The QFI Open Quiz 2007 (Chennai)

Vinod Ganesh of ‘Mostly Thoughtless‘ has announced the The QFI Open Quiz 2007 which is conducted in Chennai.

Apart from being original, well researched and immensely entertaining, the QFI Open also aims at making quizzing a fun experience for everyone involved. It will try and bring to a wider audience the same mix of light-hearted fun and serious high-standard quizzing that is seen at QFI’s fortnightly meetings.

Bare-bones details (is that an oxymoron?): For more information see the above link.

Date: 3rd of June 2007 (Sunday)
Schedule: Prelims – 14:00 p.m. and Finals – 15:45 p.m.
Team size: Maximum of 3 members
Registration Fee: Rs. 50 per team. (This fee is waived for school teams. The registration fee must be paid at the registration desk in front before the quiz.)
Venue: ‘Tattvaloka’ Auditorium
No. 76 (Old No. 138), Eldams Road
Teynampet,
Chennai 600018
Ph: 044 24328124 / 25 / 26
Sample Question: The members of the Muduvar tribe, which inhabits the mountain ranges around Valparai (Tamil Nadu) and Munnar (Kerala) in the Western Ghats, have a unique method for calculating their ages. What is it?
Answer: They calculate their age with the blossoming of the Kurinji flower, which blooms only once every 12 years.

You can read The Hindu’s review of the QFI Open 2006 here.

Sivaji Trailer

emailல்  வந்தது.

சிவாஜி ட்ரைய்லர்

அறுசுவை dot காம்

சமையல் கலை வல்லுநர்களுக்கும், சாதாரண கத்துக்குட்டிகளுக்கும், என்னைப் போன்ற அரை வேக்காடுகள் அனைவருக்கும் ஏற்ற மாதிரி ஒரு மெகா தளம், அறுசுவை dot காம். தமிழ் பிராமணர் சமையலிலிருந்து ஆந்திரா, செட்டிநாடு மற்ற பிற மாநிலங்களின் சைவ, அசைவ சமையல் குறிப்புகள் மற்றும் ஏராளமான extra fittings அடங்கிய தளம் இது.

இந்த தளத்தில் விவரித்தது போலவே வெஜிடபிள் சால்னா செய்து பார்த்தேன் – சூப்பர்! நீங்களும் ஒரு விசிட் அடித்து விட்டு உங்கள் சமையல் அனுபவத்தை பின்னூட்டத்தில் போடுங்க!

Missing

Kiran has been missing since May 19.

He was in this attire carrying a backpack when he went missing.

more pictures of Kiran

If you know the Yosmite area (California) well or live nearby, here is the contact info if you want to/can help.

Hope he is found soon.

 Via:Pratab

Bringing Baby home

Indianwriting-Uma adopts a baby boy and shares her excitng event in life with us. Congratualtions Uma.

Via: MG

Do SAH Moms/Dads need to be paid for their work?

Thinking Girl, cites a report that if the jobs done by a Stay At Home Mom were to be paid at current rates, then the pay would be USD 138,085 a year.

A recent report estimates stay at home mothers are doing the work of 10 different jobs (housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist), work on average a 92 hour week (that’s 52 hours of overtime), and all this work, if it was paid, would be worth $138,095 USD a year. Women who work outside the home full-time would be paid an extra $85,939 for their domestic labour.

Some comments following the post argue, why such a valuation would be incorrect.

But if you really want to get right into the economics of it, where you have a couple living together and one of those two people stays home, the stay-at-home parent IS paid, in essence, room, board, and 1/2 (or more) of the salary of the working partner. I’ve seen previous economic studies which show that in such situations, often over 50% of the income is spent at the direction or discretion of the stay-at-home parent. So, in essence, they are paid, though it is by the only party who would have a stake/reason to pay them – the other parent of the child.

The discussion in the comments is an exercise in dialectics, pretty lengthy and sometimes one gets weary just reading them till the end. (I still have to complete reading it).

Keeping to the left-most lane

இராமன் எப்பவும் ஏதாவது ஒரு புது கண்ணோட்டத்துல ஒரு விஷயத்தைப் பார்ப்பார். இந்த முறையும் என்னமோ புதுசாச் சொல்றார், ஆனா அது என்னனு எனக்குப் புரியல. காதல் வயப்பட்ட காரணமோ?

Mom said that arranged marriages are for people who want a change in their life and love marriages for people who dont wanna change much. Quite a debatable statement but personnally for me, quite an enlightening one. What mom said made a world of sense in my case.

கதம்ப மாலை யின் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

How to Make an Unforgettable First Day at Office

See for yourself – How to Make an Unforgettable First Day at Office.

Pingu’s tales

A sample of Pingu’s creative writing – The Adventures of Mingu

Travelling

It seemed obvious to me that travel is a bit like life – what it throws at you, how you adapt, overcome challenges, and find your feet. You can either take an all-inclusive like everyone says you should – or do it yourself, even though it’s harder. No prizes for guessing which is more rewarding.

What am I doing here? Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Where, indeed, is there?

அருமையான போட்டோக்களும் இருக்கு.

The world that revolves

If I could rewrite the dictionary, the entry under woman would read as: “Species that drive the world. The earth might be revolving around the sun, but they make the remaining inhabitants of earth revolve around them.”

