mj

rip. king. mj.

this transformers movie

if you're a fan, go watch it. if you're a fan from the start of the cartoon many years ago, go watch it and I hope you don't come out cursing. if you're a sucker for mindless actions movies from Michael Bay, go watch. go with 'no hope', no expectations. this is a 2.5 hours advertisement for the now dead GM and the US Army. it has the worst acting possible ever for a summer movie this year because it has that 'Shia LaBeouf' dude in it. I felt, after watching this, that Terminator 4 was a decent movie.

my take: total crap. but who cares.

girl from chennai

wishing you a happy married life :)




[/] girl from chennai

disappearing paradises

sunset at the trans-eastern highway, originally uploaded by Ghost Particle.

We first ventured to the Pedu near the borders of Malaysia/ Thailand about 5 years ago. The highway in the picture was under construction then, and there was an original route that ran through pristine and rare rain forest. It navigates along the Pedu (and Beris )lake which is a huge man made lake. The giant Tualang tree grows in this forests and can reach heights of 250 feet, on which the Asian Rock Honey Bee's build their nests.

I was under the impression that the project was stalled, but today we found out its still going on. This magnificent sunset captured from the highway that was carved out of paradise has a dark agenda hidden beneath it. The original scenic route that passes along the Pedu lake was destroyed to make way for a more direct route. Hills were blasted, and the land was mutilated to build this highway. There are still a few vantage points to view the lake, but the surroundings are gone for good. The lake itself is a famous fishing spot, but the signs of ongoing development, of which, this particular highway has been going on for nearlly 10 years, has damaged the site permanently. I wonder who wants to use this lost highway, since the state itself is very well connected for so many years. And how did a Conservation Forest such as this been allowed to be developed...

I was just chatting with Neha about how our cities and towns are being spaced out, and I guess this will always be a forward development rather than waiting for anyone to take a back step to consider nature. One day you will wake up to see your backyard gone, one day maybe you will step out to an alien land. Think about it...maybe you can change the situation in your communities.

[/] My Pedu Flickr Set

[/] Tualang Tree (with pics)

false prophets

some days even the mindless ramblings will evolve into something stupid, with a life of its own and noise that permeates the invisible halls of the Internet. the noise is everywhere, it blinds you. you can actually see the noise suffocating you like haze on a scorching hot and humid day. and when you seek the origin, you see false prophets. the preachers from every road you take, the spreader of hate and hope. you don't need to take a class to know who to trust and not to. people will be preaching till butterfly flies out of their arses to change you. and you must not. you change when you have the will and power to change yourself. and don't believe the false prophets, they seek gratification, ego, lust, power and justification for being loud. they shout, they bite. but you don't stop to throw stones at all dogs. as a matter of fact, you don't have to stop at all. whats holding you back, unless you choose the believe the insane. the windows into their brain, the washing of their yesterdays. their lives are mundane, they are insignificant.

you are empowered, you are destined to achieve many things from your persistent chiseling on the walls of this universe. you believe and you achieve. you don't have the wrath of god, or the limitations of the society to fear. these are the false prophets. there is a false prophet at every corner of the road and they are there to make you break your promises. the promises you make to yourself everyday, in the morning to make this day the best. you walk your path to achieve your efforts. achieve, and get the results. that's what matters, results. nothing else. the result is the journey, when you stack your results you look at a great journey to the future. no regrets, no wrath, no vengeance just you and your world and the ones who are happy for you. take not a step backward. beware of false prophets. but don't be afraid of them.

(i don't have disclaimers for this post, these words are collections of wisdom's from my research years, from many nights of deciphering humans and the universe)

playgrounds

playgrounds are changing,
spending time figuring new games,
rather than playing the existing rules

[/]My Flickr

rare sunsets

the tanjung dawai sunset is (or was) as illusive as ever. after trying for ages, finally managed to capture one without cloud cover at all. it was really a sight to behold.
[more in my Flickr]

[+] seriously swamped with work, managed to get my projects set, company setting up nicely. working on some neat ideas to be launched very soon :) Oh btw...the new iPhone 3GS has a Malay UI. Hoping for Indian languages next year. :)

some scapes i dont have control

today i experienced the most ethereal feeling ever in a very long time. something akin to the passing time stopping still, having no meaning to an everlasting night. the darkness and the stars the only constant in this still world. what mattered were the humans, and the minds that roam the universe.

