Jesus and Mo

You know, a year ago, had anyone asked me what my favorite comic strip was..... Calvin and Hobbes i would have replied without batting an eyelid. Well, that was before i came across this totally amazing comic strip on the net called "Jesus and Mo"... which for me is as good as, if not better than, c&h any day.

for those who've not seen it as yet... this strip is a tongue in cheek look at two of the most dominant religions today- Islam and Christianity. The USP of the comic are its two spokesmen jesus and mo (yup prophet mohammed himself... as explained in the first comic, its not a depiction of the prophet, as that is not allowed, its just a body double that they are drawing :) )... using whom the cartoonist has a go at most of the contentious issues prevailing today and even those dealt with in the Koran and the bible. Equally important, i feet, are the comments posted by the viewers which will go quite a way in enhancing your knowledge about things written in the so-called holy books... these comments also help in both understanding the deeper meaning in each comic and appreciating the subtle innuendos made. With 'guest stars' like Moses and Ganesha joining in the fray once in a while...the strip makes for quite a pleasant read. Apart from Jesus and mo, the other important character in the strip is the barmaid, an atheist, whose presence adds a different view altogether... that of science whereas jesus and mo argue with her on most of her opinions....

The comic may seem to be a little pro-science and anti-religion, well that's just because it is pro science and anti-religion, ...so one needs to approach it with an open mind, if you are the highly religious sort that is. Take it in the right spirit, since no matter what your beliefs, Jesus and mo is a really funny offering. so have a look at it cuz, imho, its worth it
www.jesusandmo.net

till next time....

Catch 22 ........

right...what now?

I've been thinking [u do that a lot when u have no other work] lately and i realized that i could possibly just possibly occupy my time constructively... but by doing what? that remains the question... I'm into my umpteenth post now and i still have no idea where im heading... or for that matter where my blog is heading. while i ponder upon this and other important questions plaguing mankind today [like who ate the last MnM from the fridge?] ill just leave u guys with my views on a book i read recently.

catch 22 by joseph heller has been around for quite some time now and i was surprised it had taken me so much time to lay my hands on it. Well frankly, if you think highly of war and heroism in war.... this book will pretty much remove the scales from your eyes. The main character yossarian is caught up at the front while a war is being waged... and his main struggle is not to win the war or to be a hero but something more realistic... his main aim is to stay alive come what may... goddamn his country. As the book begins to grow on the reader so do the characters and i for one started identifying and empathizing with them and their emotions. well i dont want to disclose the story because that wouldnt be fair, but suffice to say that it gives us a glimpse of the lives and the mindsets of the poor guys at the battlefront who have to risk their lives fighting a war that was started by old geezers, farts and friggen politicians who remain safe and cooped up at their homes while young lives are wasted fighting their egotistical wars. personally im not one of ur emotional sissies who wets their handkerchiefs while reading a storybook but catch 22 is one book that really tugged at my heart and made me go through several emotions- anger, sadnees, helplessness etc. as u see the characters suffer one by one and kick the bucket.....

You know.... if im stranded on a deserted island and am allowed to keep only one book with me... this would be it. yeah, you will probably not find a bigger Wodehouse or Douglas Adams or for that matter, LOTR fan than me.... but Catch 22 is way above any of them.

For those who have read it- the part which affected me the most was the part when the poor chaplain is tortured because of the irving washington joke played by yossarian... followed by the part where kid sampson dies at the beach... they all die one by one except orr and yossarian. For those who havent read it... what are u waiting for? get out there and read it... if u cant get ur hands on a copy contact me for the ebook, but please do read it... u wont regret it.

of course if uve never read anything beyond tinkle and archies or for that matter enid blyton.... ummm forget it. others just go and read it and im sure most of u will not regret it.. most of u. This is a book that stays with you for a long long time.

Oh and while you are at it, you might want to see the movie 'A Clockwork Orange'. All I'll say is that its worth the watch. [:)]

TO DO OR NOT TO DO ....

I recently read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and I'd definitely recommend everyone to hear his lecture atleast once (its available on youtube). Anyway what struck me most, apart from the optimism and resilience shown by the guy, was the fact that he had a set of goals in mind which he had waned to accomplish and which, by the way, he did. That set me thinking... now what are the things that I absolutely definitely have to do once in my life ?? And guess what... I did come up with a list !!!
Without further ado, here's all the things I want to do in my life atleast once (as on this date that is)... Maybe sometime in the future if I draw a list.. it will be totally different but for now this is it...

• Go on a world tour
• Go to Wacken
• Watch the FIFA World Cup final in person
• Bunjee jumping
• Paragliding (done)
• Zorbing (done)
• THE BIG SECRET ONE WHICH I WON'T REVEAL.....
  

But then on a more immediate basis what I really need to do is get my 500gb Maxtor hard disk replaced. Yeah it crashed.. thanks Maxtor for your reliability... thankfully its in the warranty period. The only regret being that thanks to my hard disk crashing... not only have I lost around 450gb of data but I've also lost a whole season of ATOM ANT, 2 STUPID DOGS, WACKY RACES and ED, EDD AND EDDY and 2 seasons of METALOCALYPSE!!!!!! NOOOO !!!!! Now i'll have to download the whole thing again.. :(
I only wish there were some way in which to recover the data....

Ohh and before I forget, a big thank you to IIT Kharagpur for reopening on the 30th of December and so thoughtfully depriving me of the opportunity of spending the New Year with friends in Jamshedpur.
And to top off a string of bad news... its time for me to miss another kickass concert. This time the lucky band is Opeth , yes OPETH (!!!) , who are coming to Chennai (of all places) just when my college fest will be on... But, on a more optimistic note, ill see them when I go to Wacken anyway so its alright... :)