RIFLE RANGE BOY

A place at the table (2012) On one end, the richest economy (second richest lately) has to deal with obesity and life style related diseases associated with abundance, they also have to deal with a quarter of the population who live with food insecurity. Food insecurity refers to people who are essentially are deprived of balanced nutritious food due to their lack of resources or unsure of their meal at their table! The problem of hunger in US had been identified as early as the early 1930s, after the Great Depression. The state launched lunch programmes at schools to ensure children's health- to ensure healthy recruits to send to war! As the years went on, government subsidy went mainly towards corn planters and very little to planters of fruits and vegetables. With the allocation of free food program going mainly towards administration and transportation charges, very little is actually left for food. With the price of nutritious foods escalating, the providers can only provi...

Fed up ( Documentary;  2014) I swear that you would not look at a soda drink can the same way after watching this documentary. In the seventies and eighties, having an unusually oversized student in a class was a rare occurrence. Conversely, in the 21st century, it is rare to see a non obese child in class. This subsequently have led to an epidemic of diseases which were only heard in the older adults and for the first time in human history the offspring may die before their parents! Even though inactivity has been made the bogeyman for this worrying trend, the consensus now that it is our diet, specifically sugar is the main culprit. There was a time before the Western world discovered the natives of the Caribbean Islands using extracts from a plant to sweet their beverages, food were grown and were healthy. Sugar was a luxury item that only the bourgeoise could savour. In the seventies, there was a frenzy to reduce our dietary fat intake. That started the chase to reduce fa...

HOW SOME GREAT PEOPLE HANDLED AWKWARD REMARKS BY GIVING AN APT REPLY TO SILENCE EVEN A MOB!!!!!! Veer Savarkar once started addressing a public meeting in Hindi at Bangalore. The crowd started shouting "Speak in Kannada. We will hear only in Kannada." Veer Savarkar replied "Friends, I have spent 14 years of rigorous imprisonment in the infamous Andaman Jail where all freedom fighters were kept in jail. I have learned Bengali from the freedom fighters coming from Bengal , Hindi from those coming from Uttar Pradesh, even Gujarati and Punjabi. Unfortunately there was none from Karnataka from whom I could have learned Kannada." ...and there was pin drop silence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At a time when the US President and other US politicians tend to apologize for their country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some former US personnel handled negative comments about the United St...

Now, they even have parenting classes for fear that the parents fail in their endeavour to pave the correct way for their children to reach adulthood. The fear of not bringing out the full potential is reaching dizzying heights as the number of offspring in the family dwindles. Their desire to ensure the continuity of good life is understandable. Above all, the parents are afraid that their children would one day, God forbid, attribute all their failures in life to their 'dysfunctional' upbringing. 'Dysfunctional' according their juniors and modern psychological definition. If your parents and their parents thought 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' was the panacea of all indiscipline, do that and find all the SWAT personnels pointing their weapons at your face. Your hugs and touches will be deemed inappropriate and you will listed as a predator. Your absence from important life events would torment your child's childhood so much that they would be stu...

Thrilla in Manila (2008, HBO documentary) They say that nature is a violent creature. There is plenty of evidence that shows that the forces of Nature are both brutal and murderous. Its damage can be mammoth. It has no sympathy for the weak-hearted and even the righteous. It is a necessary evil that ensures only the best survives. Man can be equally inhumane. Over generations, the will to survive as a species has ensured that only the strongest survive. A reflection of our violent past is seen in the society sanctioned a display of legal murderous intent of boxing. Here two individual are put on display to knock each other blind as many around them prosper in more ways than one. We grew up at a time when a live telecast of boxing could paralyse a nation. In the 70s when live broadcast was new, a boxing match held half a globe away was a national event, especially one involving the World Heavyweight Championship, specifically one involving Muhamad Ali. The greatest boxing fight...

http://www.theantdaily.com/Don-t-miss-these/Confusion-over-Deepavali-date-Oct-22-or-Oct-23/ Confusion over Deepavali date – Oct 22 or Oct 23? Sonia Ramachandran PETALING JAYA: The festival of lights that also signifies the triumph of good over evil is an important celebration for Hindus all over the world. However, there seems to be a little confusion lately as to when Deepavali or Diwali actually falls. In 2013, the confusion was between Nov 2 and Nov 3 and this year, it is between Oct 22 and Oct 23. If you type in Deepavali in your Google search engine, Oct 23, 2014 will immediately pop up. In Malaysia, however, Deepavali officially falls on Wednesday, Oct 22, though here too there was confusion. His Majesty’s Government Gazette No 43367 of Dec 6, 2013 states that Thursday, Oct 23, 2014 which was published in the July 29, 2013 Gazette as the date for the public holiday for Deepavali should be replaced with Wednesday, Oct 22, 2014 for the celebration. This is appar...

