5 stories

Couldn't sleep and woke up early (3.30am..although I did sleep earlier than usual at 9pm. I am getting old if 6 hours sleep is sufficient these days - though it probably will take couple good doses of caffeine to keep me going through the day!). I am by myself (the wife is travelling on work) and so instead of having the discipline to go back to sleep again, I started reading Amit Varma's blog, India Uncut - the only blog (other than Prem Panicker's cricket blog) that I try to read regularly.

Here are some gems from stories he has covered recently...(Sorry, Amit.. I give you credit aboveand have tried to link to your blog posts as much as I can but I may have missed some. I'll try to go back and find it at your page soon - but the way this worked - I just bookmarked the original article in some cases and thats what I am quoting from here. However, all credit for leading me to these articles goes to your blog.)

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1. I didn't realize this is where the fashion show malfunction (video - may not be safe for work!) rucus ended...in a parliamentary discussion that concluded that wearing underwear is essential!! How ridiculous can we get.. Parliament has nothing better to do than discuss this..!

Wardrobe malfunctions on the ramp has Parliamentarians agitated enough to suggest undergarments be mandatory for models. The fashion industry, however, is only amused by the proposal!

2. Halle Berry wants to break 'free' - Halle Berry would like nothing more than to lie topless on the beach as the European women she saw in Cannes, for she feels that they are really 'free'.

And who is complaining? ;)

3. A few weeks ago both Amit (and then I) wondered... whats with India and Turkey, with reference to a post about Indian obsession with sex

The follow-up to that trend-analysis shows that people in India/Pakistan (data from delhi, chennai, mumbai!) are searching 'rape' more than any other city... dukhad & pathetic!!

4. Look ma, a floatation device

Steven Levitt of Freakonomics fame now reveals that since 1970, encompassing perhaps over 150 million commercial flights, there hasn't been a single water landing. "So perhaps 15 billion customer trips," he writes, "have heard that 10-15 second set of instructions without it ever being useful to anyone." His post, aptly titled "Airplane Nonsense," talks about some of the other instructions read out on airplanes that make no sense, framed, no doubt, by regulators who are far removed from the reality of the field they regulate. Do read, I'm sure you'll sympathise with a lot of it.
Update: It turns out that Levitt wasn't exactly correct about there being no water landings, as this Wikipedia page indicates. But his point is valid anyway, no?
Update 2 (June 13): Peter points me to a counterpoint.

5. And just for fun...read these ten miscellaneous timepass stories (ok..its actually 14 stories..not 5, like the post title says ;))
a) ' Desi molests woman in Singapore with..... lemon!' - via
b) Dil-Vil, Purse-Wurse --- Man steals purse of woman. Man sees woman's photo in it. Man falls in love. Man wonders if woman is hooked up. Man sees woman's divorce certificate in purse. Man sends purse back to woman, along with a love letter. Coming to a theater near you soon?
- via
c) Football wars - see this hilarious ad campaign :)
d) Amit tells us about a hilarious case of mistaken identity - The BBC, doing a show on technology, mistakenly call in the wrong guy. Instead of a tech expert named Guy Kewney, they usher a gentleman from Congo named Guy Goma into the studio. As the anchor addresses him as Kewney, Goma realises the mix-up, but gamely answers the questions thrown at him anyway. Watch the video at the link above
e) The Times of India reports that cops in the musically named Dumka district in Jharkand have filed an FIR against a ghost. The report says that "intriguingly, it appeared to haunt women more than men." - via
f) Amit tells us that the British Army has demoted a goat - No, this news is not from the Onion, it's from the Washington Goat Post. It seems that "a 6-year-old male goat called Billy" has been "downgraded from the rank of lance corporal to fusilier," and "soldiers of a lower rank are no longer expected to salute Billy as a sign of respect."
g)Amit blogs about a Mid Day report that informs us that "at least 100 men went under the knife in the last three months because they wanted dimples like Shah Rukh Khan." GOOD for them!!! Next they can start h...h....h....haklaoing like him ;)