Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A bit info about Social Networking Sites

A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

As you aware social networking is a powerful medium on this decade and definitely forever. It has transformed several advanced stages and here is the some of the popular sites and its brief


The concept actually started in 1999 on internet, Blogs and email are the originators of this new trend of social networking,

There are n-number of sites, here is the popular and unique netwirking sites


LinkedIn - Business and professional networking - Jeff Weiner(CEO)

Facebook - General - Mark Zuckerberg(CEO)

Orkut - General (Popular in India and Brazil) - Google - Eric E. Schmidt(CEO)

Badoo - General (Popular in Europe and Latin America) - Cyprus

Bigadda - Indian Social Networking Site - Reliance Entertainment

Blogster - Blogging

Buzznet - Music and pop-culture - Tyler Goldman (CEO)

CafeMom - to moms and moms-to-be - Michael Sanchez (CEO)

Classmates.com - School, college, work and the military - Michael Schutzler

Flickr - Photo sharing, commenting, photography related networking, worldwide - Stewart Butterfield (CEO)

Eons.com - For baby boomers - Jeffrey C. Taylor (CEO)

Epernicus - For research scientists - Eric Silberstein (CEO)

Disaboom - People with disabilities - J.W. Roth (CEO)

BlackPlanet - African-Americans - Omar Waslow (CEO)

Athlinks - Running, Swimming

Exploroo - Travel Social Networking - Frank Guerra (CEO)

Flixster - Movies - Joe Greenstein

Ibibo - Talent based social networking site that allows to promote one's self and also discover new talent - Ashish Kashyap(CEO)

MouthShut.com - social media, consumer reviews - Faisal Farooqui(CEO)

MySpace - Only HTML based site - Owen Van Natta(EX-CEO as of Feb 2010)

Plaxo - Aggregator - Ben Golub(CEO)

Raptr - Video games - Dennis Fong aka Thresh(CEO)

Ryze - Business - Adrian Scott (CEO)

StumbleUpon - Stumble through websites that match your selected interests - Garrett Camp(CEO)

Twitter - General. Micro-blogging, RSS, updates - Evan Williams (CEO)

Vampirefreaks.com - Gothic and industrial subculture

WAYN - Travel and lifestyle - Peter Ward (CEO)

WeeWorld - Teenagers - 10 to 17 - Celia Francis (CEO)

Windows Live Spaces - Blogging (formerly MSN Spaces) - Mocrosoft

XING - Business primarily Europe - Stefan Gross-Selbeck (CEO)

Bebo(Blog early, blog often) - General - Michael Birch (CEO)

Friendster - Search for old friends - Richard Kimber (CEO)

hi5 - Social Entertainment - Bill Gossman (CEO)

PerfSpot - General - Hart Cunningham (CEO)

Yahoo! 360 - personal communication portal operated by Yahoo! - Carol Bartz (CEO)

Zorpia - share unlimited photos, post journals and make friends - Jeffrey Ng (CEO)

Netlog(formerly known as Facebox and Bingbox) - General - Lorenz Bogaert (CEO)

YouTube - video-sharing website - Chad Hurley (CEO)

There are much number of Social Networking sites which is created on daily basis..........................

Happy Networking, ppl to ppl makes difference & knowledge

Cheers.............

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A brief about my favourite sport since childhood - yeah it's nothing but Kabaddi............................................

Kabaddi (Kabbadi or Kabadi) is a team sport originally from Tamil Nadu, India - Team Sport

Two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a "raider" into the other half, in order to win points by tagging or wrestling members of the opposing team; the raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath during the whole raid.

Origin


The origin of Kabaddi can be traced to pre-historic times when man learned how to defend in groups against animals or attack weaker animals individually or in groups for survival and food. Though Kabaddi is primarily an South Asian game, not much is known about its origins. There is, however, concrete evidence, that the game is 4,000 years old.


* In Mahabharata, Arjuna had a unique talent in the game of kabaddi. He could effortlessly sneak into the 'wall' of enemies, destroy them all and come back unscathed.
* As per the Buddhist literature, Gautam Buddha played kabaddi for recreational purposes.
* played by the British Army, to keep fit and as an enticement to recruit soldiers from the British Asian community

Different Names in Tamil for Kabaddi: Sadugudu, Gudugudu, Palinjadugudu and Sadugoodatthi

The word 'Kabaddi' could have originated from the Tamil words 'kai' (hand) and 'pidi' (catch).

