A load of crap from an idle brainPersonal, Movies, Music, IT, India, Singapore, Politics, Fun

Picked this book at the library just for the heck of it and it really turned out to be a racy read.  Andy Hayman, Asst Commisioner at the Scotland Yard was in overall command of the counter terrorism offensive at the time of the bombings in the bus and train tunnels in London.

He writes about the way the police along with the MI5, MI6, and various other investigative agencies put the pieces together in the biggest manhunt ever undertaken in the UK to catch the culprits involved in the mayhem.

Andy also goes about his frustration with the inefficient policing and investigative system; the self centered politician who wants his 2 minutes of fame; the ego clashes within the police department which are neatly exploited by the terrorists etc.

Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, CBE, QPM, was in overall command of the UK’s national counter-terrorism offensive, at the centre of every major terrorist investigation – overt and covert – of the past five years. He handled the Metropolitan Police’s response to 7/7 and dealt with the politically explosive murder of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

Based at New Scotland Yard, in charge of thousands of Special Branch and counter-terrorism officers in the UK and across the globe, deciding strategy, working directly with the Prime Minister with a budget of GBP500 million, Hayman is able to give unprecedented insight into key top-level crisis meetings he attended with intelligence chiefs and political leaders worldwide. In an inspirational and at times heart-breaking account, he describes how he led a dedicated team of men and women, committed to protecting the UK from dangerous enemies. Hayman lived through the pain and soul-searching when terrorists did succeed – and the pride when intelligence officers prevented attacks.

Andy Hayman leaves no holds barred in his analysis of the way law enforcers tackle terrorism. He outlines his radical blueprint for the future to protect the public, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games and beyond. If you thought you knew the stories behind the news, you’ll realise you didn’t until you read this book.

The Terrorist Hunters
Authors – Andy Hayman & Margaret Gilmore
Pages – 352
Publisher – Bantam Press

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The Queen of England passing the baton to Indian President Pratibha Patil

Suresh Kalmadi & Abhinav Bindra

Shera, the mascot of 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games

Kapil Dev, Randhawa and Sebastian Coe with the baton

Dancers performing in front of the Buckingham palace.

Milkha Singh, Malleshwari, Sushil Kumar & Dilip Tirkey

Commonwealth Games website

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More here.  And now, it would be worth watching if the perennial losers in the semi finals of the Champions League will lift the coveted trophy.  More power to the blues to take on the reds

Ancelotti brings with him a huge legacy.  A Champions league trophy winner twice each as a player and as a manager, he will have huge expectations to live up to.

Picture source: Chelseafc

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On one hand it was a great feeling seeing Deccan Chargers back to their winning ways by trouncing Mumbai Indians by 19  runs. A stupendous bowling effort by Rohit Sharma who took 4 wickets for 6 runs which included a hat trick was the main reason for the DC win.

And on the other hand, heartbreak to see Chelsea miss yet another seat to the Champions league finals.  Andreas Iniesta’s injury time goal meant that Barcelona drew 1-1 with Chelsea and thus moved into the finals with a better away goal record.

Earlier, Michael Essien scored for Chelsea in the 9th minute to go 1-0 for the English team.

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Quite a lot of stuff happening around. Am not finding enough time to pen them down. Ever since the exam, have been watching quite a lot of movies. Some good and mostly ok types. Though i do find quite a lot of stuff in the movies that i dont agree with, i do understand that’s the way the director percieves the characters and the story. Am not so interested in writing a long review of all the movies, but a few pointers to go along.

Juno

Its the story of a 16 year old girl who has a night of passion with her classmate and gets pregnant. The premise is fine, but what i couldnt understand was how her father and stepmom react to that situation. They are like ho-hum and just get on with life. I agree the movie was a comedy, but then it looked too artificial. And the cliches were all there. That guys are not sensitive and run away from taking responsibility and stuff. Both, the guy who impregnates the girl and the hubby of Jennifer Garner just back off at the right moments. It seems like only the women in the movie are compassionate and stuff. Pure bullshit. And the girl talks a bit too mature words for her age. Its like those telugu movies where the kiddos talk pure crap with the grown ups.

My rating *** (3/5)

Street Kings

My rating ** (2/5)

Woodstock Villa

Cyrus Broacha said on Ibnlive that Sanjay Gupta is being given an award, because he managed to make 3 movies this year inspite of the writer’s strike in Hollywood. I thought that was the best explanation for the excuse of a movie that Gupta makes. Hansal Mehta is the director of the movie. Once he had made a pretty good movie called Chhal. God knows what happened later on, he got associated with Sanjay Gupta and gang. Sikandar Kher looks like an ape. Someone give him a bath and cut his hair. Arbaaz Khan is well…what should i say. As for the actress (am not even interested in knowing her name), she is good looking and seems like has no qualms showing off some flesh. Well, am not complaining

My rating (0/5)

Sarkar Raj

I’ve always believed that Ram Gopal Varma makes the worst movies when he works with top actors. Some of his best work has been with obscure and unknown actors. Sarkar Raj points to the fact that he is too much in awe of Amitabh Bachchan and that he is too afraid to get into his bad books. The characters are too good with no flaws. Another reason to believe that neither the Bachchans nor RGV wanted to rile the Thackerays. Its as if the main characters are too good and incorruptible. Technically the movie is slick. But the Govinda Govinda chant in the background is enough to give you a headache. Wish RGV stuck to some background music. Aishwarya sucks big time. Abhishek as i always believed is ‘butt ugly’ and survives in the industry only because of his father. Amitabh is top notch. He simply chews up the scenes. Its a surprise to see how none of the father’s and mother’s talents rubbed on to the Small B.

My rating *** (3/5)

In Bruges

Pretty good movie about 2 hired killers who are sent to an ancient city in Belgium (Bruges) and asked to wait there for some time before they are given the details of the next person to bump off. As the two killers wander through the streets of Bruges, the guilt pangs start to build up and both start regretting the lives they had. When the information for the person to be killed arrives, its noticed that the target is none other than one of the killers. As the story races to the end, it goes in for an explosive climax. Colin Farrel, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes make it a compelling watch.

My ratings **** (4/5)

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