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

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

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

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

Snakes on a Plane = Genius

The idea was genius. Make a movie that is a completely random based on an idea that is completely ludicrous, give it a crazy title, do zero advertising, and let the movie generate hype through the new generation’s version of word of mouth: blogging.

Pure genius. The trailer basically says nothing at all, which in essence is the beauty of the whole marketing concept of the movie…you don’t need to say anything at all as the title gives it away – the movie is going to be about snakes on a plane. Give up that much, and leave it up to the bloggers to market the movie. And market it they have. People have come up with their own trailers, songs, scenes…everything. The movie has taken the country by storm, and now after all the waiting, the movie is finally out.

Now, being in Hong Kong at the moment and not having had the opportunity to watch the movie, I have been eager to see what kind of reception it gets in the US, and frankly, I have been surprised by how serious some critics have taken it, like they are expecting Snakes on Brokeback Mountain or something. I mean, seriously, how groundbreaking is the movie going to be? I haven’t even seen it and I know it will be basically a mindless action movie which requires 0% brainpower which will have you leaving the theater thinking “Well then, that is what all the hype was about…wanna go grab a beer?” The movie isn’t supposed to make you think “Oh my, what a fabulous story…the plot was amazing from start to finish…a true experience that made me see the other side of the madness that is snakes on a plane…”

According to some critics this movie, sold completely on viral marketing, failed to live up to the hype…Seriously? Wasn’t the hype that it would suck? That it would be just what the title made it out to be: a B movie based on a concept that someone must have come up with while they were wasted, with one line which is supposed to make the movie? This isn’t rocket science, so I wonder, how can you fail to live up to the hype, when you yourself have not hyped the movie at all?

Those few uptight critics aside, people have apparently liked the movie, enjoying it’s quirky plot and all the creative ways that the snakes kill people. Peter Howell, a movie critic for the Toronto Star, said it best in his review:

This is one cheesy movie, bereft of logic and scornful of everything from the law of gravity to physiological fundamentals regarding how long a person can survive with a lethal dose of toxin running through their veins.

But it’s cheese of the highest quality, and smart enough to know just how dumb it really is. It even resorts to that hoariest of 1970s disaster movie clichés, that of the feisty stewardess (Julianna Margulies) flying the aircraft. And it winks while doing so.

Make absolutely no mistake about this. Snakes on a Plane takes full advantage of two of the biggest fears of modern man — air travel and snake bites — and combines them into a terrifying (and terribly funny) package that may well put you off flying for life.

In short, Snakes on a Plane delivers exactly what it promised and then some. And how often can you say that about a movie these days?

Not bad for a movie that cost less than $40mm to make, and on opening night made $1.4mm. This summer, when movies like The DaVinci Code and Pirates 2 have, in my opinion, failed to live up to their hype, it seems to be refreshing to find a movie that lives up to the hype while providing some mindless entertainment and a few laughs. I’ll tell you who is laughing the most though - Sam Jackson, New Line Cinema, and the rest of the cast…laughing all the way to the bank.

Cheers,
Taps

P.S. For those who have seen the movie, please comment! I want to know what you thought…

What decides?

The following post is somewhat verbose and not relevant to any current topic…I apologize ahead of time for any pointless ramblings that take place… 

While having some drinks this past Friday night with some buddies of mine, we got into a discussion not typical of your standard bar conversation. Now, although the conversation might have started due to the alcoholic ramblings of how relaxed we all were that night, glad to be there together, it evolved into an in depth discussion about life and each of our places in the world. While one of my friends was talking about how glad he was that he had met us all etc. etc. (you know the conversation…everyone who has consumed alcohol in excess has been a part of one), one of my friends (who turned out to be extremely deep and philosophical when plastered) asked, “What decided that we would all be here together, sitting in Hong Kong, drinking beers together? Who decided that we would all meet and become friends?” This led into a discussion about faith vs. fate and raised the ultimate question, the question that I now bring to you and ask you to comment on your thoughts: What decides?

What decides? Answering this question is like counting the number of chairs in a stadium one-by-one…no matter how hard you try, you will never get the same answer twice…the quest towards ultimate truth has often been derailed by this idea of what decides the things that happen on a daily basis. Some say we decide our own lives. Who decided that we would be born? Our parents did you may say. Who decided that our parents would meet and get married? Indians might say, “Their parents…” Non-Indians may say ”love” or “fate”. Do these concepts really exist? What decided that we would call them such things? That there would be opposites in the universe, black vs. white, tall vs. short, light vs. dark?