Forms of Kabaddi

Amar
In the 'Amar' form of Kabaddi, whenever any player is touched (out), he does not go out of the court, but stays inside, and one point is awarded to the team that touched him. This game is also played on a time basis, i.e the time is fixed.
Played in Punjab, Canada, England, New Zealand, USA, Pakistan and Australia.

Surjeevani
In Surjeevani Kabaddi, one player is revived against one player of the opposite team who is out, one out, one in. The duration, the number of players, dimensions of the court, etc. have been fixed
This form of Kabaddi is the present game

Gaminee

This is played with nine players on either side, in a field of no specific measurements. A player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in putting out all the players of the opponent's side secures a point.

Game-Play

*Two teams of seven members each occupy opposite halves of a field of 12.5m × 10m (roughly half the size of a basketball court, Each has five supplementary players held in reserve

*Teams take turns sending a "raider" to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle ("confine") members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. Tagged members are "out" and sent off the field.

*Defenders must form a chain, for example, by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off. The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider returning to the home side before taking a breath. If the raider takes a breath before returning, the raider is sent off the field.

*Player can also get out by going over a boundary line or part of the body touches the ground outside the boundary

*Each time a player is out the opposing team earns a point. A team scores a bonus of two points, called a lona, if the entire opposing team is declared out. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.

*Matches are staged on age and weight. Six officials supervise a match: one referee, two umpires and a scorer.

Kabaddi Skills
* Holding breath
* Raid
* Dodging
* Movement of hand and foot
* Formation
* Safe Raid
* Holding
* Kick
* Offensive Skills
* Starting a Raid
* Body Position during Raid
* Movements during Raid
* Penetration
* Touching with the hand
* Defensive Skills

In Kabaddi every player is an warrior, I just love the game...............................

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Terrorism & Its Modern Motherland(Pakistan)


Terrorism - is the systematic use of terror, "violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.

Terrorism refer only to those acts which
1. are intended to create fear (terror)
2. are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a materialistic goal or a lone attack)
3. deliberately target (or disregard the safety of) non-combatants.

Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.

Name: "Terror" comes from a Latin word meaning "to frighten"

Those labelled "terrorists" rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other euphemistic terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel or any similar-meaning word in other languages and cultures. Jihadi, mujaheddin, and fedayeen are similar Arabic words which have entered the English lexicon.

Types of Terrorism:
* Civil Disorders – A form of collective violence interfering with the peace, security, and normal functioning of the community.
* Political Terrorism – Violent criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate fear in the community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.
* Non-Political Terrorism – Terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but which exhibits “conscious design to create and maintain high degree of fear for coercive purposes, but the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective.”
* Quasi-Terrorism – The activities incidental to the commission of crimes of violence that are similar in form and method to genuine terrorism but which nevertheless lack its essential ingredient. It is not the main purpose of the quasi-terrorists to induce terror in the immediate victim as in the case of genuine terrorism, but the quasi-terrorist uses the modalities and techniques of the genuine terrorist and produces similar consequences and reaction. For example, the fleeing felon who takes hostages is a quasi-terrorist, whose methods are similar to those of the genuine terrorist but whose purposes are quite different.
* Limited Political Terrorism – Genuine political terrorism is characterized by a revolutionary approach; limited political terrorism refers to “acts of terrorism which are committed for ideological or political motives but which are not part of a concerted campaign to capture control of the State.
* Official or State Terrorism –"referring to nations whose rule is based upon fear and oppression that reach similar to terrorism or such proportions.” It may also be referred to as Structural Terrorism defined broadly as terrorist acts carried out by governments in pursuit of political objectives, often as part of their foreign policy.

In an analysis prepared for U.S. Intelligence four typologies are mentioned.
* Nationalist-Separatist
* Religious Fundamentalist
* New Religious
* Social Revolutionary

Terrorism in Pakistan
Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has suffered from the killing of noncombatants by both state and non-state actors with the latter group often based both inside and outside the present-day country.

