What constitutes gay?

So yesterday I was watching the movie “The Longest Yard” again…B-movie featuring Adam Sandler as a point-shaving quarterback who goes to jail and then takes a bunch of inmates and makes them into a football team to play the guards. Anyhow, that isn’t the point…while watching the movie, I remembered a debate my friends and I had, and I wanted to bring the question we debated to you: what constitutes gay?

The reason that this movie brought that back that conversation was that in this movie there are some men who are the ‘girls’ of the jail – dress up in women’s clothing, perform sexual acts on the other inmates etc – and there is a humorous scene where you see one of the inmates kisses another. Anyhow, during our conversation one of my friends said that anyone who engages in a homosexual act is gay. So, I asked, would this make those men in jail who get sexual acts performed upon them by other men gay?

Does a lone act of homosexuality mean you are gay? Yes? No? If not, then where is the line, if there is a line, drawn? 5? 10? And if yes, is the definition different for men and women? I know a number of girls who have made out with other girls, but no one calls them gay. Why? Is it because they are doing it to mess with the heads (no pun intended) of the surrounding males, stimulating the fantasy of being with two women at once, and thus, because they are doing to tease and not for pleasure, they are not gay? Or is it because society is more lax when it comes to women (if two men did that would the reaction be the same)?

Or is being gay a frame of mind? The dictionary says that being gay (homosexual) means “Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex”. So, if we take that to be general definition, then what do you tell my friend is the sexual orientation of those prisoners that have sex, oral or anal, with other prisoners? Are they gay, or simply out of loneliness/desperation/desire, have resorted to same-sex experiences?

Just some random questions I thought I would boil down into a post…Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Taps

Sorry!

Many apologies to you guys for not having posted in a while. I have been traveling as of late and have not had enough time to sit in front of a computer and post. I will get it done soon.

Please do keep checking!

Talk to you soon.

Cheers,
Taps

Bombay restaurant name change – seriously, what were you thinking?

According to BBC, a Bombay restaurant by the name of Hitler’s Cross has been forced to change it’s name due to significant protest from the small Jewish community that lives in the city (ok, so at first I thought this might have been a misunderstanding…and then I saw the pic of the place and there is no mistake).

According to the article, the owner of the place, a Mr. Satish Sabhlok, said “[they] have decided to change the name of our restaurant and remove all signs and articles associated with Hitler and Nazism in and around it…[their] intention was not to glorify Hitler – or his atrocities or ideology in any way – and we regret the anguish caused by the use of this name.”

Now let me pose the obvious question: WTF WERE YOU THINKING?! Seriously, the intention was not to glorify Hitler or his ideology? Then what, I beg, was the intention of the restaurant? I am sitting here trying to come up with something clever to say and even I am blanking…I cannot think of any possible non-Nazi, non-WWII, non-Hitler is awesome rational behind this restaurant…apparently it was attention seeker, as the name will not be forgotten. “We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different” said the owners. Seriously?

To the owners of this restaurant: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! Here I am trying to show how smart, culturally aware, and responsible Indians are, and you go and do some dumb sh*t like this…man…cramping our style completely.

For all my people up in Bombay, please do go to this place and see what kind of food they serve…I am intrigued by what could POSSIBLY be on the menu…

This ladies and gentleman, is the reason I write this blog…you never know what you are going to find, and sometimes you just have to share it.

Cheers,
Taps

 

 

The next big thing – what is it?

Long post ahead! Just letting you know…

Coming up with the next big thing has to be the fastest way to make a million bucks. Not easy by any means, but if you do, there is money to be had, that’s for sure. Today on CNNMoney there is an article about venture capitalists and what they consider to be good start-up ideas. Now, in case anyone isn’t sure what a venture capitalist is, let me break it down for you: a venture capitalist is someone who has, or works for a firm that has, a boatload of money that they use to invest in start-up companies. These guys make HUGE bank.

Anyhow, what the article was about was the start-up company ideas of 20 venture capitalists and the amount they were willing to give to the person who made those ideas a reality…the total amount being $100mm! And that is only 20 of the hundreds of venture capitalists out there telling you what they would invest in ONE idea. That should give you a sense of how much money is out there, and, if you have the right idea or concept in mind, you could help yourself to a few million bucks to make it happen.

