Copy Song - Paste it - Add local flavors = A hit song

June Ponal (From Unnale Unnale):

All Rise:

Public speaking is an art and what is it that differentiates between a good and a bad presenter? Presentations or public speaking is not my cup of tea. It still sends shivers down my spine when I am asked to make a presentation. I can still remember a few instances where even I did not know what I was taking about during a presentation. I still wonder how my mouth keeps blabbering something while the mind is completely blanked out. I have a few presentations to make next week and I hope I can make presentations like the ones shown below.

Is there life after death by PowerPoint?

Users guide to life

Economics explained in ten bullet points

Chicken, chicken, chicken

I found these interesting videos at PresentationZen. They were so good that I wanted to have these videos in my blog. PresentationZen is a very good site on "How to Make presentations". This is going to be my bible on presentations. It's a site to be bookmarked by all wannabe speakers.

Last Man Standing is my first David Baldacci book and definitely will not be the last. I have been reading non-fiction of late and wanted to get back to fiction and the best way was to get hold of a page-turner thriller novel. I was a little bit apprehensive in choosing this book because I have not read any reviews on any of David Baldacci books. However with a gut feeling I purchased this book and it has not disappointed me.

Web London a member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team and his compatriots from the Charlie Team hit out on a drug raid in Washington D.C. As they near the target, Web London suddenly freezes up and finds himself immobile and falls on the ground. Unaware of Web London's condition the rest of the team continues with the mission and within seconds no one is left alive. Web London thus becomes the sole survivor of a remote-controlled ambush and is the "last man standing". Faced with guilt over his team mates death and increasing media coverage over his cowardice freezing up act before the raid, Web London decides to find out the real reason on why he froze up and also investigate on the ambush.

The author's research on the FBI's hostage rescue team, latest electronic gadgets, sniper tactics are evident from the book. There are lots of sub-plots and each of them are beautifully weaved together to reveal the main plot.

Based on the reviews "Last man standing" does not seem to be David Baldacci's best work which now gives me an option to read his earlier books like "Absolute Power" & "The Camel Club" which has got better reviews than "Last Man Standing".

With the grace and blessings of Swami, Madras Boys conducted Grama Seva on 8th April 2007 at Krishna Kandigai & Kannigaiper Village. At Krishna Kandigai White washing of village school and Tree plantation was organized and at Kannigaiper village Bhajan and Narayana Seva at the temple premises. 2 activities were simultaneously organized on the same day at both villages.

At Krishnakandigai the School was previously renovated a month before which was in a depleted condition .At Kannigaiper, the temple was in a bad shape. The temple roof was leaking badly during rainy days and the floor around the premises was also damaged. The painting was worn out and not done for years thus giving a bad picture of an ancient temple. The renovation work of the temple and school was organized together. Thus it was decided to paint the school with the tree plantation program to mark its inauguration and also to inaugurate the temple on the same day by having Bhajan and Narayana Seva. Two water tanks were setup at Krishnakandigai at different points and were also commissioned to work on the same day.

In the Morning, the boys first went to Krishnakandigai and after prayers, split into two groups, one for whitewashing and another for tree plantation. By Swamis Grace the school was whitewashed and painted by mid noon and the tree plantation program went on side by side. More than 30 samplings of different varieties of trees were planted at various points in the village. The Boys sweated it out in the hot sun and worked hard enthusiastically and finished the given task. Then they regrouped together and moved to the next village at Kannigaiper to inaugurate the temple function. The Temple had a new look and the village boys with love decorated Swamis Photo in Jhoola and did the entire spade work for the Seva activities conducted at both villages. Bhajan was conducted as a mark of opening ceremony in the temple conducted by Narayana Seva.

The villagers expressed their gratitude and thanked the youth for this bond of Love and Seva.

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                                                                                          Race Analysis

70% Eastern European 30% Anglo Saxon 0% East Indian 0% Middle Eastern 0% Southern European 0% South East Asian 0% Korean/Japanese 0% Chinese

Intelligence   6.3                    Average Intelligence 

Risk                6.0                         Average Risk             

Ambition      4.1                                            Low Ambition     

Gay Factor    3.2                                                         Average Gay Factor

Honor            5.3                                 Average Honor

Politeness     6.4             Average Politeness

Income          3.8                                                 $10,000 - $30,000

Sociability     7.1       High Sociability

Promiscuity  5.2                                       Average Promiscuity

Celebmatch

Leonardo DiCaprio

YOUR ARCHETYPE:

Personality Profile:
You particularly enjoy the traditional way of life. Having drinks with your friends, attending parties and relaxing while watching TV are some of the simple pleasures you indulge in. You may also enjoy physical exercise. Your driving force is to retire as early as possible, so that you can do the things you enjoy more often. Your main source of ambition comes from this desire.