Currently however, the biggest threat to the state and citizens of Pakistan emanates by the non-state actors bent on their religious doctrinaire of killing civilians and policemen to achieve their political ends
Origination of which can be attributed to General Zia ul-Haq's controversial "Islamization" policies, the president of the country in the 1980s. His tenure saw Pakistan's exceeding involvement in Soviet-Afghan War, which led to greater influx of ideologically driven Afghan Arabs in the tribal areas and the explosion of kalashnikov and drugs culture. The state and its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) in alliance with the United States and Central Intelligence Agency encouraged the "mujahideen" to fight the proxy war against the Soviet Union, most of which were never disarmed after the war. Some of these groups were later activated under the behest of the state in the form of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and others were encouraged like Taliban to achieve state's agenda in Kashmir and Afghanistan. The same groups are now taking on the state itself.

From the summer of 2007 to late 2008, more than 1,500 people were killed in suicide and other attacks on civilians in Pakistan itself







Terrorist groups in Pakistan:

1. Lashkar-e-Omar
2. Lashkar-e-Taiba
3. Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan







Other than this, other well known terror supporting terms & Pakistan supported groups are

1. Jihad
2. Mujahideen
3. Taliban(Afghan Based Group)
4. Sipah-e-Mohammed
5. Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)
6. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
7. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
8. Al Qaeda

and the list is having infinity value it seems.............

No. of People killed at Pakistan in 2009 because of Terrorism are

January 4 - 7 people - suicide bomber - on Multan Road in Dera Ismail Khan
January 10 - 26 people - Gun Battle
January 14 - 4 people - A DSP & 3 Policemen
January 23 - 5 people - bomb blast
January 26 - 5 people - bomb blast
February 3 - 1 people - grenade attack
February 5 - 32 people - suicide bomber
February 7 - 7 people - Officers
February 11 - 1 people - Law Maker - emote-controlled bomb blast
February 17 - 3 people - car bomb
February 20 - 30 people - suicide bomber
March 3 - 10 people - Shoot - Luckily cricketers escaped, ill fate of security personnel's

The Latest as all you aware,recently they have not ready to spare the Sports people too

It seems its a Sindbad in DhinaThanthi which has been started on inauguration & still continues(Never Ending Story).............
Jan 09 - 47 people
Feb 09 - 73 People
March 09 - 10 People(Countdown started)

Really hats off to the People in Pakistan, for leading a life in VWF(Virtual War Field)

Friday, February 27, 2009

Amid Oscar's, the prestigious Kalaima(ma)mani awards anounced


The Tamil Nadu government today announced the list of personalities who have been selected for the Kalaimamani honor for excellence in the fields of art and literature. The list consists of 70 prominent personalities from various fields of arts. The awardees from cinema comprise of actors Sundar C, Bharath, Vaiyapuri, director-actor Cheran, actresses Asin, Nayanthara, Meera Jasmine and Shobhana. Apart from the screen artistes, composer Harris Jeyaraj, producer and theater owner Abhirami Ramanathan have also been chosen for the honor. Another notable name in the list is Aishwarya Rajinikanth.

FYI: Notable Artists are highlighted

Do they really deserve Kalaimamani?

Here is very few Nayantara's & Asin's Contribution




















It’s really disgusting to see that ‘Kalaimamani’ Award has been conferred to various performers or someone who never really deserves it.