Was it a supernatural power, a higher being in some far off place called heaven? If so, what decided that he, she, it, whatever it is, would have supreme rule over life on this planet? Who is the the higher power’s boss that decides what the higher power does? 

In the end, each decision that is made is a decision subsequent to a previous decision that was made. But what makes that ultimate decision? Everything has a beginning…when was the first decision that was made?  A question that will not be answered in my lifetime, but a good one to talk about nonetheless. So next time you are at a bar, and have nothing to talk about it, ask the question: who decides? It makes for some great drunken banter, let me tell you..

Cheers,
Taps

Mixed musings 1

With 2 hours and 46 minutes until the beginning of the WWDC, I am getting edgy…and with little on my mind other than WWDC, summer internships, and how long it will be until I am back in the US, instead of writing a blog on a single topic, I thought I might voice some opinion on a variety of different topics. Let me know what you think.

Chinese ”Anger Bar” – Interesting…
According to a BBC article, a man in China has opened up a bar where the clientele is allowed to beat up the staff. At this bar the customers are allowed to “smash glass, rant and even hit specially trained workers” in order to vent their frustrations at anything and everything…work, school, lack of a love life, the fact that the WWDC is still 2 hours and 36 minutes away…customers can basically go off and just hit something.

Now, the sadistic side of me has always wanted to feel what it is like to deck someone. Haven’t you ever heard a guy on a bike coming up from behind you, and something inside you wants to raise your hand and have the guy flip backwards like Jet Li in The One. This could just be the place where you could release these inner urges and frustrations. Now, granted, all of the staff members are fully padded and properly trained, so you aren’t going to hurt him…unless you break a bottle over his head…

Interesting concept. Don’t know how good it is for you though…might cause people to become more violent…try out some stuff on their kid siblings…but interesting concept. I think they have it in the US already though…it is called the Keg of Evanston in the summer…except the people aren’t padded and it is guns instead of bottles…

Tiger Woods: Tiger – 2, Rest of golf – 0
This past weekend Tiger Woods played in the Buick Open, his first tournament since his emotional victory at the British Open. Different tournament, same result. Like the British Open, Tiger went into this round with the lead, and like the British Open (and almost every tournament he goes into the final round of with a lead) Mr. Woods won. With 4 rounds of 66 and a final overall score of -24, Tiger Woods becomes the youngest player to reach 50 tour victories…seems like he has been doing that a lot…youngest to win 10 majors, youngest to win 50 PGA Tour titles, youngest to marry a hot Swedish model with a twin sister…Tiger Woods…man is crazy. Too damn good. And for anyone who is keeping score, I do believe I called it…;-)

Mel Gibson – Bad drunk or Anti-Semite?
I don’t know how much you guys have been following this whole Mel Gibson thing…for those of you who haven’t heard, Mel was caught drunk driving last week and when he was being interrogated he apparently went on an anti-Semitic rant, and used a whole bunch of racial slurs when addressing a Jewish cop. Needless to say, this made the press (thanks to everyone’s favorite gossip website, TMZ.com) and all of a sudden Mel Gibson went from Hollywood hero to a drunk-driving Jew hater.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have seen quite a few belligerent drunks in my day and needless to say, some pretty heinous stuff comes out of their mouths. Now, while this is not right by any means, people do some stupid stuff when they are drunk (one of the side effects of alcohol…it should go on the bottle…”Will make one act out of character, lose all sense of time, possibly vomit out the most recent meal, and on the whole, do stupid shit”…) and Mel Gibson is no exception. Now, the man was drunk driving, which is what I think should really be what people are focusing on. But this is being overshadowed by the fact that he made Passions of the Christ, what some consider to be an anti-Semitic movie, and now goes off on a drunken tirade against Jews, and so he has been labelled as anti-Jewish. There is even a movement to boycott his movies! I mean come on…so the guy got drunk and said some stuff, big deal. Will that make me stop going to his movies? No. He could have said all sorts of stuff against my country, my beliefs, my school, Apple… and I would STILL go watch his movies, because he is a damn good actor. Braveheart is one of the best movies ever made! For a great actor to be judged by one mistake isn’t right…imagine if we were all judged on the one stupid thing we did…

Fair? I don’t think so…

So, now that I have spent enough time talking to people at work and writing this blog, the time has passed and the WWDC is now about to start. SO PUMPED!

Look for another Apple post real soon.

Cheers,
Taps