My Harry Potter Personality is.....

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

What's with all those personality/pyschometric tests employees are given promptly after recruitment? Apparently employers like to know what "Type" their employees belong to and MBTI is one of the most widely used "tests" used for this purpose. The Indicator is more of an inventory or psychocological instrument rather than a test (or so Personality Pathways says), which suggests right and wrong answers.

I had to do this several times - such is my employment record ;-) and I always got the same four letters at the end of it - INTJ.

A very detailed description of INTJ is available at Typelogic.

Over the years I have noticed the profile is quite accurate (especially regarding fields of employment and relationships) and then among the other stuff given on the Typelogic page , I found a list of INTJs in works of fiction:

Cassius (Julius Caesar)
Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
Gandalf the Grey (J. R. R. Tolkein's Middle Earth books)
Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis
Ensign Ro (Star Trek--the Next Generation)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Hamlet)
George Smiley, John le Carre's master spy
Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)

Weekend at the Movies - Review of Parineeta

Parineeta was written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay who also wrote Devdas. In most of his work, Chattopadhyay often wrote aboutBengali society, its people and class structure.

In adapting the novel Parineeta, Vidhu Vinod Chopra changed the setting of the movie from turn-of-the-century to 1962, Calcutta. Narrated by Amitabh Bacchan, we are led straight into a wedding – complete with the colorful costumes, loud music, evenlouder singing and of course, the ever so slight hint that all may not be too well with the bridegroom Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), resplendent in his "“dashing"” outfit. A brief visit next door in fact proves there is indeed a vibe of some sort between Shekhar and Lolita (Vidya Balan), a young woman who now appears to be married to someone else.

After a series of flashbacks, we learn that Shekhar and Lolita were childhood pals, from the time Lolita was adopted by her aunt and uncle (who lived next door to Shekhar) following her parent’s death. Though the family lived in a grand house, her uncle’s family was not wealthy and a ten-year-old Shekhar grants her access his pocket money, making the cupboard in his bedroom Lolita’s personal ATM machine.

The friendship proves to be a strong bond between the two until Shekhar’s father Nabin Roy (Sabyasachi Chakravarthy) – a very ruthless businessman, introduces his son to Gayatri, daughter of his business associate and Lolita catches the attention of Girish, a steel tycoon on holiday in Calcutta. After seeing Lolita in Girish’'s company in a series of events, Shehkar is consumed with jealousy in each instance. But after a mercifully short sequence of events, he finally confronts his feelings for Lolita, and it turns out she feels the same way about him(yay!)

Just when things appear to be turning out well, a ploy used by Roy senior to gain ownership of Lolita’s house backfires and leads to a series of misunderstandings, and the plot makes a neat 90-degree turn. To say more would reveal too much and what is mentioned below may qualify as spoilers.

I liked almost everything in this movie. That said, I am not a Hindi movie freak – I only watch films with English sub-titles and tend to avoid films with long song-and-dance routines (I find them very annoying). Parineeta has a wonderful soundtrack – a grand total of five songs, of which different versions are played very subtly in the background at various stages. (My favorite song was “Kasto Mazza” which is sung on a train)

Saif Ali Khan was amazing and perfect for the role of Shekhar Roy. Everyone else was superbly cast, including Sanjay Dutt (who is usually seen riding a motorcycle in a hailstorm of machine gun bullets and somehow emerging unscathed in all the movies he makes) as a latter day Lakshmi Mittal-like tycoon. The person who really made an impression was Vidya Balan - –reportedly Parineeta was her debut –and she’'s just fabulous. In the word’s of Jude Law'’s Alfie –"The girl is a “showstopper!" In an age when every other actress relies on a pair of false eyelashes, colored contact lenses and a total of six expressions to portray a character, Vidya Balan simply sails through the movie like she’'s been acting all her life.

There was just one scene in the movie that made me roll my eyes and that was the birdfeeder being used to break down the wall at the end of the movie. I mean, WTF??!! That wall turned out to be a pretty sturdy piece of bricks and cement, considering it was built in a single day. Shekhar first tried to kick it down, then used a shovel, an anvil and finally uprooted a birdfeeder before finally managing to break a few bricks and bring him closer to his beloved Lolita. That was such a Sanjay Leela Bhansali scene and it almost ruined an otherwise perfect movie for me.

Now on to the comparisons between Chopra’'s Parineeta and Bhansali’'s Devdas.....IMO Parineeta ranks several (meaning few dozen) levels higher than Devdas. At the end of Devdas, I was left reeling with two thoughts "“What the hell was all that about” and “I want those 200 odd minutes of my life back!” At the end of Parineeta, I was surprised it had all ended so quickly and at 130 minutes, this is one of the shortest Hindi films I have ever watched.

Bhansali’s over-the-top direction of Devdas weakened an already bad script and acting (and for those of you who insist Aishwarya is a great actress – get real, she’'s not) and made it a messy, loud and over long dancefest. I would not have really minded the same birdfeeder scene at the end of Devdas. It would have made more sense. Now that I have watched Parineeta, I can'’t help but wonder – if Paro (Aishwaray Rai) had spotted a birdfeeder in the garden whilst she was running towards the gate to see Devdas - who lay dying on the road outside, would she have uprooted the damn thing (a la Shekhar Roy) and smashed through the wall to be with Devdas as he breathed his last?