here is the views from the site www.kollywoodtoday.com

#Dizzle on Feb 25th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Aishwariya rajnikanth ? wat did she do to deserve it ? :S
# Thars on Feb 25th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
true say… is it panjamirthan so that you can give it to every one…wat the F***K did nayantara do in order to achive an award. is it because she shows her ass an her hips. il rather award her for her best proformance in bieng a vesa.
admit bharat, pasubathy, haris, sivamani coz they desrve it for there best performance.cum on ppl give some mariyathey to the award.
# vinod on Feb 25th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
A definite big NO to Nayanthara
# naveen on Feb 25th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
wat the fuck they gave to that thevidiya devipriya?
plz look on to it
http://kollywoodtoday.net/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=560
# raja on Feb 25th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
oh god, what has happened is nothing but murder of talents in tamil cinema. do u think asin and saroja devi madam are equal, or has she acheived any bit what saroja devi madam has achieved. the answer will be a big NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.and that slut nayanthara, meera jasmine etc. they are bracketed with greats like sivamani. this is utterly disgusting. thats the reason u have third rate actors like vijay getting a doctorate or a state award and great talents like vikram are sidelined. this tamil industry is going for worse to worst. only god can save it.
# Yes on Feb 25th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Award ellam kodukarathila ,vangurathu (kasu koduthu).They have money(some in the list undeservered).so they bought it.
# jay on Feb 25th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
கருணாநிதிக்கு இதற்குமட்டும் நேரம் இருக்கும்
# Shalini on Feb 25th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
omg itz unbelieveble…. wot did aishwarya dhanush and devipriya to deserve dis kalaimani award… dis is too nonsens… itz lik a game!!!
# vijay on Feb 25th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
its really an ashame for the person who had decided on the awardees. Among the actors category , ONLY Mr.PASUPATHY AND MR.CHERAN DESERVE THE PRESTIGIOUS AWARD.
Extremely SORRY TO SAY THIS. The prestigious award of KALAIMAMANI HELD BY THE DESERVING ARTISTE, IN THE PAST, By giving the awards to those announced this year, IT CLEARLY SHOWS, THAT , ALL THE WINNERS HAD SERVED SEVERELY TO THE JURIES AND SATISFIED THE JURIES TO THE CORE AND THE DECISION MIGHT HAVE TAKEN DURING THEIR UNCONCIOUS STATE. TO DISCUSS FURTHER U MAY CALL ME ON 99 407 23 222 TO UNDERSATND BETTER
# Tamizhan on Feb 25th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Veterans like SarojaDevi, ‘Drums’ Sivamani etc., should deny to accept such award which is being given to dummies like Aishwarya Rajnikant which no one will accept……. If she is not the daughter of Rajni will they give her this award…..
Atleast the award itself should be honoured….. It should not be offered just for the sake to give it to somebody….. Please leave atleast the real honours to the truely deserving artists……..
# Karunanidhi on Feb 25th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
FLASH NEWS!! AWARDS FOR SALE!!
Please donate 10 lakhs to CM relief fund and/or sleep with a bada politician and you get a K********** award. You can also get good references or be the son/daughter of a big actor/producer/director. Hurry up!! Valid till stock lasts.
# jesse on Feb 26th, 2009 at 2:18 am
half these ppl dnt even deserve the award!!!!!!!!
they should have gave it to TRISHA she had 6 movies in one year (telugu including)
she’s way better than nayntara and asin
whoever came up with the list is dumb
# star on Feb 26th, 2009 at 4:38 am
i don’t think Nayanthara deserves the award…wht did she do last year in the terms of acting..it was only skin show…the only ppl who deserve the awards are Saroja Devi, Sivamani, Pasupathi and Asin.
# lingham on Feb 26th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
harris, cheran, sivamani, saroja devi, n asin truely deserve!
nayantara, a big question mark??? and so on aiswarya!
# Jenny on Feb 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Asin,nayantara,devi priya enna panni kilichitalugantu avalukaluku
poi award koduthangalo…..
Both Asin,Nayan,Devi priya Sucks…….
I will say Harris,Drums Sivamani,Saroja Devi,Pasupathi r worth to deserve it…….
# Anand on Feb 26th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
All others except the useless bitch devipriya & dumb aishwarya deserved this award.
# adithya VM on Feb 26th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
seeing the list i forgot for what purpose they r givin this award……anyhow…suki sivam deserves it…saroja devi is given only now???shobana for dance ok….i dunno what did asin n nayanthara do when compared to asin n nayanthara…if sundar C had got it as a director i would have been happy…cheran too as a director is good
# adithya VM on Feb 26th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
sorry when compared to saroja devi and shobana….
# CT on Feb 26th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Dizzle is right. Aishwariya rajnikanth ? What did she even contribute? Ah..she is in Rajni’s family..ok :( Thats Karuna’s govt. for you…
And its a big NO…for Trisha. Trisha is even unfit to be a heroine itself..its not even a girl…thoo…and DMK always cannot award more to ladies liek this…crazy.
# kk on Feb 26th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Atleast some of those flop actors actresses have acted in some movies and “jollu” karunanithy wants to see those actresses in closure. but y the hell Aishwarya getting it cuz, she is born to rajini and married to that stupid Dhanush? by giving some of these people this award, this award just losing its prestigious.
# youngster on Feb 27th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Instead of giving to Aishwarya Rajnikant Govt would have giving thssi award to the following persons(who made most of the Tamil Nadu’s youngsters happy)
1. Silk Sumitha
2. Disco Shanthi
3. Mumtaz
4. Namitha
# S.PARTHIBAN on Feb 27th, 2009 at 8:49 am
miss sangeetha kapilan and kayalvizhi kapilan (kabilan sisters) really deserve it b’cos they have done so many thing to Bharathanattiyam. they have inspired many young students who wants to learn this traditional dance. they have performed together in many stages and shared stage with many prominent artists. they are such a humble persons, they have made their teacher, parents, bother,family and friends proud. hearty congrats to them and best wishes to get many more like this.
# Raman on Feb 27th, 2009 at 8:50 am
What the hell the Nayanthara, Ishwarya, Devipriya doing here..
Is this Kalaimamani Award or KalaiMamaMani Award…
# APARRNA on Feb 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
i like to say…..dat der r certain actors who obviously dont deserve dis……..@ d same time…….its wonderful in givin dis award to SUKISIVAM,,,,,,,,but i really feel sad for dat too……..bcoz it is a insult for him to b compared wit certain…ppl….who doesn’t deserve dis…
# diraj on Feb 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
why the award was given to nayanthara, she cant even act well,
only showing boobs, n her ass, Maybe she have offered some blow job and fuck for the journalist. Go the hell
Me: As of me, don't even think of this as an award, Nothing much i can do for 2009 Kalaimamani Awards, all praise goes to the selection committee & its supportive bodies

