The superstar is excited about his latest assignment to play Nair San in a biopic to be shot in India, Japan and Mongolia, reports Utpal Borpujari

Mohanlal, Malayalam cinema’s superstar and one of India’s finest actors, has essayed many a fascinating character in his long screen career, working with some top directors. So, when he says that rarely does an actor come across a role like that of Nair San, one has to sit up and take it seriously. Indeed, Nair San, a film in Japanese and Malayalam to be directed by Chennai Film Institute alumni Albert has all the potential to be great cinema.

To be shot extensively in Japan as well as India and Mongolia, the film also has action superhero Jackie Chan in a cameo, and while Mohanlal will obviously act in the title role of Nair San, the film’s makers are considering Mumbai star Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Lara Dutta and Japanese actress Koyuki for major roles.

Nair San’s is a story waiting to be told. Like so many great heroes of India’s Freedom Struggle whose stories have never travelled outside their respective regions, his story too has remained restricted mostly within Kerala. Addressed as Nair San by the Japanese, Ayyappan Pillai Madhavan Nair’s life story is a captivating one. A highly-respected industrialist in Japan, Thiruvananthapuram-born Nair had gone to Japan as an engineering student during the Freedom Struggle. The story goes that he was sent so that he was kept away from his rebellious activities back home.

But in Japan, he got in touch with the likes of Subhash Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, Pratap Singh, Barkatullah and many others, and, in fact, went on to become Netaji’s Japanese translator as well as a key member of the Indian National Army. Though he actively campaigned against the British from Japan and some other Asian countries, he kept himself away from politics after India’s Independence. He was awarded the order of Merit of the Sacred Treasure by Emperor Hirohito in 1984. And not to be forgotten, it was he who had raised a protest when after India won the 1964 Olympics hockey gold in Tokyo, the Pakistani national anthem was played by mistake.

With scope to perform a great character like this, Mohanlal is visibly worked up. As he says, “See, I am from a place called Kerala, and once is a blue moon, actors like me get the chance to do a film like this.” Around 160 days shooting of the film will be done in Japan and Mongolia, he says.

“Nair San’s is a story that deserves to be told in such a big scale, as his life was an extraordinary one. I am sure Albert will be able to bring him alive in an international standard film,” Mohanlal says.

Albert, whose debut film Kanne Madanguka in 2005 was screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa as part of Indian Panorama, got the idea to make the film when he tried to find out about the Nair San Hall near his house at Mudavanmugal in Thiruvananthapuram. He found out more details about the man from a Tamil translation of Nair’s biography, and was immediately taken in by the persona behind the man. In his director’s note on the film, Albert says, “The topic is so thrilling that it will surely capture the mind of the cinema lovers all over the world.”

With music by A R Rahman, the film with an estimated budget of 12.5 million dollars will surely be a film worth waiting for.

 (Published in Sakaal Times, www.sakaaltimes.com, 10-10-2008)

Fué un gran científico, capaz de desarrollar la teoría más revolucionaria de la Física tanto sólo sentado frente a un papel y pensado en ello. Quizás como consecuencia de la segunda guerra mundial, por la que tuvo que huir de Alemania, fue un pacifista convencido, y dió mucha muestras de ello, como por ejemplo en sus citas. Aunque se le concedió el premio nobel no fue debido a su teoría más revolucionaria, sino al efecto fotoeléctrico que por supuesto también lo merecía.

Desde luego Einstein ha sido una persona de la que tenemos mucho que aprender y no me refiero únicamente a física.

Os dejo algunas de sus citas:

• Todos somos muy ignorantes. Lo que ocurre es que no todos ignoramos las mismas cosas.
• Si buscas resultados distintos, no hagas siempre lo mismo.
• Hay dos cosas infinitas: el Universo y la estupidez humana. Y del Universo no estoy seguro.
• Yo nunca pienso en el futuro. Llegua bastante rápido.
• Cuando me preguntaron sobre algún arma capaz de contrarrestar el poder de la bomba atómica yo sugerí la mejor de todas: La paz.
• Es un milagro que la curiosidad sobreviva a la educación reglada.
• El hombre encuentra a Dios detrás de cada puerta que la ciencia logra abrir.
• El mundo no está en peligro por las malas personas sino por aquellas que permiten la maldad.
• Hay dos maneras de vivir su vida: una como si nada es un milagro, la otra es como si todo es un milagro.
• Cada día sabemos más y entendemos menos.
• En los momentos de crisis, sólo la imaginación es más importante que el conocimiento.
• ¡Triste época la nuestra! Es más fácil desintegrar un átomo que un prejuicio.
• Si tu intención es describir la verdad, hazlo con sencillez y la elegancia déjasela al sastre.
• El azar no existe; Dios no juega a los dados.
• No entiendes realmente algo a menos que seas capaz de explicarselo a tu abuela.
• El que no posee el don de maravillarse ni de entusiasmarse más le valdría estar muerto, porque sus ojos están cerrados.
• No guardes nunca en la cabeza aquello que te quepa en un bolsillo.
• No tengo talentos especiales, pero sí soy profundamente curioso.
• Las proposiciones matemáticas, en cuanto tienen que ver con la realidad, no son ciertas; y en cuanto que son ciertas, no tienen nada que ver con la realidad.
• La alegría de ver y entender es el más perfecto don de la naturaleza.
• ¿Qué sabe el pez del agua donde nada toda su vida?.
• La diferencia entre el pasado, el presente y el futuro es sólo una ilusión persistente.
• Educación es lo que queda después de olvidar lo que se ha aprendido en la escuela.
• La belleza no mira, sólo es mirada.
• Si no puedo dibujarlo, es que no lo entiendo.
• Lo importante es no dejar de hacerse preguntas.
• La palabra progreso no tiene ningún sentido mientras haya niños infelices.
• La mayoría de las ideas fundamentales de la ciencia son esencialmente sencillas y, por regla general pueden ser expresadas en un lenguaje comprensible para todos.
• La vida es hermosa, vivirla no es una casualidad.
• La formulación de un problema, es más importante que su solución.
• Si no chocamos contra la razón nunca llegaremos a nada.
• Se debe hacer todo tan sencillo como sea posible, pero no más sencillo.
• Dios es sofisticado, pero no malévolo.
• Lo más incomprensible del mundo es que sea comprensible.

¿Cúal es la que os gusta más?

Fuentes: provervia.net, frasesdehoy.com,

No, it's not as funny as I'd planned.

Also... don't expect any new Captain Relativity episodes any time soon. I'm being swamped by homework and applications...

Kyau vs. Albert Feat Damae - Velvet Morning.

What a tune. Now this is a massive trance hit, something quite spectacular.
The main thing running for this tune is the vocals. Without a doubt some of the most uplifting, subtle vocals to ever grace a clubfloor. I haven't heard this one out yet but I'm sure its something that creates a lot of atmosphere, gets the crowd in unity and driving forward.

Exceptional it really it is. No matter what you like you will undoubtedly enjoy the vocals on the this track.

Last FM listing - http://www.last.fm/music/Kyau+vs.+Albert/_/Velvet+Morning

Enjoy :)
If you did, then check out there homepage as they've just released a new track.

 Do you think this is true?

 If so, why?

 If you disagree, what brings you to that conclusion?

 What are the examples in your life to prove/disprove this statement?

the rests are details"

= Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) =

Albert Einstein is a german-born theoretical physicist. Well-known for his theory of relativity and mass energy equivalence, E = mc ².  Einstein received Nobel price in Physics in 1921 for his Theoritical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of photoelectric effect.

Vista castello dalla collina interna.

Ingresso alla festa: 2,50€, bicchiere e portabicchiere: 5€, l'allegria che c'era nell'aria: non ha prezzo. Le vie del paese erano sovraffollate di gente di tutti i tipi, c'erano i carri allgorici, un "mattacchione" che faceva il karaoke, una fila di bambini del'asilo che cantava l'inno di Mameli, masticando una gomma come i calciatori.
Gli assaggi del vino, tutti rigorosamente GRATUITI ed INFINITI, venivano allestiti nel castelletto della città. Anche qui ritrovo stranamente vecchia gente, vecchi compagni di classe, gente del mio paese, e addirittura uno dei due tipi conosciuti al Wellington venerdì sera, che non avendo letto il blog, si è ricordato di noi, ma di più di Koala, al quale non ha sprecato un baciamano. L'atmosfera era veramente quella dell'allegria e ancor di più del rilassamento totale. Dopo alcuni assaggi abbiamo acquistato diverse bottiglie di vino, e ci siamo adagiati sulla collinetta laterale, qui c'era un sacco di gente, tutti ragazzi dai 20 ai 30 anni come noi, pieni di bottiglie e di cibo, a ridursi, bevendo, nell'allegria e nei boati da stadio che ogni tanto partivano dal nulla.
Insomma, sotto il sole, una beata domenica di relax, che si è conclusa al Boxer guardando vincere il derby della mia squadra del cuore. Tutto bene direi, l'anno prossimo si organizza un bel pullman e si fa una gita a San Colombano.

