All that glitters is gold

I was in the Gold Coast last week and believe me when I say its the best place on earth, ever.

The theme parks were fun. I can see you guys squirm. Not a big fan of theme parks myself. Can you believe it when I say that I have never been to VGP Golden beach. I was in Chennai all my life and I have never been there even once when my cousins from Mumbai and Delhi go there every summer. The only time I was ever in a theme park before was 'MGM Dizee world' and it was so crowded and so hot that I don't have a fond memory of it. And the rides - I believed that only fools loved the rush of adrenalin and go for life-threatening roller-coasters. (euphemism for I am terrfied of the rides).

Eeks! not me. But quite unbelievably, I actually went on and loved the roller coasters in the MovieWorld (dad, if you are reading it, I know how proud of me you are). OK! Loved is a big word... didn't puke and didn't curse my friends is as good as it gets. WB MovieWorld is good fun for those who like movies and for those who like rides. I especially loved when Neo and Trinity walked past me. (It was like they were visiting the Matrix and at any moment would turn to me and say, "Do you think it is air that you are breathing?")

And the Police Academy Stunt show was hilarious. (The show before the actual stunt event was the best silent comedy I have seen. That guy could give all the Jim Carreys and Mike Myers a run for their money. That without even speaking a word)

Sea world on the other hand was more about marine life and though there were a coupla good rides I would say it is mainly for the dolphin and sea lion show, shark feeding, polar bears and the kind. (Again a few people did the Shark Diving - I wouldn't swim with a shark if someone gave me a million dollars... and why the f would someone pay to go swimming with them is beyond my grasp)

If you think that the theme parks was all that was to Gold coast... noooooo.... the best part was the beach. The sand, the waves, the surfers around, the little kids hoping to catch a wave (and the hot chicks tanning themselves) it was everything one could hope for in a beach. Wait a sec... I still wish they had MulagaBajji there. OK! other than that it had everything. We had fun in the water like crazy enjoying soaking ourselves in the warm water (Canberra is already freezing).

We were camping at a place not far from the Gold Coast (in Springbrook national park) and they had some amazing walks. The Purling Brooks Falls and the forest around (is it tropical rainforest, I wonder) were scenic and calming. I would love to stay in a place like that for a coupla months and write a book.

We did drive by Brisbane and what I have seen of it is good - loved the river and the ferry service. You can take a day ticket for just 5 bucks and sit in a Cat all day, travelling between UQ and North Brisbane (Cat is short for Catamaran...i.e. our Kattu Maram. But it is kinda sophisticated..like Muligatawney soup which I am told was Milagu Thanni)

Didn't have much time to go around Brisbane but for the Queen Street Mall (with their frightfully expensive designer labels) and Mount Cootha (for a night skyline view). Ofcourse for a trip like this (we drove from Canberra), the company matters and my friends were fantabulous.

It was, as I said before, the best place I have been to... until next time... is it NZL????

Cinema and Politics

Flower and bee, lotus and sun, salt and pepper, mop and detergent and now... Cinema and Politics.

OK! OK! I accept. Its not just now but since Arignar Anna masterminded this alliance. We have had Anna, Kalaignar, MGR, Janaki (correct me folks! was she ever a chiefminister) and Jayalalitha as our state heads - all of them with a cine background. Include, T.Rajendar, S.Ve.Sekar, Napolean, Sarath Kumar in the list of people representatives. And by no means is this a phenomenon pecuilar to Tamil Nadu - Sunil Dutt, Amitabh, Jaya, Raj Babbar, Arnold Schwazzerneger and Ronald Reagan being the other notables. Now Vijaykanth is an aspirant. Lets not even get started about Rajni. Rajni's leanings can topple governments. (maybe not now - but remember he could and he did)

Add to this the bandwagon of film/television personalities who actively participate in election campaigns and making considerable difference by their presence. Personally I have nothing against a Simran or a Nagma or even a Mumtaz campaigning - I mean it is a democracy and all. But the way cine industry has become a stepping stone to political glory is truly indigestible (remember Nassar in Avvai Shanmugi asking Kamal for a acting role so he can become the chiefminister).

I can well understand if Coke or Pepsi wants Vijay/Surya, Simran/Trisha to sell their products. Do our political parties need them? And what does it say of our political parties?

Its my humble personal opinion that cine artists are way too over-rated as election symbols and more so as politicians. While I admit a Vijaykanth may be no worse than a Thirumavalavan or Ramadas - I would be heaps happier if a Vijaykanth does what he is supposed to, first - entertain. This whole thing about a on-screen hero turning into a 'friend of the needy' points out how Tamil people have been drugged with fantasising. You don't agree????

Tamil Nadu Elections update

Lok Paritran has decided to contest in 12 seats in the forthcoming elections in the state, six of which will be in Chennai. No surprises here as they have a greater chance of wooing Chennaiites than say Vridachalam, where the erstwhile Captain is soliciting votes successfully if we have to believe Sudhish's account. LP is also contesting from Rasipuram in Salem district which is kinda surprising. Rasipuram, ofcourse is famous for producing State-Firsts year after year in the HSC exams. I wonder if that has got anything to do with LP's decision - a town that takes its education seriously is more likely to vote for a party like LP. I guess.

The alliances (some shameless and some merely oppurtunistic) and seat-sharings are behind us. Anyway with election promises varying from the outright silly (colour TV for all families) to unlikely (free electricity) to positively probable but incredibly difficult (interlinking of rivers within the state), the elections promise to be interesting. Chennai, especially will be interesting to watch.

Anyway I hope that all the political parties will involve themselves in debates of policy than mudslinging contests. Seriously ppl, we are not interested in how many people you or your kith/kin slept with, whether you are 'true' Tamil blood, your views on Kushboo's views or how many pairs of sandals you have/had.

The Tamil people have historically alternated between DMK and ADMK, swinging from one to another. However, there is a general optimism with Amma's performance at the helm of affairs that it is quite likely that she may return to power. But its too early to make any predictions. Lets wait and see what the opposition has up its sleeve. I do hope that Amma (or whoever comes to power) doesn't commit the same mistakes Mr.Chandrababu Naidu did - concentrating all the development work on one city, and do give us a well-governed prosperous Tamil Nadu.

Fool

Fools day was past and he was happy that no body managed fooling him. Keeping yourself locked in a closet helps. And as midnight stuck he came out of hiding, satisifed with his achievement. Checked his missed calls (none), angry messages (only one - from boss), etc. Logged on the internet, checked his mail and read a few blogs. And thats when he came across the Lazy Geek at rkram.blogspot.com. Ram, an old friend of his had written a blog review praising LG this and that. Curiosity is what killed the cat, you see, he wanted to see it for himself and came acorss this blogpost at LG. Google Romance it declared was being introduced. Readers may well know by now that this person was a big-time sucker (I mean who in the right mind would hide himself in a closet to stop others from making a fool of him) and immediately wanted to find his soulmate. He, needless to say went to the Google Romance website and tried uploading his profile (in which he was smart, handsome and sensitive). And this is what he found - 'Profile Upload Rejected'. He felt incredibly stupid and his only consolation was that he wasn't fooled on the 1st of April (like being fooled on other days doesn't matter). Too bugged to go to sleep he switched on the tele to watch the late-night news. The pretty newsreader announced, "Daylight savings came into effect today. Viewers are reminded to set their clocks an hour back. The ACT Emergency services recommends that batteries are changed in all smoke alarms today. The time now is 5 minutes to midnight..." He didn't hear the rest.