அப்புறம், ஒரு பெரிய லிஸ்ட் போடறார்: தனக்குப் எப்படிப்பட்ட பெண்கள் பிடிக்கும்னு:

4. Women who wear glasses. (And who remember who take the glasses off just in time).

ha?

இவரு போடற லிஸ்ட்டப் பார்த்தா மதறாஸி சிக்ஸ் இவருக்குப் பிடிக்கும்னு சொல்றமாதிரி இருக்கு

Professions for Women

இதைப் படிக்கும் போது எனக்குள் எழுந்த உணர்வுகளைச் சொல்ல வார்த்தைகள் இல்லை!

Abbreviated version of Virginia Woolfe’s speech delivered to the Society for Women’s Service.

… The Angel in the House. It was she who used to come between me and my paper when I was writing reviews. It was she who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her. You who come of a younger and happier generation may not have heard of her–you may not know what I mean by the Angel in the House. I will describe her as shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it–in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others.

I think The Angel in the House still lives on in India.

Link courtesy: Brownie’s post.

ரஜினி

The certain younger somebody who is supposedly replacing Rajini. See, he has a huge fan following, (hmmm), he has got the style (what? what style?) Have you people ever seen Rajini movies at all? Wake up people!!

அடேங்கப்பா, ரஜினிக்கு எல்லா agegroupலயும் fans இருக்காங்கதான் போலிருக்கு.

ஜோக்கு, ஜாலின்னா என்ன?

பிரிட்டிஷ்காரங்க பொதுவாவே தன்னை மட்டம்தட்டித்தான் சிரிப்பாங்க. ப்ரிட்டிஷ் காமெடி சீரிஸ்-ம் அப்படித்தான் இருக்கும். எந்த ஒரு பேச்சிலும் தன்மேல் குறைசொல்லி, மன்னிப்புக்கேட்பார்கள், தவறு நம்மளுடையதாக இருந்தாலும். நம்ம இந்தியர்கள் கிட்ட ஒரு கெட்ட பழக்கம், அடுத்தவங்களை மட்டம்தட்டித்ததன் ஜோக்கடிப்பாங்க. எப்பவும் ஜோக்குங்கிற பேர்ல, ஜாலிங்கிற பேர்ல அடுத்தவங்களை மட்டமாப் பேசி, ஏறி மிதிச்சுப், பேசுறவங்களை எனக்குப் பிடிக்காது. எப்பவும் அடுத்தவங்களை மட்டம்தட்டி ஜாலி பண்ற “ரெம்பவும் ஜோவியலான” இந்தப் பேர்வழிகள், அவங்களை வைச்சு மத்தவங்க ஜாலி பண்ணினா பொறுத்துக்க மாட்டாங்க. almost revenge எடுக்கிறமாதிரி அடுத்தவாட்டி பாய்வாங்க. ஹிப்பாட்டி, தனக்குத்தெரிஞ்ச ஒரு  பெண்மணி  தன்னை வைச்சு ஜோக்கடிச்சதை பகிர்ந்துக்கிறாங்க.  இதுல உள்ள ஜோக் மேட்டர் அவ்வளவு பெரிசாப் படலைன்னாலும், ஹிப்பாட்டி சொல்லவர்ற conceptக்காக இந்தப் பதிவை இங்கே பகிர்ந்துக்கிறேன்.

Literary lists, The Potter Saga Prophecies and so on…

Manasi’s take on the Times list of 100 greatest books of the century.

Prophesies on The Harry Potter series.

Australian Big Brother under fire

The Australian version of the TV programme Big Brother has come under criticism for deciding not to tell a contestant that her father had died.

……

Last year two male participants were withdrawn from the house after appearing to sexually molest a female contestant, and the late night edition aimed at adults has attracted complaints of being too sexually explicit.

Crisis appeal for Darfur region

UK charities have launched an emergency appeal to save lives in Sudan’s Darfur region and neighbouring countries.

Rape risk spirals for Darfur women

Hawa was raped in broad daylight, the way it often happens here in northern Darfur.

காணாமல் போன சின்னஞ்சிறுசுகள்

இந்தியாவில் ஒரு வருடத்திற்கு சராசரியாக 44,476 குழந்தைகள் ( ஒரு நாளைக்கு 122 ) காணாமல் போவதாகவும் இதில் 15,407 குழந்தைகள் ஆறு பெரிய நகரங்களில் இருந்துமட்டும் எனவும் அதிலும் 11,008 குழந்தைகள் திரும்பக்கிடைக்காதவர்கள் எனவும் இந்த செய்தி சொல்கிறது.

Why do we marry?

என்ன கேள்வி இது ன்னு நீங்க கேக்கறது புரியுது.
Raman has his own perspective on the question, in his post – An Audience to Your Life.

Shrek, Feminism & Men’s Issues

Educating women about the true essence of feminism would ensure that they don’t turn into radical believers of the concept.  In Shrek 3, to my amazement, Princess Fiona, Snow White, Beauty and Cinderella find themselves in peril and for once decide to take matters into their own hands rather than waiting around for their knights. They actually make things a little easier for their respective partners who appreciate the assistance. Lets face it; even the knights in shining armors could use a break.