A thing of beauty!

There are numerous controversies as to when it was built, who built it, whom it belonged to, etc. But whatever the truth may be...one thing is definitely certain...it will forever remain as India's most treasured monument and a joy for every eye that catches a glimpse of it!

Sudoku, HP 4 & “Shivaji”

I wanted to try my hand at the Sudoku puzzle ever since I first heard about it, but never really did it. I tried it for the first time yesterday and yup…it is interesting. It’s always interesting to play with “numbers” and this one’s no exception. The target is straightforward and the rules are simple. I seem to be enjoying them very much. The website says, “Its fun. It's challenging. It's addictive!”. I can’t agree with them better.

I am now finished with the 4^th book of Harry Potter. Needless to say, it was gr8! I am now eagerly waiting for the movie to be released. Just now checked the film’s trailer. It’s getting ready to be released on Nov 18^th of this year . I just can’t wait for it. Though the first movie was a very bad presentation of the book, the quality of the movies definitely increased in the 2^nd and the 3^rd. The trailer of the 4^th one was quite impressive too. Hope it’s as good as it looks.

And the Dream Combo indeed seems to be getting even better. It’s almost certain that ARR will be handling the music for “Shivaji”. The Shankar-ARR charm was visibly missing in “Anniyan” and was also one of the factors for the film’s let down. Recently, I saw the video clip of “Aa Aah” audio release function, where ARR mentioned that Shankar will not spare anybody until he gets the best. I really hope they work their magic yet again for “Thalaivar” too.

Agassi vs Federer

Yup, it's about the US open championship 2005 - Men's singles finals. Though it was not a thrilling match with a nail biting finish or anything, it was still worth watching. I am a Federer fan myself and Federer was no doubt the best player yesterday but it was Agassi who stole the show. It was amazing to see how this guy, even at the age of 35, could be so good. He played some outstanding shots that kept Federer under great pressure during the second and third set. At one point of time, during the third set, he got Federer really upset that the tension & pressure was clearly visible on his face. And after that Federer came fighting back really well and really hard on Agassi. After winning the tie-breaker in the third set, the fourth set was just a cake walk for him.

According to me, Agassi should definitely be a contended man in the end b’coz he fought really well. He played some extraordinary tennis and considering his age, he was really at his BEST yesterday. It was just that his opponent turned out to be even BETTER. Pete Sampras is my all-time favourite and when comparing Pete & Roger, Agassi said “Pete was great, I mean, no question. But there was a place to get to with Pete. You knew what you had to do. If you do it, it could be on your terms. There's no such place like that with Roger.” He also added, “He's the best I've ever played against”. Now that’s something Federer would have been more happy than even winning the title, I guess. Federer also mentioned that "For me this is probably the most special grand slam final in my career. To play against Andre here in New York, it's a dream.”

All said and done, it was just a great match that I saw in recent times and one of the matches I’ll remember for a long time. At the end of the day, that’s what matters to a fan like me. Right?

The tiny Ipod Nano and New Itunes phone

Apple’s latest introduction to the mp3 player series is Ipod Nano. It is 1/3 of the size of Mini and comes with a color display. It’s Flash drive based and weighs just 1.5 ounces. I am sure it is going to be another sleek & amazing gadget from Apple.

The next introduction is the Itunes phone that Apple has come up, which is built by Motorola. You can listen to music when sending text messages, taking pictures, etc and when you receive a call, you can even pause the music. The phone is called ROKR and is available thru’ Cingular Wireless in US. I believe you can transfer the music using Itunes by connecting the phone to a PC or Mac, just like an Ipod. Hmm…sounds interesting!

Way to go, Apple!