There are some people who feel they are doing the 'right' thing by not eating meat, and bloat about it by citing some of the most ridiculous facts and reasons I have ever listened to in my life. I can certainly understand and respect two of the most obvious reasons - 1) I don't like to eat meat. 2) Eating meat is harmful to health. Lets leave it at that, shall we?
Hell no ... there exists a myriad of other ridiculous reasons, aimed at converting more non-veggies. I'll write down some of them.
1) Veggie-ism reduces poverty: Crops fed to animals can help feed the poor.
-> Partially true, considering the 10% efficiency factor. But apart from meat, we also get milk, eggs, and even maybe biogas (cowdung). Also think about all the vegetation animals in the wild eat up. Are they useful in any way? Also, if animals were to eat up 10 times as much food as they give as output, they would be priced 10 times higher compared to crop based foods, which is clearly not the case. So, their food input comes from useless vegetation, which would have gone to waste anyways.
2) Cruelty to animals: No explanation required
-> Ya, say that to the animal activists. The animals are bred especially for human consumption, if there weren't any non-veggies, they wouldn't have existed anyways. Also, is there any reason to believe plants don't feel any pain? Or just because we don't see blood gushing out, or screams or movement when we tear off a leaf, we feel that we can do it as much as we want?
3) Chicken are more intelligent than dogs/cats:
-> So, I guess if we stop eating them, the average world IQ will increase, right?
Whatever the reasons may be, justified or ridiculous, ultimately we eat meat because we like it. People do many things for their own enjoyment, which may or may not be good for their health, or for the world for that matter. We have a few years to live anyways, why miss out on things we like to do? You may call me selfish, by not worrying about the greater good of the world. But for non-veg food, I am proud to say I am.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Contemporary news channels
I have been spending the last month idling away at home watching a lot of movies on my laptop. Consequently my weight has also boomed up a notch, which is saying something as people who know me would understand. However, this blog post is about something which hit me hard in the meantime.
The few minutes everyday I spend on the dining table with my family are filled with the misfortune of watching the television channels. Completely rubbish, thats what they have become. Even news channels, who are expected to report happenings at face value, pass the events through a filter and render them completely useless. In fact, the inspiration to this blog post is actually the news on solar eclipse supposed to happen today (1st August 2008). All I wanted to know are the basic facts - what %ge of eclipse, when and where. Even after a complete hour of news watching, flipping through countless channels, I was unable to get them. Come on, isn't that what one wants to know abt an eclipse? Apparently not. What we are actually supposed to know are the astrological implications of the eclipse on our lives, how we are not supposed to eat in that time and why we should take a bath after stepping outside.
Apart from the useless crap they make out of the useful news, what they show most of the time is more useless crap. News about which television stars are going to which star's party, how and why judges are fighting in some stupid reality show and what happened at the soap on TV last night.
Can one say that the news channels are at fault? I wouldn't say so. All they are trying to do is to earn more money by broadcasting what the majority of Indian population is expected to see. The blame is on us. Its not too late to rectify our television habits, and start watching something sane and sensible. Else, our world may turn into something as portrayed by the movie "Idiocracy" - the average IQ of the world going drastically low in 500 years time.
The few minutes everyday I spend on the dining table with my family are filled with the misfortune of watching the television channels. Completely rubbish, thats what they have become. Even news channels, who are expected to report happenings at face value, pass the events through a filter and render them completely useless. In fact, the inspiration to this blog post is actually the news on solar eclipse supposed to happen today (1st August 2008). All I wanted to know are the basic facts - what %ge of eclipse, when and where. Even after a complete hour of news watching, flipping through countless channels, I was unable to get them. Come on, isn't that what one wants to know abt an eclipse? Apparently not. What we are actually supposed to know are the astrological implications of the eclipse on our lives, how we are not supposed to eat in that time and why we should take a bath after stepping outside.
Apart from the useless crap they make out of the useful news, what they show most of the time is more useless crap. News about which television stars are going to which star's party, how and why judges are fighting in some stupid reality show and what happened at the soap on TV last night.
Can one say that the news channels are at fault? I wouldn't say so. All they are trying to do is to earn more money by broadcasting what the majority of Indian population is expected to see. The blame is on us. Its not too late to rectify our television habits, and start watching something sane and sensible. Else, our world may turn into something as portrayed by the movie "Idiocracy" - the average IQ of the world going drastically low in 500 years time.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Rock In India
I was waiting for the "Rock In India" festival for a long time. It was the first ever rock festival ever held in the Indian sub-continent, and to top it all, Megadeth (the fastest, utmost furious heavy metal band ever) was headlining this event. Watching Mustaine play live was a dream come true for me, and it finally happened on 14th March 2008 at Palace Grounds, Bangalore.
I booked my train tickets with Lakulish and Deepesh (dippi), and had intentionally kept one day at hand to go around the famous pubs of Bangalore. Dippi had to cancel at the last instant because he had to work for his DDP (I really feel bad for him). Lakulish also had doubts about going till the last instant, but ultimately he PM'ed me yahoo saying "fuck it. i'll come". There we go, two of us about to witness the historical event.
The train journey was as eventless as it could be. The next day was a long day for us. We had to collect concert tickets from an unknown face at Bangalore. After getting the tickets, we moved to the concert venue. The gates were scheduled to be opened at 12-30pm, and the festival will go on till 10pm, and hence we knew we had to spend 6 hours under the blazing sun. The last time I came to witness Maiden playing live at the same venue, I fainted just before the main performance, and had to move back. Learning from experience, I decided to stay back in the shade and move forward at the last moment.