Babel Fish - Boredom Buster

Babel Fish (based on the creature in Douglas Adam's brilliant Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) from Alta Vista is a fairly accurate (tried the reverse translation as well and it made sense most of the time) multi-lingual translation thingy that keeps me entertained when I am bored. It has also helped me grasp some very helpful phrases in Italian, French and Spanish.

Here are some examples: (all translations were made from English to French, Italian etc)

1) Where am I?

Italian : Dove sono?
French : Où suis-je ?
Spanish : ¿Dónde estoy?

2) Where are you taking me, you crazy cab driver?

Italian : Dove state prendendolo, voi driver pazzesco della carrozza?
French : Où me prenez-vous, vous conducteur fou de cabine ?
Spanish : ¿Dónde usted me está tomando, usted conductor loco del taxi?


3) A salad with black olives and feta cheese, one glass red wine and mushroom risotto, please.

Italian : Un'insalata con le olive e formaggio di feta nero, un vino rosso di vetro e risotto del fungo, per favore
French : Une salade avec les olives et le feta noir, un vin rouge de verre et le risotto de champignon, svp
Spanish : Una ensalada con las aceitunas y queso de queso Feta negro, un vino rojo de cristal y risotto de la seta, por favor

4) Football is such a waste of time.

Italian : Il gioco del calcio è un tal spreco di tempo.
French : Le football est une telle perte de temps.
Spanish : El balompié es tal pérdida de tiempo.

5) ET phone home

Italian : ET telefono domestico
French : ET téléphone à la maison
Spanish : ET teléfono casero

6) Go ahead, make my day

Italian : Vada avanti, faccia il mio giorno
French : Allez-y, faites mon jour
Spanish : Vaya a continuación, haga mi día

7) I'll be back

Italian : Sarò indietro
French : Je serai de retour
Spanish : Estaré detrás

8) Welcome to the Caribbean

Italian : Benvenuto ai Caraibi
French : Bienvenue vers les Caraïbes
Spanish : Recepción al Caribe

9) Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn

Italian : Franco il mio caro, non dò una maledizione
French : Franchement mon cher, je ne me soucie guère
Spanish : Franco mi querido, no doy una maldición

10) I would never call you a rat. I'm your best friend.

Italian : Mai non li denominerei un ratto. Sono il vostro amico migliore.
French : Je ne vous appellerais jamais un rat. Je suis votre meilleur ami.
Spanish : Nunca le llamaría una rata. Soy su mejor amigo.

Dinner at Peach Valley

Peach Valley is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Colombo and one of the few places a vegetarian (not all that strict, but I do try) can have a great meal.

Over the years (Peach Valley is about five years old now) I have tried out all the veggie options and the following are now my favorites:

1) Chili Garlic Tofu
    Silken tofu cubes in a very light non-oily sauce - quite spicy and don't let the colour fool you, in spite of the flakes of red chillies, it is not too hot. The garlic flavour is mild, not overpowering.

2) Mock Duck
   This is my all time favourite dish at Peach Valley. I have no idea what duck really tastes like, but I just love Mock Duck. It's made with flour and marinated in possible a dozen spices and flavours and served with a very heavy onion/soy sauce.

3) Mixed Mushrooms
   Another dish served along with garlic sauce, the mushrooms are a very lightly sauteed and taste amazing. There are at least three varieties served and my personal favourite are the button mushrooms.

4) Spicy Prawns
   On the rare days I feel like eating seafood, I order prawns. As spicy and juicy as the prawns served are, they are really really tiny. I mean minuscule. It's still a great choice though and goes really well with the tofu.

Vegetable Fried Rice (with egg) is the perfect choice for each of the above - and a word of caution - a "Small" portion (both rice and vegetables) at Peach Valley is more than sufficient for three adults.

Daily Orange Article on Jon Stewart

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is not just a fake news show - it's probably the most accurate and blunt program on US news broadcast on television today. For those of you who missed out on Stewart's appearance on "Crossfire" - a clip of the show can be downloaded at Photo Matt's blog.

Best E-mail Provider To Date

Of all the free web based e-mail services I have used (and that includes Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Hushmail, Wildmail, Rocketmail and some others which have long been shut down) Fastmail is definitely the most user friendly and fastest. Seriously.

It's been three and a half years since I signed up for an account and no complaints so far. The mailbox limit (10MB) is much less than Gmail - and I use it exclusively for messages only. On the plus side, Fastmail constantly improves its service and is very easy to access even on the slowest connection - including dial up connections.

Odel's New Poster Boy

I like being neutral when it comes to politics here in Sri Lanka but damn, this is one fine picture.

So I'm a Democrat, huh?

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (26% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat The Politics Test

Early Morning Surprise

Whilst walking along Galle Road this morning, I heard someone say "You dropped something". I turned to find a bus conducter gesturing wildly at the pavement behind me. I looked but didn't see anything spectacular. Just as I was turning away, the guy leapt off the bus and picked up a currency note off the pavement and handed it over to me, saying it had fallen out of my book as I was walking. I was really impressed, considering the bad rep most Sri Lankan bus conducters have.......

 

It really made my day.

Firefox Themes

After using Firefox with its default theme for....well, ever - I finally changed it to Noia 2.0. This is one fancy theme, let me tell you. The colors/icons are pretty cool. I was tempted to install Scribblies Kids - but it was a tad too colourful.