links for 2006-06-08

Posted on June 7, 2006 by Neha Viswanathan

About Neha Viswanathan

Neha Viswanathan. City-hopping, trivia-gathering, identity-hunting. Obsessions include culture, social software, cities, literature, internet, music, history, marketplace and anything that doesn't twinkle.
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11 Responses to links for 2006-06-08

  1. nevermind says:
    June 8, 2006 at 2:38 pm

    offensive? that’s putting it mildly. since today is my ‘value judgement’ rant day, have you seen how the media so insidiously correlates appearances with class, intelligence, culture and values?

  2. Venkatesh says:
    June 8, 2006 at 4:38 pm

    Appearance is not a given. It takes 2 hours of exercise, weight training and 6 mile running every other day, to keep my physique toned and fit. That is why I have a lean and muscular appearance whereas some of my desi take-it-easy colleagues have round rotund rolypoly stomachs with chubby farex cheeks and triple chin. Very practically, that means I get better service at airports, resturants, banks, any public place where good looking guys get noticed. Instead if I was a typical 5 feet 2 inch gujju bhai with garlic breath and comb-overs, greasy round cheeks and a paunch, I will ofcourse get served last. Do not discount appearance, it is just another trait like intelligence, wealth, charm, or in your blogosphere land, it is like a simple functional blog like withinandwithout versus a cluttered dirty blog like sulekha. If each body part is in its place, then the person is a pleasure to look at. Otherwise if the chin , neck and chest are all fused together like the 60% of the 30 American population which is considered obese, not only will it be aesthetically displeasing, they will fucking die – of diabetes, arrhytmia, cardiac arrest, various hajaar diseases.

    There is nothing offensive about rating appearance, just as there is nothing offensive about rating intelligence ( JEE, Mensa ), rating wealth ( Fortune Top 500 ), rating blog traffic ( Alexa, Technorati ) or whatever else you want to rate. Ofcourse those at the bottom of any hierarchy will complain, let them. That is the whole point of the exercise, to showcase the subjective good and the bad, so the bad can either choose to work their way up, or exit the field and do something else altogether. Once upon a time there was a Miss Sherawat who was a wannabe demure lady with hip fat and big butt, who noticed her ? All she got was parts in B movies. Then she took a taxi to Breach Candy hospital, got a boobjob, nosejob, hip lipo, and did nonstop aerobics until her butt resembled something worth watching – today Mani Ratnam is personally begging her to do an item number in his Guru. Of course, if she simply discounted appearance, today she would be an activist with some NGO walking around Mumbai with jholawala bag and posting her anectodes on some blog that nobody gave two hoots about, no ?

  3. nevermind says:
    June 8, 2006 at 6:15 pm

    as someone who runs/swims a bit and does the odd superset myself, i think mr. Vee takes himself perhaps a wee bit too seriously. but then, that’s his prerogative.

    as a member of the fraternity which actually deals with the physical, psychological, silicone and botox related issues mr. Vee appears to be such an authority on, i would think that he has missed the point of the post. which is that footballers are paid to play football, not look pretty. rating appearances may be okay if the subject at hand is a model, but would be bizarre if the subject is a professor of the kind that taught mr. Vee the skills that got him to this blogspace in the first place.

    maybe, as a surgical friend said, when myocytes get into the brain, the neurons have to migrate elsewhere.

    disclaimer: i like jholawala bags and bespoke suits. not so much people who talk through the wrong end.

  4. Venkatesh says:
    June 8, 2006 at 6:38 pm

    Anupam Kher was right – this is a stupid SMS generation. I write 2 paragraph immediately I am taking everything wee bit too seriously! whatever dude.

    By your own convoluted logic, why do you run/swim ? Do you get paid to do that ? Are you a Olympic runner or swimmer ? Why do you make tea for breakfast, are you a chaiwala ? Why make dal-chawal, are you a Cook ? Just do exactly what you are paid to do and go back to bed.

    Footballer plays football, gets paid for it. Good. Now nobody is stopping the footballer from visiting a hair salon & getting a good haircut. Out of those 10 ugly fotballers, majority had problem with hair – a simple haircut and choosing appropriate hairstyle can get them out of that list. They can even grow long hair like our Dhoni if it makes them appear personable.

    btw even in schools & colleges, the most popular professor is not the most erudite, but rather somebody who takes the trouble to look good as well. Honestly, it is not that difficult. If you can insist on grammatically correct prose, or afford bespoke suits and jholawala bags ( btw a very odd combination – I like jholawala bags also, but it goes well with tattered jeans and kurta, not your Raymonds suit and tie ), you can also insist on appearing pretty to the masses. It doesn’t have to involve drastic surgery and botox; just eating well and working out will solve 99% of your issues. If those footballers avoid processed food, ate lots of asparagus and spinach and drank lots of liquid, in 6 weeks each one of them would look dramatically different. Its just organic chemistry, doesn’t have to be surgery, unless they also want to do item number in Ratnam’s Guru, in which case a sex change is advisable to begin with.

  5. Nilu says:
    June 8, 2006 at 7:01 pm

    Venkatesh,
    I suggest a lot of sex as therapy. You need it more than normal people require oxygen.

  6. Anon265 says:
    June 8, 2006 at 7:06 pm

    Venkatesh saar. Suggest you leave this lady alone. She’s married and all. So stop trying to impress her with your workout regime.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA!

  7. megha says:
    June 8, 2006 at 7:12 pm

    yes yes, none of us care about your ‘lean, toned, physique’……and Neha most certainly doesnt.

    I second anon265 here, Neha is married, so please she does not need to know err….every little detail about your workout regime or physique.

    *laughs uncontrollably*

  8. Aishwarya says:
    June 8, 2006 at 7:34 pm

    ….

    okay, I can’t do it. There’s just too much to mock.

  9. nevermind says:
    June 8, 2006 at 8:27 pm

    venkyboy, with all the attention you’re getting, i’d work out your speaking end a bit more:-D

  10. km says:
    June 8, 2006 at 8:44 pm

    Men shouldn’t be subject to beauty standards either.

    Someone pass the beer and the wings….this one should be interesting.

  11. Neha Viswanathan says:
    June 9, 2006 at 12:27 pm

    This one – I am sitting it out in the sidelines. :)