Hold the bar at arm's length over your chest with your palms facing forward.
NOTES: This one's hard on the wrists and elbows. Avoid it if you have problems with those joints.

2. Middle Position
Slowly lower the bar to your chest.
NOTES: Don't arch your back--that's cheating. Cheaters end up with tiny little muscles.

3. The Finish
Touch the bar to your chest, then slowly press it back up to the starting position.
NOTES: Don't bounce the bar off your chest. Make sure you don't lock your elbows at the top of the move.

The effect can be increased by simply breaking the positions into upto four intermediate levels before the bar touches your chest. Breathing is key, breathe out on the upward rep, in on the downward rep.

II. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift + Hang Clean + Push Press

Stand holding dumbbells in front of your thighs, knees slightly bent;

1. Push your hips back to lower the weights to your shins.
2. Return to the starting position. Pause, then forcefully pull the weights upward as you dip under and "catch" them in front of your shoulders. The weights should roll to your fingers, and your elbows should point forward.
3. Stand, then pause. Bend your knees slightly, then straighten your legs and press the dumbbells overhead.
4. Lower the weights to the starting position.

From Menshealth.cOm
By: Robert Dos Remedios, C.S.C.S.
Posted on 03/21/2006