...fino ai fuochi d'artificio però...

A sign at the V&A.

Via my friend Lloyd Davis's Flickr photostream, used under a Creative Commons non-commercial share-alike licence.

Scientists at Oxford University have begun to take a closer look at an early invention from the great Albert Einstein in order to hopefully create refrigerators (and appliances in general) that could be used completely without electricity. Back in the day, Sir Albert created a mechanism that had no moving parts and used only pressurized gases to keep things chilly. Once compressors became more efficient in the 50s, however, the idea was tossed aside. Now, the idea obviously has greater appeal, and if things keep humming along nicely, a completed prototype should be erected by the year's end.

If ever there was a candidate for a real life Freddy Krueger, it'd be Albert Fish. I've read up on many serial killers over the years, but I had never heard of Albert Fish, until now.

This movie is actually a documentary about Fish's crimes with various experts giving their reasons why Fish did what he did. What did he do? What did he not do!

Fish was born in 1870 in to a family of metal illness. From 1924 to 1932 he kidnapped, tortured, killed and ate several children. Yes, he ate them. He was convicted of one main murder, Grace Budd, admitted to several others, but could well have done many more.

Fish was a firm believer in the Bible, his mentality though seems to take the Bible literally, and his entire modus operandi seemed to have been that pain equals purity. After his main killing (Grace Budd) he says in a letter (to the little girls mother) that he didn't rape her, she died a virgin. He seemed to think that his would martyr her in some way. The letter is sickening and can be read at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fish#The_letter. Imagine grieving the loss of your young child, receiving that letter through the post, being illiterate, and having to get your son to read it to you. Well, that's what happened.

Fish's wife left him and this seemed to be the beginning of his descent in to madness, he began seeing visions of Jesus and used to torture himself by inserting needles in to his waist area and whipping himself in front of pictures of Jesus. He even admitted this to his own children, this was proved by x-rays done while he was in prison.

After a reign of several years, Fish was eventually caught via the letter he sent to Mrs. Budd. He was sentenced to dead in the electric chair.

The documentary uses new footage edited to look, and sound, like old 1930's footage, not done very convincingly, but it looks ok. Much of what we know about Fish came from discussions he had in prison after his conviction, this is narrated by a voice actor, the accent is a bit corny, but the actor portraying Fish in recreated scenes does well given the fact that he's acting out some strange things with no dialogue. There's no real gore to speak of except for some blood and wound effects in some whipping scenes.

All in all, a good documentary given that there's no actual interview audio/footage of Fish to see (just a few photos).

Worth a visit if you're ever around SW6 / South Kensington. Particularly enjoyed the collection of vintage Fila clothing, trainers and my favourite: a fixed gear bike, the result of a collaboration between Paul Smith and Derbyshire's finest bike builders - Mercian. I also highly recommended the V&A tea room (past the Madjeski garden bit) and particularly their fine selection of crisps.

Un article pour dire "Merci" a son Altesse Sérénissime, le Prince Albert II de Monaco, pour avoir acheté 5 TER, a près de 50 millions d'euros, qui feront le trajet Grasse-Vintimille en utilisant le réseaux SNCF PACA. Pourquoi ce "Merci", tous simplement parce qu'avec l'ajout de ces 5 trains, cela nous, voyageurs, feras un TER toutes les 15min à partir du 15 Décembre.

J'espère que ces nouvelles rames pourront enrayer les problèmes de retard et de supression de TER, qui me foute bien dans la merde à toute heures de la journée.
EDIT: 2 photos du train

PLOT:

The film is about Melanie Porter (Raven-Symone) who is an extremely smart 17-year-old college-bound girl who is getting ready to graduate from high school but really wants to go to Georgetown University. However, her over-protective father, Chief James Porter (Martin Lawrence) isn't ready for her to leave home and study so far away from home. Porter has other plans for Melanie; he wants her to go to Northwestern University which is 28 minutes away from their home. Porter also receives problems from his wife (Kym Whistley) disagreements, the family pig Albert, who continuously annoys him, and his youngest son Trey, who spends much time with the pig. Melanie gets invited by a scout, who saw her mock trial performance, to an interview for Georgetown. Melanie gets invited by her two best friends Nancy (Brenda Song) and Katie (Margo Harshman) to join them on their college road trip to Philadelphia. Melanie is all set to go with her friends until her father surprises her with his own college road trip to Washington, D.C. On their journey, Porter still sees his seventeen-year-old daughter as a young child, while Melanie tries to get him to treat her like a woman.