and among all this, among lost voices, serene starscapes, cool breezes and magical music, i felt the fragility of the human spirit, in me. never having the ability to know if things are happening too fast, developing out of control, for the good or for worst, the feeling of being fragile is similar to death.

rendering the extremes

a ghost call woke me up, but there were no flash of light or even the magical beginning of fort minors where'd you go. its another day i woke up in my dream. this lucids are getting too chaotic, im loosing control over the places i want to travel.

knowing well im paralyzed in the real world and sensing only the humid air blown around by the ceiling fan which have been torturing itself for weeks now to bring some sanity to me. it is my marker to know whether im awake or not. it too failed me alot of times. i never know when im awake, i would just be falling out of dreams for hours before something real, some human wake me up.

this happened around December last year, the ghost call. i woke up, no calls and went to the window. it was a beautiful day and in the far horizon I could see wind swept mountain tops. the details were mesmerizing as the soft ice blankets are blown in slow motion into nothingness. it is a dream, i realized, but not the one i set out to live that night. i went out of the front door just to watch in fleeting moments the mountains and white snow changing into glass structures of buildings and houses. people were looking at the sky. i could see some of the usual characters of my lucids together with me now. the blue sky was rendered cloudless in a few seconds as bright flashes of light swept from all corners of the world. people were still affixed at the sky experiencing the whole event, speechless i can only assume. in a minute or two the clear ultra blue sky turned silvery grey and then blobs of what may be particles or nano machines appeared. they were slowly eating the sky and in the breaks were fire akin to the boiling surface of the sun. in that moment of panic i woke up. i had the same dream repeating twice more. then it ended.

probably it was a vision of end days when the sun swallows the near planets of the solar system.

[more strange days]

unending journeys and graveyards

there was always this fixation with long journeys. it started from all those mysterious bus journeys when i was a kid. though the memories are vague now, I could still remember a few vivid moments, tragic at most times. bus journeys used to take half a day back then before the highway was build. And the longest would be one whole day from one end of the peninsular to the other.

but thats not the story. the story was how this passion for travelling took many twisted turns, painful yet liberating. it was always The university that provided the starting point for many adventures. knowing, and threading new roads with the assurance that the earth wont open up and eat you. try holding up a wide eyed wanderer too long, and this is what happens.

and hence, the first real long journey was not far. it was during the ragging, an universal indian tradition in universities around the world, that took me out, exorcised the ghost in me. i was dumped at a graveyard along with a few unfortunate souls to sit out the night. and the catch, since there is always one, is to bring back some souvenirs from the realm of the dead. much easier was getting the frangipani flower, rather than trying to break some shards from tombstones. nope, no digital cameras back then, not with me anyway.

that one jump was turned into a whole night of salvation hunting. suddenly the graveyards opened up into fields where we looked for glory. for bragging rights and stories for generations. we ran and played hide and seek, we shouted and dreamed the stars away. there was no ghost. the next day, we volunteered for this 'punishment' again with another group of intrigued seniors. and the next as well.

a few years after, in another travel through the eastern jungles of the peninsular we rode through many graveyards, many afterlife homes. they have the best stories, they let the best imaginations work. if the travel was with equally goofy dudes, you get the most horrific tales laced with sex and adventure. but it was with the lorry drives that you get the most real stories complete with battle scars. and that is when all the fear you worked to exorcise over the years come hunt you again, every night. never challenge a true story teller, especially if he has a reputation at it. like when he says at around 2.45 am every day a bald ghost with burning head walks from the graveyards over the hills, you dont laugh at him. because when you do see one, maybe not a clear vision, but when you do see some fire floating in air walking towards the road at 2.45 am sharp, you rather wish to be dead. try starting a conversation after that. you'd be lucky if you dont fall sick for a week or two. but seeing stuff at a distance is much better than getting ambushed by vampires on trees. or your friendly early morning trekker waving at you in all white. or the black bald men of the old federal roads.

i have forgotten the exact routes but have always remembered the tales. i will be making another journey along the eastern routes in the near future. maybe this time ill be lucky enough to document some...

yawn

serious yawn. i dont know if I have lost the plot, or the blog-o-village have devolved. go figure :)