Vikram Goyal's Weblog

Last night before going home, I had to make a stop to pick some books for Shellie from the local library (Indooroopilly branch for the people who are local). After several minutes of scratching my head and not being able to find what I wanted, even after looking up the right section in the immensely unhelpful and slow search system on the computers, I approached a library staff. She was nice, courteous, polite, soft spoken and went out of her way to help me. A thought stuck my head while she was in the back office looking for the books that I wanted in the recently returned segment. I have never had a bad customer service experience in a library. I thought and thought, and could not come up with a single example. Not here in Australia, not in the US and not in India. Never!

What is with these library staff. What will it take to ruffle their feathers? When will they become the equivalent of the St. George Bank staff? Surely, they must get at-least a customer a day who insists that he/she has returned the book with the overdue fines. Surely, they must have to deal with a lot of simpletons like me who could look in the next section and find the book that they want but choose not to and want personal service. Surely.

But no. They are always nice and friendly, without making you feel like an idiot. Does the fact that they are working in a library, where you are expected to keep your voices low, anything to do with it?

In the end, we couldn't find the book that I was after, and she very helpfully placed it on hold for me. She went a step further and didn't even charge me the holding fee. See what I mean! No wonder I like libraries so much. If only the commercial establishments had a no speaking sign.

Posted by vikram at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Indian Express has an article on the current crisis (What else is new?) in Indian cricket. I agree and it doesn't apply to just Cricket, although, as I have said before and here, the Aussies need to let go off Ponting.
So the Aussie's can't let go off Ponting and India cannot let Ganguly go as captains. Hmmm.. Although, Ponting is playing much better than Ganguly (a century against Zimbabwe doesn't count) so on form Ponting has a case for inclusion in the team at least.

Posted by vikram at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (2)

We went to the Black Eyed Peas concert on Friday night. The trouble with such concerts is that if you aren't really into the group or that kind of music, or stone punched drunk, you cannot hope to enjoy them.

The trouble, conversely, with the group itself was that if they have only 3-4 hit songs, they cannot sustain your interest for very long, and that is the way the concert was for the whole night. Their hit songs mixed with a variety of unknowns, where even the people in the mosh pit had no idea whether to tap to or wave their arms or what, just lounge around. Make no mistake, the name sells tickets, and the concert was sold out but it lacked energy.

We are off to another concert this Friday, the Coke Live tour which has a variety of other bands most famous being Spiderbait and the Living end. With a variety show like this, it should be more interesting.

Posted by vikram at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

For the last few months, we have been following RockStar INXS which is shown here in Australia on FOX8 on cable.

So with bated breath we were waiting for the last show to be telecast last night to find out who the winner was. All day I avoided looking at the Internet in case I saw the news of who actually won (the actual show was telecast in the States the night before), on the way home I switched off the radio in case they had it on air and when I got home, I studiously avoided the first twenty minutes of the days news on Channel 9 in case they revealed the winner.

So what does Channel 9 do? They reveal the winner in the last section of the days news! And yes, there were no warnings, no "turn off your TV now" moment. They just showed the winner being declared. I was so mad, I wanted to screeeammm! For months I have followed this program on cable and for months I have had my favourites and for it to end like this!!

It's just a travesty of the TV programming in Australia that Free-To-Air channels just don't follow any rules of engagement. They cut and chop programs, reveal what they want when they want, mess with their schedules and dump a load of crappy local programming without actually caring for their viewers.

For months RockStar INXS has been on the cable channel and never, never did free-to-air say anything about the show or care for it. And now, finally when the show is declaring their winner, they unceremoniously take the mickey out of the whole thing and pretend to care. ARRGGGHHHH.

I vented by ringing Channel 9 in Brisbane. The receptionist, bless her, was sympathetic and knew what I was ringing about without me saying a word. In the last 30 seconds, she had already fielded dozen of calls on the topic.

The sad thing is, they won't learn from the experience and nothing will ever change. I would solely blame Channel 9, but the other channels are no better, they all showed the footage to unsuspecting viewers. After all, if they hadn't cared about the show so far, you really didn't expect them to start caring all of a sudden did you.

I can't even just blame free-to-air TV for this behavior either. When Channel 7 was screening the newest season of The Amazing Race, Arena on cable was already showing footage of the winners repeatedly in some promotions.

I guess free-to-air and cable feed of each other, and nothing will ever change.

Posted by vikram at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

We saw Tim Burton's Charlie and the Choclate Factory on Friday. While the movie was good (in a predictable sense), I was really annoyed with the subtitles in the movie.

I am not sure if this is only in Australia, for this movie alone, or through out the world, or maybe just for our cinema hall (Brisbane City Myer Centre) but all through the movie, we had English subtitles for an English movie! It was almost like someone had put the closed captioning on and had forgotten to take it off.

To say it was annoying is stating the obvious. When the opening credits came, we were told that loud suspenseful music is playing; through the movie we knew what the characters were saying before they could say it themselves. It's very hard to try and not look at the subtitles.

I wanted to go out and complain and at least find out why this is the case. Is it going to be like this for every movie now? Unfortunately, I forgot about it as soon as I came out because I ran into someone we knew.