On their way, Melanie reluctantly visits Northwestern to take a tour. Porter secretly fixes the tour as everyone turns out to be actors, some screaming at Melanie they lost an eye at Georgetown. Melanie almost falls for it until on of the actors says to her "Yeah, the chief's a pretty smart guy", since he never met Porter. Melanie is now more upset at her father.

Their car soon breaks down on the side of the road, in which they find Trey in the trunk with Albert, with a supply of oxygen, who Porter says will soon send him meet back to his wife.

They stop at a hotel (thanks to Albert's navigating) but end up causing trouble due to Albert eating coffe beans and becoming hyperactive and ruining a wedding. They later met an an extremely happy father and daughter duo, Doug (Donny Osmond) and Wendy (Molly Ephraim), who are on their own college road trip. The two offer Melanie and James a ride since James' car broke down.

Melanie and her father become quickly annoyed, due to their consant singing, unusual greeting. They soon bond on the trip when Melanie remembers their song together on a tour bus, and tried to work out their differences. It is almost broken when she goes to a sorority house her friends and she has been anticipating, in which Porter intrudes, but they end up forgiving each other at the airport. After dropping off Trey, they must bungee jump down.

When they reach their destination, Melanie and James have learned a great deal about one another and from one another. In the ending James copes with letting go and the closing scene is when the whole family have a Thanksgiving dinner and Melanie introduces her friend Tracy (who is a guy, played by Benjamin Patterson). James learns to cope with this fact, but Doug's daughter announces her engagement to Scooter (Lucas Grabeel) which causes Doug to freak out and attack him.

Deleted scenes include an alternate opening where James foils a bank robbery and a phone conversation where Michelle Porter hears Melanie's and James's complaints while trying to sell a house. The couple think she is talking to another buyer and decide to buy the house themselves.

REVIEW:

It seemed like it was just yesterday that Raven was little Olivia on The Cosby Show an Martin had his own show on Fox. Now look at them, starring together in a hilarious Disney comedy!

This movie brings back memories of my trips to colleges, altough none of those were anywhere nearas eventful as these.

Martin Lawrence is very believable as an overprotective father than no one headed to college would want to have.

Raven proves she's a very talented actress, as if we didn't know.

It's not exactly clear where the family got the pig, but he's involved in some of the funniest parts of the film. The little brother is destined for big things in the future.

THe plot is flawless and the film is hilarious. What more do I need to say!

5 out of 5 stars

Well, folks, we'll see how often I update after this -- I'm staring down the barrel of a computer change, and the beginning of a new school year. Never fear, however: we're almost done with Higgs Newton. One way or another...

Altii il foloseau acum 10 ani.

TRU  stie : "Programul PD-L se numeşte „Gândim altfel”. Însă valoarea vine tocmai din capacitatea de a gândi la fel (...)"  Ehei boBOCUle cum le zici 'mneata, mai rar cineva...

Albert and Seymore have it figured out.

Speaking of that hallway, I've had an infra-red monitor in that hallway the past few nights because Cheryl and I keep hearing footsteps walking up and down that hallway the past several weeks. Of course, since I've put the sensor there, we haven't heard any footsteps. 

Well, a couple of nights ago, I kept hearing what I thought was the infra-red main unit going off indicating that something was walking in the hallway. I mentioned it to Cheryl (we were in bed) but she didn't hear anything, except for a beep indicating movement in the basement. I was stunned that I thought I could hear it and she couldn't. Her hearing is much better than mine is. 

Well, last night she went to bed around 10:30, and I didn't go to bed until around 1:45 am. I'm a huge poker fan, and I was watching the World Poker tour, and the World Series of Poker on television. I did walk into the bedroom a couple of times and I was relieved that the loud screeching beep announcing that I was coming down the hall didn't go off waking Cheryl up. I assumed that Cheryl turned the unit off before she went to bed. Well, I thought I'd leave well enough alone since we weren't hearing footsteps in the hall, the stairwell, or sounds of "furniture" being moved in the basement anymore, and I didn't bother to turn it back on. 

This morning when I woke up I walked out into the hallway and wouldn't you know it? The damned infra-red beeping woke me up completely! It's a loud, screeching sort of beep, and the one in the hallway is set to go off three times. 

So why didn't it go off last night when Cheryl was sleeping? I don't have a clue. The only thing I can come up with is that the spirits are very protective of Cheryl. They didn't want her waking up unnecessarily. 

I thought Cheryl may have gotten up in the middle of the night and gone down the hall to turn the main unit on, but she could not have gotten back to the bedroom without setting it off. There isn't a delay function that would have allowed her to do so.