Destination Infinity's Blog, page 45

Fan Movie Review: Hopeless!! Did SRK Write the script?

Fan Movie Review: Hopeless!!

SRK has managed to look younger, and has also tried to act with the passion that possessed him during the Darr/Baazigar days. He managed to mask his age, but failed to mask the superficiality of his emotions. The older SRK was believable in some scenes, though.

To me, this movie is a HUGE letdown, irrespective of what his fanboys/publications might claim.

I suspect if the script was written by SRK himself. Only then, a movie can become such a mess. Even Rajni’s Baba was better!

The first half is totally unnecessary. We’ve seen that in many movies before. The second half showed promise, but was totally unbelievable. A superstar running behind a fan (literally) for silly reasons is not believable, at least to me.

I wonder if this is what superstars fantasize about: to have an ardent fan like the one shown in the movie. Since they are not getting any in real life, they console themselves by creating such ideal characters in movies!

‪#‎FAN‬ ‪#‎SRK‬ ‪#‎HOPELESS‬ ‪#‎iwantmy152rupeesback

Destination Infinity

Disclaimer: Don’t go by my review alone. Movies that have been disliked by me in the past (like Baahubali) have been liked by many many people. So read other reviews too and then decide.

Birds @ Vandalur Zoo, Chennai

Vandalur Zoo is a large Zoo in Chennai housing many animals, reptiles and birds. Recently, they announced in the newspaper that they have built better and larger enclosures to accommodate a few birds. So I thought why not check it out.

First, photos of some birds within cages:

 

 

 

 

Now let us look at the new ‘Walk Through Aviary’ they have constructed for keeping birds in a larger enclosure.

 

 

 

 

 

Before you think, ‘What a beautiful enclosure…’, have a look at the above picture. That bird was trying to get out of this ‘paradise’ for quite some time, and it was repeatedly trying to get out while I was in that area. So clearly, for birds, this is only a larger enclosure. A larger cage. A larger jail.

We human beings are the biggest hypocrites, as we go and laugh at animals, birds, and reptiles inside cages and claim we go to zoo because we love animals. I feel all zoos should be converted into national parks where animals are free to roam in forests without any cages, and human beings should go visit them within caged vehicles. Like how they have done in Bannerghatta national park. The Walk Through Aviary is better than the other congested cages for birds they have there, but . . . hmm.

At last, I found one right step by the Vandalur Zoo authorities:

Just when I thought I lost all faith in the hypocritical human beings, I found this open bird park without any kind of enclosures or cages. There were bird feeders here and there, and there were nesting boxes as well. Glad to see this inside a zoo. Some hope at last . . .

Destination Infinity

Photos by Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Publish your Press Releases Instantly through Bloggers: IndiPR

IndiBlogger Launches IndiPR.com – A self-learning engine that automatically targets the right publishers

Thousands of businesses, products and services are launched everyday across the world. When these products go live, a Press Release (like the one you’re currently reading) is usually the first order of business. Businesses of various sizes, including start-ups, can now have their Press Releases published by relevant influencers in less than 72 hours.

IndiPR.com was built to make it extremely simple for a business to get their Press Releases published by top bloggers. All a business has to do is upload their Press Release and the ‘Automated Influencer Targeting Engine’, or ‘AITE’ for short, proceeds to accept applications and automatically shortlists bloggers based on various factors including internal ratings and rankings. Once shortlisted, the influencers do their research and publish their articles.

Anoop Johnson, Co-founder & Director of Marketing at IndiBlogger, adds, “With a starting budget of just USD 150, a business of any size will be able to get their press releases published by influential bloggers with a few clicks.”

IndiPR.com assists digital marketers with a variety of tasks including, but not limited to, SEO, content marketing, generating awareness and gaining much needed conversations around the product, driven by internet users on influencer platforms like blogs.

One of the main issues that most marketers face when working with influencers is the cumbersome process associated with identifying and targeting each Influencer. Karthik DR, Co-founder & Business Head at IndiBlogger says, “The amount of time that people spend in trying to identify and contact influencers is huge. With IndiPR.com, you don’t have to worry about any of this as the system just needs your Press Release. The rest is history!”

In the future, IndiPR.com will carry more than just Press Releases. Influencers will be able to get creative assignments, get invitations to attend the trendiest launch events and be privy to the latest news on the planet before the world wakes up to it.