Watching 'Game of Thrones', you soon realise that we, as a species have gone through a lot. Ever since our primate forefathers landed their feet on the ground for food, their ever insatiable appetite for food, wealth, mate and power just kept on increasing. In the process of scooping their desires, not everyone got their chance of fair play. The playing field was lopsided skewed in favour of the bold, the strong, the giants amongst us and the perfectly abled bodies. The fairer sex, the lame, the old, the handicapped all lost in the quest.  Like dwarf Tyrion Lannister who uses wit and deception and Stark's paraplegic son who uses his supernatural powers, the lesser beings always used other ways to survive.  After seeing so much of devastation and heartaches left by man's actions, the survivors must have thought of another way of going about things. In rolled in the concept of an overseeing superpower that monitors our every move. A power who will assess our actio...

Here I lie, on the hospital bed, with tubes from all my orifices. Every movement of my body reminds me that I am still alive! The nagging pains, the squeaky joints and the laboured breaths are testimony of my continued existence. Alive but barely alive. Of course I want to be alive as long as I can and would like to postpone the Reaper's appointment as much as I can. I realise that all the people that I have hurt and the people who cursed under their breaths for my annihilation are the same people who are by my side, attending to my needs. The hurtful incisive expletives hurled at me for my ruin in the most cruel way and me to them, have all been forgotten. In its place are prayers for the Maker to ease my pain. Words are just words. Most of the time, people do not say what they mean and mean what they say. At the spur of the moment, we all say so many things. Lest we forget, sorry does not miraculously reattach a shattered china no matter how many times we apologise or roll out ...

Imitation of Life (1934) This is the earlier version of the 1959's offering of the same name, based on a story written by Fannie Hurst in 1933. There were however, certain alterations to the story to pacify the sensitivity of the American public. As we all know, the blacks were lesser beings in US then and this story narrates a friendship between a white and black single lady struggling to stay alive and to tackle the identity crisis that the black lady's fair skinned daughter has who is ashamed of her African roots. Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) is a widow who drags her suitcase from door to door trying to sell her pancake syrup, the business her husband used to do before his demise. She has a demanding but loveable 2year old daughter. Delilah Johnson (Louise Beavers) accidentally lands at her house, wrongly, as she was looking for a job. One thing led to another and Delilah is offered to stay at Bea's home, taking care of her daughter while she work in return fo...

Imitation of Life (1959) Even though the movie was supposed to highlight the identity crisis of a white-skinned mullato girl, there are other side issues in the story. Living in the modern world of telecommunication, media and advertisement, young minds are forced to accept a certain standard of beauty and norm as set by the media moguls. Hence, the insecurities of self-image and a warped sense of ideal beauty. A person born with a dark complexion, a person with non-Caucasianoid features, and one in the above ideal body weight are all considered misfits. And all need correction and immediate correction, that is. This movie stars Lana Turner (who was seen in 'The Postman Always Rings Twice') and Juanita Moore, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Cora (Lana Turner), a widow with a young daughter, befriends a black single mother, Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) when her daughter goes missing at the beach. A freelance photographer, Steve, also came to be their acqua...

Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-4, 2011-2014) Even though I kept telling myself not to plunge into another miniseries, the power of persuasion seem too overpowering. Or perhaps I was just too weak! The bombardment from the media, social media and friends seem overwhelming. They make it sound like it is the best thing that happened to mankind since sliced bread. They even made a game which suggested the most likely 'Games of Thrones' characters you are paired to based on a series of simple questions. (I got Tyrion Lannister, an achondroplastic dwarf who compensates his lack of stature with witty wise cracks, sarcasm and shrewdness, I wonder why.) You see one, you had seen them all, the miniseries and soap operas. They all capture the minds of its viewers by rekindling the primal desires of man. Almost every one of them glorify, if not make it no big deal, to engage in unsanctioned union of the sexes, clandestine, extra-, pre-, or anything but marital. Everybody's action is ...

SCKLM 2014 It all started like a dream within dream scene from 'Inception'. At one moment, I got up thinking that it was time to go, only to realise that it was only 1am. I had planned to arise at 0310hrs to get ready with my regalia to face the 2014 Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Full Marathon 42.195km challenge. I went back to sleep. In the next moment, I was shocked to realise that it was daytime and the sun was high. "What happened? Oh, even my buddy, who is to face his first FM must have slept through it all - he did not even call.", I asked myself. "Am I dreaming or is it for real?". I pinched myself to realise that it was real. I told myself, "Well, it is okay. There will always be another day, another run." Then at a different level of consciousness, I checked my watch again. It was 1.30am! I had not missed my alarm after all. With that type of interrupted slumber, Raj and I got ready for over Sunday morning challenge. Raj was soon to ...