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar............What is it actually?

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)[1] to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is one of the most prominent film award ceremonies in the world.

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928.

The 81st Academy Awards honoring the best in film for 2008 was held on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with actor Hugh Jackman hosting the ceremony for the first time. Since 2002, the awards have been broadcast from the Kodak Theatre.

Oscar statuette
The official name of the Oscar statuette is the Academy Award of Merit. Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.

Model & Creator of Oscar
Designer: Art Director-Cedric Gibbons
Model: Mexican Film Director-Emilio "El Indio" Fernández(Naked Pose)
Sculptor: George Stanley
Cast: Sachin Smith(92.5% Tin and 7.5% Copper and then Gold-Plated it)
Manufacturer: R.S. Owens & Company, Chicago, Illinois

Oscar Contribution in World War II: In support of the American effort in World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster and were traded in for gold ones after the war had ended.

Naming
The root of the name Oscar is contested.
1) One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson;[10] one of the earliest mentions in print of the term Oscar dates back to a TIME Magazine article about the 1934 6th Academy Awards
2) Another claimed origin is that of the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick[13], who first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the statuette reminding her of her Uncle Oscar.

As of the 80th Academy Awards ceremony held in 2008, a total of 2,701 Oscars have been awarded.[15] A total of 293 actors have won Oscars in competitive acting categories or been awarded Honorary or Juvenile Awards.

Ownership of Oscar statuettes
Since 1950, the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for US$1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards not protected by this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums (Levy 2003).[citation needed]

This rule is highly controversial, since while the Oscar is under the ownership of the recipient, it is essentially not on the open market.[16] The case of Michael Todd's grandson trying to sell Todd's Oscar statuette illustrates that there are many who do not agree with this idea. When Todd's grandson attempted to sell Todd's Oscar statuette to a movie prop collector, the Academy won the legal battle by getting a permanent injunction. Although some Oscar sales transactions have been successful, the buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.

Voters
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership, Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 73 annual awards ceremonies.

New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady

Rules
Today, according to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify.[20] Rule 2 states that a film must be "feature-length", defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short subject awards and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or in 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s progressive scan digital cinema format with native resolution not less than 1280x720.

The members of the various branches nominate those in their respective fields while all members may submit nominees for Best Picture. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting in which all members are then allowed to vote in most categories, including Best Picture.

Ceremony

The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. It is the culmination of the film awards season, which usually begins during November or December of the previous year. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie, and musical performers sometimes do not adhere to this.