Renie Ravin, the Founder and CEO of IndiBlogger, says, “We believe that this system will help Influencers with fresh and new content on their site every day. In a way, you could be writing about the next Google without even realising its immense potential.”

Contact Information:

Anoop Johnson

contact@indipr.com

Phone – +91-9900-001655 or 0124-4891498.

Destination Infinity

Beyond Frames: Art of the District Expo @ Nageshwara Rao Park (Apr.14-17, ’16)

The Rotary Club of Madras Central and Annets Club of Madras Central in association with World Art Cafe are organizing,

Beyond Frames: Art of the District Exhibition

At Nageshwara Rao park, Mylapore on April 14th – 17th, 2016 from 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. Exhibits on arts and installation will be by students of Government Fine Arts College (MFA), Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Arts and Science College for Women, Stella Maris College (MFA), Don Bosco College of Art and Design and other eminent artists. 

There will be a painting competition for kids on 16th April, Saturday.

Group 1: Age 4-7 years: 1 P.M.
Group 2: Age 8-11 years: 2 P.M.
Group 3: Age 12-15 years: 3 P.M.

(Kids are requested to carry their own art materials – water colors, crayons and paint brush.)

Other Events Schedule:

14th April Thursday

Inauguration: 11 A.M.
Dry pastels workshop by Manisharaju Cholamandalam Arts Village (Age: 10+ years): 12 P.M.
Double hand painting demonstration by Muthukumarasamy: 4 P.M.

15th April Friday

Group Installation Activity: 11 A.M.
Miniature soap carving workshop by Kandasamy and Muthukumarasamy: 12 P.M.
Art talk by Mrs. Lakshmi Krishnamurthy Studio Parambarayam: 4 P.M.

16th April Saturday

Action art for kids by Team WAC: 11 A.M.
Rotary kids painting competition: 1 P.M.

17th April Sunday

Miniature chalk carving workshop by Kandasamy and Muthukumarasamy: 11 A.M.

Destination Infinity

Viveks Expo 2016 from Apr. 13 – 17, ’16 @ Chennai Trade Center

Viveks Expo 2016 will happen at the Chennai Trade Center, Nandambakkam complex from April 13 – 16, 2016 (10 A.M. to 9 P.M.). The company says that it’s India’s largest consumer durable sales expo with discounted prices. It’s surprising that this sale is happening a few days after their Giant Warehouse sale. You can see the linked post to understand the scale at which this company displays appliances, offering a good choice from hundreds of models from different companies.

If you are planning to buy a consumer appliance, check out the Viveks Expo 2016. Let us know your experience in the comments below.

Destination Infinity

Best WordPress Theme for Fashion/Lifestyle Blogs – Style Park

First, I should declare that the word ‘Best’ is relative. I found Style Park (theme page, demo) to be the best theme for fashion blogs and lifestyle blogs, among the themes I was able to evaluate during my research. I bought it and have applied the theme to this blog (have a look at my homepage) because it satisfied my key requirements. I will list my experience – both good and bad things I found with this theme, in this post.

My main requirement was to have both a customizable static front page and to have the blog posts listed prominently. I wanted blog posts to occupy a considerable space as this site is basically a blog! At the same time, I wanted a stylish and widgetized front page too as I had to highlight certain focus categories, email subscription, my books, etc.

Most premium themes I went through did not satisfy this criterion. They were either magazine-styled or they offered a predominant static page with a small listing for the latest posts. I wanted both. This theme, fortunately, offers many widgeted areas on the front page along with a large area for blog.

Some premium plugins were included in the theme to get the look and functionality of the demo site, but I was not able to customize it to my satisfaction. So I just hard-coded the images and links using img src tag and a text/html widget. Best thing to do when nothing else works!

One big plus point in this theme is, you don’t have to include a beautiful image on every post to make it look good. Heck, there is an option to display blog posts with just the title/author and ‘read more’ without any images, and I gladly opted for it. Now I don’t have to worry about adding an image to every blog post. Most premium themes rely on a having great image in each post to retain their beautiful look. Be careful with this when you buy a theme.

Another issue was the lack of color palette themes to choose from. This theme, being low-cost maybe, offered only one color palette – Purple, with a dark background. Although I can change this via the code, it’d be better if I had got a few more color options by default. In my case, this wasn’t an issue because I bought this theme for its purple theme and I wouldn’t have changed it anyway. But you’ll have to see if you are OK with it.