You don't particularly like your job but you do it without complaining. You realize that the income that it provides is essential to your lifestyle. You are friendly yet competitive with your co-workers. This competitiveness may lead you to squander your earnings to match other peoples' possessions.
You operate most effectively when there is a set power structure, and the lines of authority are clear. You know your place in the ranks, you play by the rules, and will deliver what is expected of you. You do not care for responsibility; you would rather be care free.

Your view of other types
You sometimes disagree with Boss types, but you respect them for the most part. You may even be envious of their lifestyles. You find Academic types boring and uptight. You have very little in common with them. However some White collar types may respect the accomplishments of certain Academic types. You think that Artist types are unrealistic and immature. You like interacting with Charmer types, and sometimes envy their charisma. You perceive Gambler types mostly as loners and untrustworthy. However, since you may have to interact with them on a daily basis you are not hostile to them. You believe Drifters are too lazy to work for a living but you sometimes feel pity for them.

Other types' view of you
Boss types may have some things in common with Blue collar types, but for the most part they only interact with you during the course of business. Academics see White collar types as unsuccessful versions of themselves, but because of work situations they may have to interact with you often. Artists do not interact with you, for they consider you to be a slave of conformity. Charmer types may associate with you; they find that the collar types are the people that mostly want to hang around them. To the Drifter types your repetitive routines seem boring; they would prefer having more fun and excitement. They may however enjoy the company of some Blue collar types.

White Collar:
-Slightly more intelligent and ambitious than the Blue collar type.
Occupation Examples: Secretary, Police Officer, Telemarketer, Computer Programmer, Office worker

Blue collar:
-Less intelligent and less ambitious than White Collar.
Occupation Examples: Auto/Equipment Mechanic, Factory Worker, Electrician.

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Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans & Mudhalvan - Shankar + Rahman Combination created wonders in the music industry. They gave us lots of good songs.

Muthu, Padayappa & Baba - Rajni + Rahman. Some good numbers and some average tracks.

Now unto Sivaji where the three unite........

1. Balelakka :

Rahman has not done the same mistake that he did in Baba. It's an unwritten rule that the intro song for Rajni must be sung by SPB. This time SPB is back with the usual intro number for Rajni. The song starts with few women singing "Suriyano, chandirano.." and then the tempo slowly builds up with a chorus and then its all SPB. It's a fast-paced song and we could visualize how the theatre is going to react to this song.

There is lot of "yelae" slang used in the song. I guess Rajni must be from Tirunelveli district in the movie. Usual intro lyrics for the song except this time it is about the goodness of the people living in the villages.

2. Athiradee :

You need a good music system to enjoy this song.  The lyrics starts with listing all the earlier movies of Rajni and it goes like "Billa Ranga Baasha dhaan ivan pistol pesum beshaa dhaan". On first hearing it appears like a background song on Rajni, like Karkha Karkha song in Vettaiyadu Villayadu. Halfway into the song it appears that Rajni sings about himself and the song looks like a duet.

I am eager to see how this song is picturized. Is Rahman singing for Rajni or about Rajni?

3. Sahana Saral :

A melodious number. Song has a heavy fusion of drums and mirudangam. Chinmayee sounds sweet. She has proven to be a versatile singer. Once again Rahman uses the swaram based interlude and he has taken the task to himself.  When Udit sings "Oor ayiram andugal semitha Kadhal idhu" in a high pitch the song gives a Hindi flavor. Not sure if Rahman intended to bring a different flavor to the song.

4. Sahara Saral :

This is the pathos version of Sahana Saral. Reminds us of the "Poorkalam Enge, poovil Kaayam inge" song from Tenali. New find Gomathi hums Thirupaavai in the second stanza. Her voice reminds me of susheela.

5. Vaaji Vaaji :

A duet by Hariharan & Madhusree. Hariharan sounds a little bit different. An average duet which might grow on you on continuous listening.

6. Style :

Reminds me of the "Bailamore" song from Kadhal Virus movie. That song was not well appreciated. I guess this is Rahman's second attempt in creating a song like that. This song is about the color white! "Karuputhan ennaku pudicha color-u" song portrayed even Rajnikanth as black. This song tries to define a new white color. 1 Basket of Sunlight and 1 Basket of Moonlight is Rajni's white? Chandiran and Suriyan is already referenced in the Rajni Intro song. So I wonder if there is some theme on Sun and the moon.

Crazy lyrics - "Eppothum Pachai Tamizhan, Ipothu Vellai Thamizhan"!!!! Also has some Spanish lyrics in the middle.

7. The Boss :

Starts with a DTS effect. I guess this is a background song. Stupid lyrics and includes everything under the sun like "powerranger, Jetix, Jet-li, Idly etc".

This song is strictly for Rajni fans.

My Verdict : Based on the audio it's a Rajni + Rahman combo. Some good and some average tracks. Shankar + Rahman combo is definitely missing.

Let's see how Shankar has picturized these songs and see if he has taken it to a new Shankar + Rahman + Rajni combo.