The Awards show was first televised on NBC in 1953

Venues
*The 1st Academy Awards were presented at a banquet dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, USA
*The 81st Academy Awards were presented at The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA

The Winners of the 81st Academy Awards(I mean Oscar Winners are)

Best picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Best actor: Sean Penn - Milk
Best actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Best supporting actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best supporting actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best original screenplay: Milk
Best adapted screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Best animated feature film: Wall-E
Best animated short film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Best foreign language film: Departures - Japan
Best documentary feature: Man on Wire
Best documentary short subject: Smile Pinki
Art direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume design: The Duchess
Make-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Best live action short film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Visual effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound editing: The Dark Knight
Sound mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Film editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best original score: Slumdog Millionaire
Best original song: Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire

Most Oscar winners

Most nominated films: Titanic and All About Eve, with 14, and Lord of The Rings, Gone With The Wind, From Here to Eternity, Mary Poppins, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Chicago, and Forrest Gump all with 13.
Most awarded Actor: Jack Nicholson with three statues, two for Best Actor, and one for Supporting.

Only Actor to win for a one-word role:
Patty Duke, playing the blind and deaf Helen Keller uttered "Water" to take home the Best Supporting Actress Award at 16 in 1963. Of course, her non speaking performance was more powerful than her competitions speaking parts.
Who got the biggest applause inside the auditorium? Shirley Temple got the longest applause, Gregory Peck the loudest.
TIES
In 1969 there was a tie for Best Actress, the two winning ladies were Barbra Streisand for "Funny Girl" (1968) and Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968).
1932 Wallace Beery for his work in The Champ (1931) and Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) both won Best Actor Awards.

Double Takes:

In 1992 Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for Best Actress for their work in the same movie: Thelma & Louise (1991, nither won
Also in 1936 Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, And Franchot Tone were all Nominated for Best Actor for their work in the same movie, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and none of them won.
The Only Silent Film to Win Best Picture:
Wings (1927–1928)

Only X-Rated Film to Win Best Picture:

Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Only Animated Film Nominated for Best Picture:
Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Salute to AR Rahman, Resul Pookutty & Danny Boyle(Slumdog Millionaire)


A.R. Rahman - Local Hero

Allah Rakkha Rahman (Tamil: ஏ.ஆர்.ரகுமான்) (born January 6, 1967 as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Academy Award winning Indian film composer, record producer and musician. His work has garnered considerable acclaim and a large global fan base since his film scoring career began in the early 1990s. Since then, he won several prizes, including two Academy Awards, four National Film Awards as well as a British Academy Award and the Golden Globe award.

Working in several of India's various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2003, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, has sold more than 100 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide,and sold over 200 million cassettes making him one of the world's all-time top selling recording artists.

His acclaimed music compositions have led to references to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have given him the title Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm).

A. R. Rahman was born to a Tamil Hindu family. His father R. K. Shekhar was a composer and conductor for Malayalam-language films of Keralite cinema. His father died when Rahman was 9 years old, and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. He converted to Islam from Hinduism in 1989 along with his family after a personal experience with a Sufism teacher.

During these early years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots" with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, JoJo and Raja.Rahman is the founder of the Chennai-based rock group, "Nemesis Avenue".He played the keyboard and piano, the synthesizer, the harmonium and the guitar. His curiosity in the synthesizer in particular increased because, he says, it was the “ideal combination of music and technology". He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj. At the age of 11, he joined, as a keyboardist, the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja, one of many composers to whom musical instruments belonging to Rahman's father were rented. Rahman later played in the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu, accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music, where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music.

Music style and impact

Skilled in Carnatic music,Western classical, Hindustani music and the Qawwali style of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahman has been noted to write film songs that amalgamate elements of these music systems and other genres, layering instruments from differing music idioms in an improvisatory manner. Symphonic orchestral themes have accompanied his scores, where he has employed leitmotif. In the 1980s, Rahman recorded and played arrangements on mono, synonymous with the era of predecessors such as K. V. Mahadevan and Vishwanathan–Ramamoorthy, but later his methodology changed. Rahman worked and experimented on fusing traditional instruments with new electronic sounds and technology.


His first soundtrack Roja was listed in TIME's "Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time" in 2005. Film critic Richard Corliss felt the "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman." Rahman's initial global reach is attributed to the South Asian diaspora. Described as one of the most innovative composers to ever work in the industry, his unique style and immense success transformed film music in the 1990s prompting several film producers to take film music more seriously.

The director Baz Luhrmann notes

"I had come to the music of A. R. Rahman through the emotional and haunting score of Bombay and the wit and celebration of Lagaan. But the more of AR's music I encountered the more I was to be amazed at the sheer diversity of styles: from swinging brass bands to triumphant anthems; from joyous pop to West-End musicals. Whatever the style, A. R. Rahman's music always possesses a profound sense of humanity and spirit, qualities that inspire me the most.