One Wonderful Sunday (Japanese, 1947) The theme in this movie is somewhat similar to that of Kurosawa's 'Stray Dog'. Set in the post WW2 Japan where poverty is the order of a day, it narrates a day a couple who have big dreams for their future together spend a Sunday together, the only day they meet in a week before they head different directions at the end of the day for their respective job requirements. It is an extremely slow moving movie but the pace is essential to aptly portray the trying times of the war ravaged country. People are generally poor. The only short cut way to quick success is black marketeering. The law abiding conscientious ones had to slog it out with their measly paying jobs. Isao Numasaki, a disillusioned war veteran, is an obvious victim of PTSD. He has no faith in humanity, is  frustrated with the system and has no desire in life. His fiancé and childhood girlfriend,  Chieko Nakakita, seem to be the only good thing that is happening...

People of different age groups talk about different things when they meet up. Many of my friends seem to looking for the real meaning of life. One guy actually goes around paths not frequently scaled upon along God forsaken regions of the world like interior of Kashmir, rural Punjab and remotes areas of Thailand in search of The Truth. In fact, he has found some interesting discoveries about himself. His chronic age old medical malady has miraculously disappeared from his system baffling care providers and himself alike. He attributes it to his chance encounters with sages who carry with them an aura that defies logical scientific explanation. Like a drug, he keeps on his pilgrimage and the search. Another friend found some rather ground breaking discovery in his research into Hinduism. His research, however, will not be approved by any academic professional as his source of research is... Youtube! In the course of his 'research', he heard of some revolutionary things abou...

Ikimono no kiroku (I Live In Fear,  生きものの記録, aka Record of a Living Being or What the Birds Know, Japanese; 1955) Director: Akira Kurosawa You work hard all through your life, earning for your family, ensuring that they do not lose out on you did not have. You want there to be no obstacles along the way so that they can explore their own true potential. You secretly hope that they would scale heights which were unattainable by you in your lifetime. You play your part to the tilt hoping that they would do theirs. What you get instead is the title of being a workaholic madman who cannot keep still and let the younger generation take charge! Your other half who used to be the better one, decide to take sides and you can see all your life's hard work crumbling right in front of you. The world is not on your side, and all the accusing finger is pointing at you, only you. And you know they are so wrong. So, what do you do? They use the same knowledge that you try to impart on ...

The Bad Sleep Well (Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru, Japanese; 1960) Director: Akira Kurosawa Films are made day in and day out but a classics like Kurosawa's stays eternally in the minds of film lovers. This is another movie highlighting the evils that corporations do to syphon off public funds for their own interest but what makes it an evergreen is the depth of the plot. It is supposed to have elements of Shakespeare's Hamlet in its narrative. The movie starts with journalists waiting patiently passing sarcastic remarks of a wealthy tycoon, the Vice President of a public listed company which develops public land, daughter's wedding reception. They are hoping to pick up a scoop to report. Their moment of truth comes when one of his assistants get arrested for corruption during the reception through some embarrassing moments for the guests. The story gets very complicated but becomes crystal clear at the end. Nishi (Toshiro Mifune), a dashing young man who is the Vi...

Fargo (1996) Story, Production, Direction: Joel and Ethan Coen Homespun murder story on embroidery frame? Get the punch line? This movie can be said the most successful one coming from the Coen brothers with their special brand of quirky dark comedy. They start the film with a caption with says... "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." At the end of the credits, however, the usual inter-title claiming that the characters are all fictitious still appears. Now which is which? It is set in dead cold winters of Minnesota. People who are native to Minnesota who are well versed with the Minnesota accents will appreciate the sing-song nature of their speech. The film goes at length to poke fun at their accent and some mannerism which sounds more like Swede or Norwegian - with the yaa...

Dance with a stranger (1985) The Brits have a passionate relationship with the protagonist of this show, Ruth Ellis. Ruth Ellis was the last lady to be hung for murder in the United Kingdom in 1955. Ruth Ellis had the unenviable penchant to fall in love with all the wrong guys. It appears like she goes all the way to fall flat for guys who are abusive in their relationship. This, together with the influence of alcohol and the need to care for two young kids proved  too much for this 28 years old lady who ended up at the gallows. Ruth was working as a manageress in a nightclub taking care of her 2 kids when she met David Blakeley. At that time, she was going through a divorce from her husband, an alcoholic and abusive dentist. She goes beyond her call of duty as a hostess to entertain men for extra income. She also had a passionate relationship with a quiet man, Desmond Cussen, who went out of his way to care for her and her children, financially and emotionally. David was a d...