Here are some of the ideas that these guys had that I thought were the most interesting (the following is taken from the CNNMoney website, the italicized text being my commentary):

The Ultimate iDrive
A driver’s tech fantasy fully realized: an in-dash computer with a keyboard built into the steering wheel and a full-screen heads-up display projected on the windshield. (Neat idea…apparently this technology is already present in jet fighters, but the automakers are scared to put it in cars since it would be a distraction…I’m sure Eddie Griffin would enjoy this, given his recent incident…maybe he wouldn’t have crashed then…)

They’ll invest: $5 million for a deeply qualified 20-person team to deliver a prototype and a plan for pitching a commercial version to automakers within three years.

GPS-Guided Coupons

GPS-enabled ads and coupons piped to your mobile phone at just the right time and place. (That would get really annoying if they kept coming to your phone every time you go somewhere, but if you could tailor the ads to suit your shopping preferences, then it might be quite cool…)

They’ll invest: $3 million for a demo application and retail partners ready to test

Trip Planning 2.0
Concierge-grade trip planning over the Web. Imagine getting a message on your BlackBerry alerting you that your villa is booked, dinner reservations are confirmed, and a driver will pick you up in an hour for the flight to Belize. It’s not live agents making that happen, but software that taps into the growing number of travel-industry databases – of hotel chains, restaurants, limo services, amusement parks – to assemble smarter, more personalized itineraries than can be found on major travel hubs like Orbitz and Travelocity. (I think some travel agents would have a problem with this…and I don’t know how a machine will be able to replicate the personal touch of a human making suggestions based on experience…)They’ll invest: $5 million to create a working prototype within two years

So those are some of the ideas that venture capitalists had…not too shabby, but at the same time, not revolutionary. You look at ideas like the Internet, cell phones, computers, television…these are things that have revolutionized the way we live our lives…to make it really big, you are going to have to come up with something similar. It is interesting to think about…I have spent many a night with my friends sitting around our the room trying to come up with the next big idea, discussing where it will come from. The tech boom has come and slowly started tapering off…what will the next big industry be? Biotechnology? Automated services? Something we haven’t even seen before? In my opinion, I think that in order for something to be successful, it has to make life easier for people. Look at the Hand Steady, a drink holder that people with tremors can use and not be worried about spilling their drink. This is something that will really help people, and the creator is bound to make a significant amount of money for it.

So what will the next big thing be? A new state-of-the-art backpack that adjusts it’s tension depending upon what is in it, thus saving the backs of the thousands of students across the world that take their stuff to school? A state-of-the-art gaming system that allows you to play basketball but with Kobe’s skills? Or, if we are thinking really badass, a machine that lets you travel through time?

What will the next big thing be? If I knew the answer, I sure wouldn’t be writing this blog from my cubicle at work…;)  

If you have any ideas, post them as a comment. Maybe we can work together and split the profit, 50-50? Sound good?

Cheers,
Taps

Paramount decision: Cruise gets shoved out the door

According to recent reports, Tom Cruise - Mission Impossible star, Scientology nut, and former Hollywood heartthrob – has had his 14-year-old tie with Paramount pictures cut, the company choosing not to renew his contract due to his “public antics and incessant stumping for personal causes…that have become intolerable and have been a drag on ticket sales”. And who said that doing dumb sh*t won’t get you in trouble?

Apparently, Sumner Redstone, Viacom’s chairman (Viacom owns Paramount Pictures) feels that Tom is no longer a hot ticket item, now the constant butt of an enormous amount of jokes, most of which stem from his belief in Scientology and his relationship with Katie Holmes. Mr. Redstone was quoted as saying “[Tom's] recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount…we don’t think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot.” Harsh words toward a man who’s movies have generated US$1.1bn in the US alone…harsh words, but perhaps words that are rooted in truth.

Some of Tom’s more notable off screen antics have been on Oprah when he “exuberantly on her couch as he effused about his love for fiancée Katie Holmes” (crazy? Little bit? He literally started jumping on her couch!) and on NBC’s Today show when he “launched a sermon about the evils of antidepressants, taking a swipe at actress Brooke Shields who wrote about her use of the medicine to help cope with postpartum depression in her book Down Came the Rain.” Hmmm…acting crazy? Taking swipes at other stars? Not typical of the superstar, and not good for ticket sales. According to Viacom, Tom’s crazyness cost M:i:III US$150mm in ticket sales…Ouch.