This theme has been released under GPL so you can apply it on any number of domains you own – another advantage. Few themes restrict your usage to a certain number of domains and sometimes it’s just one! The stock photos (that you see in the demo site) are not included, but that was not an issue for me as mine was a lifestyle blog, not a fashion blog. The chat support offered by Template Monster (maker of this theme) is good – I tried it once and my issue was solved.

I just love the casual look and premium feel this theme gives to my blog. It is responsive – it adapts to well to mobile devices. I am amazed at how customizable blog themes/templates have become nowadays. So if you are looking to buy a theme for your lifestyle/fashion blog, do consider Style Park. If you see this theme on my blog when you read this post, it means I am happy with it

Destination Infinity

Redrawing Resistance & Let’s #Oorsuthify: Event on Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces (Apr. 15 & 17, ’16)

Redrawing Resistance

Redrawing Resistance: Expressions of young women on sexual harassment in public spaces, will be held from 4-6 P.M. on Friday, April 15 at Lalit Kala Academy, 4, Greams Road, Chennai. International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care is organizing this event in collaboration with U.S. Consulate General, Chennai and in partnership with The Department of Psychology, WCC, Chennai. 

Ms. Ariel H. Pollock, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate General, Chennai will be opening an art exhibit on the theme of expressions of young women on sexual harassment in public spaces.

Let’s #OORSUTHIFY

Let’s #OORSUTHIFY is an interactive talk show on sexual harassment in public spaces at the above venue on Sunday April 17, 2016 from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M., by the same organizer. To register please call +91 7092096930.

See if any of you are interested in attending these two events being held this week in Chennai. I got this information from Facebook, so wanted to share with you all. 

Destination Infinity

India’s First Social Brand (Merci) offers an Alternative to Leather Products

Merci is India’s first social brand that offers an alternative to leather-based products. They make many products (like the ones shown above) that are non-leather and cruelty-free. Did you know that 10,000 animals are slaughtered every five minutes for their skin? So say no to leather.

Merci: Compassion through Fashion. 

Merci’s business model is unique. They are an NGO run by volunteers and they donate 100% of their profits to other NGOs to be redeployed towards social causes. That’s what I’d call a vision!

Consumers don’t have to sacrifice style because they are being socially conscious. In fact, Merci engages artisans from the Kutch to create beautiful Kutch Embroidery on bags, wallets, etc. Since the embroidery is hand-made, each of them is unique and brilliant. This model also provides a support structure for traditional artisans.

You can see the beautiful designs that are possible with Kutch embroidery in a couple of bags in the above photo. Also notice the long black pouch on the left with beautiful flower patters using golden threads? That’s Zardozi metal embroidery art which was once used by Kings and Royals of India. Look at what interesting options you get because you support a social cause!

Frankly, I don’t understand why people buy leather. The Faux leather, micro-fiber, PU and other alternatives to leather come in beautiful colors (did you see the stunning blue bag in the above photo?) that are never possible with leather, they are much cheaper – you can buy newer bags and designs more frequently, there are more varieties, they are easier to maintain, and they reduce cruelty towards animals.

I feel lack of awareness is the main reason why people still buy leather. I’ve stopped buying leather-based products a long time back. I hope readers will also be inspired to do so.

Merci has an exhaustive product profile that includes more than 500 SKUs and 290 designs, already. They offer different varieties of products like handbags, shoulder bags, sling bags, wallets, camera/mobile pouches, etc. Merci products are available in leading retail stores or you can simply order them online from their website. If you prefer shopping from Flipkart, Amazon.in and other major retailers, Merci products are available there also.

Where and how you spend your hard-earned money will determine how much of cruelty towards animals will reduce. Less demand for leather from consumers will translate into lesser cruelty. Do your part to make this world a better and a more inclusive place for all of nature’s creations.

Destination Infinity

Ten-Handed Hindu Goddess spotted near Vellore

During my recent bike journey, I spotted a large ten-handed statue of a Hindu Goddess near Vellore. Here it is:

Destination Infinity

Photo credit: By Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Bajaj Avenger 150 Street – Bike Review

I bought the Bajaj Avenger 150 Street Cruiser bike before about 2 weeks. After driving it for some 800 K.M, here is my review.

Advantages of Bajaj Avenger 150 Street:

Many people have already told me that the bike has the premium look of Harley Davidson. Heck, to me, it looks even better. When I stop it in a signal or just ride it around the city, I have noticed many people glance my bike’s way. With all those black matte finishing, THIS BIKE IS BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED Did I say, I don’t like shiny chromes