Anybody know why we were treated to subtitles?

Posted by vikram at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Australian IT reports:

"Microsoft has lost its bid to stop a forming executive working for its rival, Google, in China"

What, pray, is a 'forming' executive?

Posted by vikram at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (9)

We have a show here in Australia called Dancing with the stars where B grade celebrities dance with professional dancers and are voted off each week. Apparently, the show has taken off in the US as well.

I have no problem with the show, and quite like the dances each week. But I am little worried about Dawn Fraser (former swim champ and a grandma) doing the Rumba. Uggh. It was, in all honestly, cringe worthy, with Dawn Fraser trying sexy moves. Too much for my liking.

Posted by vikram at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok. So England won. Clap-Clap.

As I had said earlier, don't write off the Aussies yet, and they gave a hell of a fight on the last day but could not get past KP.

Great great series, I can't wait for the English to come to Australia. I hope the teams remain as competitive, which is unlikely as I think several heads will roll in the Aussie team. The one that I would like to see go is Ponting's. At least, remove him from captaincy till he learns to be respectful on the field.

Posted by vikram at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the weekend, Shellie and I saw Salaam Namaste, a Bollywood movie which has been shot entirely in Melbourne.

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. Very rarely have I heard such “normal� dialogues in a Hindi movie. Saif Ali Khan’s interactions with his friend played by Arshad Warsi while talking about marriage and relationships were what I would say are a step away from regular Bollywood stuff.

The movie is entertaining. The topic is offbeat, but that is not the main selling point. If the movie was trying to send a 70’s style message about relationships then I guess it succeeded, but I enjoyed interactions between actors and some of the funny moments.

Javed Jaffery was funny as an Indian Crocodile Dundee. Some of the other characters were loud (the boss at the studio, the boss in the kitchen) and very stereotyped (Is every Australian girl easy and wears next to nothing?), but fine performances by Saif and Arshad. Preity was ok. Tania Zaetta as Arshad’s wife didn’t have much of a role but whatever she got she did as expected. What was with the Robin Williams inspired forgetful doctor cameo by Abhishek Bachan (it was him right?)? Very lame.

Posted by vikram at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

I think all this talk of England winning the Ashes is a bit premature. All that I have read in the papers, followed on the Internet and seen on TV seems to suggest that Australia will not be retaining the Ashes this time around. Hang on there!

There is still one match to go. If Australia win this match, they WILL retain the Ashes. Even though England is 2-1 ahead, they could still lose.

People seem to forget that this Australian team is the same team that has dominated World cricket for so long and for good reason too. They outplayed the English in the first game. The core of the team hasn't changed. They are quite the fighters and professionals and I would be very very surprised if they went down without a fight. Infact, I would go so far as to say that the odds of Australia winning are higher than England drawing or winning the last game.

I think Ponting is a bit of a waste in the captaincy arena. He might be a fine batsman but he has shown a very sad side to himself by throwing a tantrum at being run out. If he can keep his wits on him, he may be able to command his troops better than Vaughan, who is riding the wave.

One other thing that is in favor of the Aussies is the return of Mcgrath for them and the absence of Jones for the English. That has gotta hurt the English. Oh, and the Aussies have Warnie too. He is playing like a man possessed (for non-cricketing reasons) and I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the surprise hero of the final Test.

For the English, Flintoff is doing great. The openers are a bit suspect, especially with Mcgrath returning. The middle order is aslo not as stable. If only they would not open the bubblies before it really is time they might be able to hold on and go for a draw. Actually, going for a draw might not be the best way to play. I think the strategy must be to go for a win.

All in all, after a really long time, I am looking forward to a great game. Gotta get ready to bunker down for the late nights....

Posted by vikram at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Followed a link via Amit Varma's blog entry on a Rock festival getting cancelled at the last minute due to the police commissioners dislike of Rock festivals.

Besides the fact that the reason for cancelling the show at the last minute is preposterous, I can't help but look at this list in amazement. This list is the number of places the poor organizer had to go to get the show approved in the first place. And he had all the permissions except the last two. And after all that, it got cancelled at the last minute because it was not the right kind of music. Wow!

Posted by vikram at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a long time between posts and all attributed to a lot of work that I have at the moment. So to the 2 people and their 3 pets who read this blog, sorry.

I am fascinated by the current Ashes series. The contest is so bitter that it makes for fascinating display. Of course, living in Australia I only get to see the first session and then catch the rest of news in the morning (unless I want to be really late at work).

I am not sure if the current series shows the demise of Australian superiority over the rest of the countries OR the rise of the English team to a par level with the Australians. The Australian team takes great pride in the way it plays and are professional to the core. Are the English at that level now or have the Australians slipped?

Ricky Ponting makes for a sad captain and I think if the Australian Cricket has to keep its standards up, Gilchrist should be promoted. Ponting spitting the dummy for his run out at Englands substitute fielder was just bad sportsmanship. The fault was nobodys but Ponting's and the fact that he spit the dummy shows that he can't handle the pressure.

All said and done, the last match gets underway soon in this fascinating series and I think it should be a ripper. If the weather holds up.

Posted by vikram at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)