With movie studios becoming less and less patient with their stars, if someone is not performing, no matter who you are, you will get booted. In the end, what the company has to weigh the option of having a star like Tom Cruise headline a movie, generating instantaneous demand but potentially hurting that demand through his off screen antics, versus having no Tom Cruise at all. In my opinion, this was a good business decision for Paramount pictures because having released movies like Brokeback Mountain and Hustle and Flow recently, they are clearly not hurting for as far as quality pics are concerned, and with Mr. Cruise’s career on a downturn, why not get out while you are ahead instead of pay this guy a boatload of money and not see too much in return?

As for Tom, he is still a good actor and will continue to generate revenue in whatever movie he does. Like I said when I blogged about Mel Gibson, just because he might do stupid stuff off screen doesn’t mean I am going to stop watching his movies. Tom’s publicist (how reliable is this guy, I don’t know…) said that Tom’s private production company, Cruise/Wagner, has been financed by two very large hedge funds and now they are self financed and can make their own business decisions…hmm…I would have to say the decisions that he has made recently don’t exactly make him Einstein…we’ll see if that takes off or not…

In the meantime, I’m going to go think of what religion I can start…maybe I’ll be able to get Colin Farrell on board…he does enough stupid sh*t…any ideas?

Cheers,
Taps

Bye-bye Paramount…

Indonesian jail break – nice…

According to a recent BBC Article, 18 Indonesian men broke out of jail yesterday…so what, you ask, is so special about that? Well, normally when you read a story about people breaking out of jail you expect to see words like ‘gunpoint’, ‘mob’ and ‘overpower’. However, with these Indonesian men, this was not the case – not one of these words was used. Instead you had words like ‘chili’, ‘water’ and ‘outnumbered’ in the article.

What these crafty bunch of inmates did was take chili peppers (a standard addition to any Indonesian meal…you can always ask for ‘cabe’…it doesn’t matter if you are the President or a bum on the street, to not give someone ’cabe’ when they ask for it is almost sin) and mixed the hot peppers with water and put this little mixture into water bottles. Then, apparently what happened was that as they were going to breakfast the inmates proceeded to spray the guards in the face with the chili water. Now take it from me, whenever you get ANYTHING chili, especially Indonesian chili, in your eyes you want to pull them out it burns so much. Needless to say, while the guards were probably dancing around rubbing their eyes out the inmates took the keys from the guard and made a break for freedom.

Pretty ingenious plan if you ask me…too bad they didn’t have as smooth an idea for when they were out…16 of the 18 men have been recaptured…but hey, still worth a shot right?

The only downside is that these guys will now have to suffer big time…the jail food will probably be really bland since I doubt they will be getting chilis to spicen it up any time soon.

Kasian dong…;-) 

Cheers,
Taps

Deadly…absolutely deadly…

Osama Bin Laden – The terrorist that was a…Whitney Houston groupie?

According to a recent book by Kola Boof, the self reported sex slave of Osama Bin Laden in 1997, Osama Bin Laden had a HUGE crush on Whitney Houston. According to Boof, Bin Laden told her that “Whitney Houston was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen…and he said that he had a paramount desire for Whitney Houston and although he claimed music was evil, he spoke of some day spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try to arrange a meeting with the superstar”.

So, Mr. Bin Laden had a thing for the Diva? Interesting stuff…apparently, he considered Whitney to be “truly Islamic…but is just brainwashed by American culture and by her husband – Bobby Brown”. Now, what I thought was the most interesting thing about this story was the fact that Osama apparently discussed having Bobby Brown killed, and then following his death, bringing Whitney to Khartoum, making her one of his wives, and giving her a mansion. The things people will do for love right?