The organization was par excellence. There were food stalls, water was free, and even booze was being served. They even made two separate stages so that minimum time is spent on equipment check by the main bands. The Indian bands played on the smaller stage, and some of them were awesome. I specially liked the performances of Prestorika, Junkyard Grooves, Motherjane, Thermal and a Quarter and Millenium. One band however sucked, and that was Pentagram. I didn't understand how could one listen to their music. I later learnt that their lead singer (Vishal) is part of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, composing music for bollywood. Well, at least that didn't come of as a surprise.
Machine Head came online at 7-30pm. Raw power - no other way to describe their performance. People moshed and jumped at their commands. To top it all, they had a very well selected setlist. But the best was yet to come.
Machine Head finished at 8-15pm, and we moved forward, hoping that the mosh crowd wes exhausted by now. The Megadeth techinicians were working on the equipments, and for some reason that took a long long time. When they came to the stage, playing the riffs of Sleepwalker, it was already 9-00pm. But that didn't deter Mustaine. Megadeth live are nothing short of a controlled demolition squad. Sound sucked, and maybe that was the only negative comment that has ever come out of the entire show. There was however one moment from the concert, which is etched out in my mind - the medley of Holy wars..." and "Mechanix", and that was the show-stopper.
I will sum up this post with some of the quotes of Mustaine during the concert -
"On my left, on the guitar, Chris Broderick. On my back, on the drums, Shawn Drover. On my right, on the bass, James LoMenzo. You know who you are. I know who I am"
"You are great, we are Megadeth"
"We will be back"
I booked my train tickets with Lakulish and Deepesh (dippi), and had intentionally kept one day at hand to go around the famous pubs of Bangalore. Dippi had to cancel at the last instant because he had to work for his DDP (I really feel bad for him). Lakulish also had doubts about going till the last instant, but ultimately he PM'ed me yahoo saying "fuck it. i'll come". There we go, two of us about to witness the historical event.
The train journey was as eventless as it could be. The next day was a long day for us. We had to collect concert tickets from an unknown face at Bangalore. After getting the tickets, we moved to the concert venue. The gates were scheduled to be opened at 12-30pm, and the festival will go on till 10pm, and hence we knew we had to spend 6 hours under the blazing sun. The last time I came to witness Maiden playing live at the same venue, I fainted just before the main performance, and had to move back. Learning from experience, I decided to stay back in the shade and move forward at the last moment.
The organization was par excellence. There were food stalls, water was free, and even booze was being served. They even made two separate stages so that minimum time is spent on equipment check by the main bands. The Indian bands played on the smaller stage, and some of them were awesome. I specially liked the performances of Prestorika, Junkyard Grooves, Motherjane, Thermal and a Quarter and Millenium. One band however sucked, and that was Pentagram. I didn't understand how could one listen to their music. I later learnt that their lead singer (Vishal) is part of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, composing music for bollywood. Well, at least that didn't come of as a surprise.
Machine Head came online at 7-30pm. Raw power - no other way to describe their performance. People moshed and jumped at their commands. To top it all, they had a very well selected setlist. But the best was yet to come.
Machine Head finished at 8-15pm, and we moved forward, hoping that the mosh crowd wes exhausted by now. The Megadeth techinicians were working on the equipments, and for some reason that took a long long time. When they came to the stage, playing the riffs of Sleepwalker, it was already 9-00pm. But that didn't deter Mustaine. Megadeth live are nothing short of a controlled demolition squad. Sound sucked, and maybe that was the only negative comment that has ever come out of the entire show. There was however one moment from the concert, which is etched out in my mind - the medley of Holy wars..." and "Mechanix", and that was the show-stopper.
I will sum up this post with some of the quotes of Mustaine during the concert -
"On my left, on the guitar, Chris Broderick. On my back, on the drums, Shawn Drover. On my right, on the bass, James LoMenzo. You know who you are. I know who I am"
"You are great, we are Megadeth"
"We will be back"
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The first one to start out with ...
I guess all blogs start out with a "first post" entry. So, why fall behind on my only ever blog.
Blogs are quite simple in principle and amazing in what they offer. Here's what wikipedia has got to say on blogging (maybe someday i will put a blog post on wikipedia) -
"Personal bloggers take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. It is here that blogging becomes more than a way to communicate and becomes a way to reflect on life. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Bloggers post about their day or their opinions on different matters. Personal blogs may not be important to readers, but for the people who write them, they are works of art."
That more or less sums up why I decided to blog in the first place. I need some place to document my thoughts and I am too lazy to maintain a personal diary (I dont even have a working pen in my room). My writing skills could do with some face-lift. Additionally, I hope to be criticized on my thought processes by nerds, geeks and jobless bloggers.
Blogs are quite simple in principle and amazing in what they offer. Here's what wikipedia has got to say on blogging (maybe someday i will put a blog post on wikipedia) -
"Personal bloggers take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. It is here that blogging becomes more than a way to communicate and becomes a way to reflect on life. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Bloggers post about their day or their opinions on different matters. Personal blogs may not be important to readers, but for the people who write them, they are works of art."
That more or less sums up why I decided to blog in the first place. I need some place to document my thoughts and I am too lazy to maintain a personal diary (I dont even have a working pen in my room). My writing skills could do with some face-lift. Additionally, I hope to be criticized on my thought processes by nerds, geeks and jobless bloggers.
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