Danny Boyle - Britain Hero


Danny Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an Academy Award-winning English director and film producer, best known for his work on films such as Trainspotting, Sunshine, 28 Days Later. In 2009 Boyle gained an Academy Award for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire.

Boyle was born in Radcliffe (historically a part of Lancashire) into a working-class Irish Catholic family. His mother was from Ballinasloe, County Galway, and his father was born in England to an Irish family of O'Dwyers. His great uncle Sir Michael O'Dwyer led the charge during the Amritsar Massacre.[1] For a while, Boyle seriously contemplated entering the priesthood and attended religious school as a teenager.He was discouraged by a priest from joining the clergy; later in his life Boyle stated, "I don't know if he was trying to save me or the priesthood." However, he later wrote a treatise Spiritual Glory of British Empire:Guiding souls in India about the activities of christian missionaries in British India.[citation needed]

Instead, he studied at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, and at the University of Wales, Bangor. While at university, Boyle dated the actress Frances Barber.


Resul Pookutty - Real Hero



Resul Pookutty (Malayalam: റെസൂൽ പൂക്കുട്ടി ) (born 1971) is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award winning Indian film sound designer and mixer. Pookutty is from Vilakkupara, Kollam in Kerala. He is the first Indian and only Asian to win the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.
He was the youngest of eight children born to an impoverished family. His father was a private bus conductor, and he had to walk 6 km to the nearest school and studied in the light of the kerosene lamp as their village had no electricity

Pookutty moved to Mumbai after his graduation. He termed it as "a natural immigration as a graduate of the institute." Pookutty made his debut in sound design with the 1997 film Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One. He got his big break with the critically acclaimed 2005 film Black, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
In an interview, he named Gandhi, My Father as one of his "most emotional(ly) troubled film". He said "I got emotional. I wept. I was emotionally troubled while mixing the film. There is lot of me in the film.

He described working with Danny Boyle, whom he describes as one of his favourite directors for Slumdog Millionaire as a "completely new experience".He shot on many kinds of film cameras, more than fifty percent in digital camera

He designed sound for the 2008 blockbuster Ghajini. His first major international project Slumdog Millionaire won him an Academy award

His Academy award acceptance speech:

"This is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know, who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called Slumdog Millionaire. I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence. That word is 'Om.' So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle [Images], Christian Colson, Paul Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much.

His Films


Slumdog Millionaire (January 23, 2009) (Released)
Acid Factory (2009) (Under Production)
Raat Gayi Baat Gayi (2009) (Under Production)
Ghajini (December 24, 2008) (Released)
Woodstock Villa (May 30, 2008) (Released)
Mithya (February 8, 2008) (Released)
Dus Kahaniyaan (December 7, 2007) (Released)
Saawariya (November 9, 2007) (Released)
Gandhi My Father (August 3, 2007) (Released)
Mixed Doubles (February 10, 2006) (Released)
Matrubhoomi (July 8, 2005) (Released)
Musafir (December 10, 2004) (Released)
Kyun! Ho Gaya Na (August 13, 2004) (Released)
Agni Varsha (August 30, 2002) (Released)
Snip! (2000) (Released)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Dheeran Chinnamalai - Freedom Fighter - Our Local Hero

Dheeran Chinnamalai (Tamil: தீரன் சின்னமலை) Original Name:Theerthagiri Gounder (April 17, 1756 – July 31, 1805) was a famous Palayakkarar and independence fighter from Tamil Nadu.

He was born in Melapalayam, Erode Tamilnadu, India. He formed a 1,000-strong army in support of Tipu Sultan, and was instrumental in victories at Chitheswaram, Mazahavalli and Srirangapatna.

He was one of the main leaders in the Polygar Wars, and commanded a vast army, notably during the Second Polygar War that took place in 1801-1802.

After Tipu's death, Chinnamalai settled down at Odanilai and constructed a fort there to continue his struggle against the British, whom he defeated in battles at Cauvery in 1801, Odanilai in 1802 and Arachalur in 1804. Later, Chinnamalai left his fort to avoid cannon attack and engaged in guerrilla warfare while he was stationed at Karumalai in the Palani region.

He was betrayed by his cook and captured by the British, who hanged him at Sankari Fort on July 31 or August 2, 1805.