Now, how true this story is is up for debate, since many, if not most, people believe that Boof was not a sex slave of Osama and that she is, in fact, making the entire thing up. Either way, the story makes for some humorous entertainment…can you just picture those two together? It would look something like this I imagine:

 

Can’t you just see it? Whitney and Osama sitting in a cave somewhere, fire burning, Osama singing My Love is Your Love to the hum of the dialysis machine in the background…if that isn’t romance, I don’t know what is…

Cheers,
Taps

Tiger Woods – Wow

Putt. Tap. Win. New day, same story. Tiger Woods won his 12th major championship yesterday in an easy victory over the rest of the field, winning by 5 shots over second place Shaun Micheel…but really, there was no competition at all. Starting the round at 14-under, tied for first with a Northwestern Alum (yeah baby! NU represent) Luke Donald, Tiger made a birdie on the first while taking the outright lead and didn’t look back after that. On a course that was absolutely punked by the field this weekend (28 players broke par! 28!), Tiger came out on top…again. Mr. Woods is now an astounding 12-0 when he goes into the final round of a major with the lead, a number that has to weigh down like a elephant on the minds of the other golfers…12-0. Sick.

Geoff Ogilvy was quoted as saying “someone is going to beat him one day…It would be more special to win the tournament if he would be leading going into the last round and you beat him. That would be a pretty good feather in your cap.” Well, right now the feather isn’t in the cap…more like in something else…and I don’t think it will see the light any time soon either. The fire within Tiger burns even stronger than before, and this was his way of telling the world “Baby, I’m just getting started.” He is now in second place with regards to Major victories, six behind The Golden Bear. With Jack now in his sights, I am taking predictions on when he will break the record. I am going to be bullish and say he does it in 2011 at the British Open…that gives him four seasons, and given his current form he should win at least two a year, maybe one in an off year, and give himself some time to have a baby Tiger…shouldn’t be a problem…

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Taps

P.S. For those keeping score at home, since I first wrote about Tiger he is 3-0…not bad…

P.P.S. As this is the last major of the year, I don’t think I will be writing about Tiger for a while…however, I hope I have piqued your interest in the sport a little. And for those of you who are wondering about what golf would be like without Tiger, check out this article by Jason Sobel on ESPN…hilarious.

 

Bulletproof clothing – cool stuff

Let’s say you are Will Smith in Bad Boys II – suave, stylish, and a continuously being shot at. You know you should be wearing a bulletproof vest, but it is heavy and unattractive, something you do not want to be wearing at 2am while trying to get your groove on in a club with the hot Puerto Rican girl from work. However, you are still a potential target…what do you do?

Miguel Caballero has a solution for you. This Colombian born (where there is demand, there will be supply…) tailor has patented a fibre that is a weave of polyester and nylon, which while remaining lightweight and easy fitting, can withstand close range gunfire and knife attacks. Pretty cool stuff. Caballero is very confident in his product, demonstrated by the fact that he has been shot three times while wearing his garments (during testing mind you), escaping unscathed after each attempt, as well as by the fact that each of his additional hires is also required to be shot at while wearing the clothing because Caballero believes that if you aren’t confident in the product, you can’t sell it. However, the stuff appears to work, and according to Caballero, “if this products functions in Colombia, you have the guarantee it will stop any type of bullet in any place in the world”. Who is going to argue with that?

What differentiates Caballero’s clothing line from your run of the mill bulletproof stuff is that his products can be worn comfortably, a bulletproof jacket weighing only 2.6 pounds, about as much as a jacket you would pick up at Macy’s. This is contrasted with the 11 pounds a standard, SWAT issue jacket weighs. Now, as more and more people are starting to hear about his product, Mr. Caballero’s clientele list has grown, and now includes high profile people such as President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, and the Prince of Spain. As soon as this makes it big in the US, it shouldn’t be long before we see some of this stuff on the next episode of Cribs as I am sure he will be adding people like 50 Cent, P.Diddy and the entire Oakland Raiders football team to the list of clients. Who can see a merger between his company and Sean John? Anyone? “Protects like armour, fits like Armani” is the apparent tag line for the stuff…slick. Real slick.

A quick word of caution however: don’t go buying this stuff up bootleg. It might not work as well as you would like…

Cheers,
Taps

Picture courtesy of CNNMoney

1,000 hits!

Ladies and gentleman, we have reached 1,000 hits in just over a month. To everyone out there who reads this, thank you! I hope you find what I post somewhat interesting and you keep on reading.

Once again, thanks. Keep reading and keep commenting.

Cheers,
Taps