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

Easily one of the best biographies i have read, Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson is an easy read.  Not too complicated by the jargons of business, Branson writes in his own easy way about how he built a multi billion pound business after having started off life as a dyslexic child.

Yup, its tough to believe that a man who lives such a colourful life, flies over the pacific and atlantic oceans in a balloon, jumps off planes, does all kinds of wierd stunts to keep his business in news was dyslexic as a kid.  He had trouble reading, was one of the worst student in class.  But started off his life running a music store, which moved on to record label (Virgin music), music business to one of the most loved airlines in the world (Virgin Atlantic) to running a telecom company (Virgin telecom) to tens of other business.

The book starts off with his exploits on trying to cross the Atlantic in a balloon where he cheats death to his childhood life and then to his music business where his label published such world class music groups like the Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson etc.

The dirty tricks that British Airways use to discredit, defame and try to kill the small and fledging Virgin Atlantic is also described in vivid detail.  The end of which Branson sues the whole top brass of British Airways and gets not only monetary compensation, but also an unreserved apology from the British Ariways brass.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says one of his prime business criteria is “fun.” Fun made Branson a billionaire, and few business memoirs are one-billionth as fun as Branson’s, nor as niftily written. Not only does it relate his side of near-death corporate experiences, it tells how the chairman literally cheated death by gun, shipwreck, and balloon crash.

Branson’s empire–now encompassing interests in an airline, pop music, soda pop, e-commerce, and financial services–began when the dyslexic 16-year-old dropped out of school in 1968 to found the British magazine Student. His headmaster said, “I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.” Briefly imprisoned for dodging customs selling records, Branson got his first million by releasing Tubular Bells, a maverick recording all the stuffy executives rejected. (1998′s Tubular Bells III puts the series’ sales over 20 million.)

Despite wild tales of Branson’s wife-swapping and Keith Richards fleeing naked from Branson’s studio at gunpoint with another man’s woman, the most shocking parts of the memoir concern British Airways’ James Bond-like “dirty tricks” campaign against Virgin Atlantic, resulting in the biggest award for damages in English history.

Though it’s filled with famous names, witty quotes, and pulse-pounding accounts of lunatic balloon adventures, it is as a business thriller that the book really scores. His instinctive bet-the-ranch tactics could cost him all, or earn another billion. Either way, Branson will likely remain the most entertaining entrepreneur in Europe

-source: Amazon

Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
Author – Richard Branson
Pages – 416
Publisher – Crown Business

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Blackburn have edged closer to opening up a new frontier in English football by becoming the first Premier League team to have Indian owners.

The club confirmed that talks with the Venky’s conglomerate over a £46million deal are close to conclusion and a takeover should be completed next month. The price includes £25m to buy the club from the family of the late Blackburn benefactor Jack Walker and a further £15m to clear debts.

Venky’s managing director Balaji Venkatesh Rao, whose father founded the company, said: ‘It’s very much confirmed and we will be announcing it formally in the next 10 days.

‘It’s a £46m deal. I wouldn’t say that is cheap or expensive but we will have to pump in some more money later on. The money is up front from our own sources. We are not here to compare with anybody but this is a first for India. It’s a prestigious moment for everybody and one we should cherish.’

Read the full article here

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The wait is over. The complaints built up (courtesy our incompetent media). A few players stayed away.  When the players actually landed, they were astonished at the amount of misinformation and lies told to them by their own media back home.  Which was partly or fully supplied to them by our own homegrown media.

Well, ignore the naysayers.  No matter what we say or do, the first thing the western media likes to portray when it comes to India is a cow standing in the middle of the road.  What they cant seem to understand is how inspite of being the so-called beacons of democracy themselves, the cows of India have so much rights on walking on the roads of India.

Let’s face it.  Poverty sells.  Else the movies of Satyajit Rays and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s of India wouldn’t be patronised whole-heartedly by the western media / public when they are themselves consigned to the garbage by the Indian public (the world’s biggest patrons).  Of course its not easy for some of the snooty public / media in the western world to understand why and how the games could be awarded to a developing nation.  The same happened with the Australia and English cricket teams.  Today they see that their traditional source of power in cricket has been usurped by the BCCI.  Its not easy to accept the truth that you are not longer relevant in the grander scheme of things.   Wiser people accept the truth and mould themselves accordingly to the changing situation.  Fools are buried in the shifting sands of time screaming and kicking.

The collapsed rainbow bridge is up; courtesy the Indian Army which put it up in 5 days flat.  Eventhough, its a bailey bridge, it still does its job of standing up when people walk over it.   The stadiums are ready, the games village has been praised by officials and players from all across the world.  The food has been simply divine (according to the players), there are regular cultural programs and the players themselves are actively participating in them.

Lets admit it, the city of Delhi and its citizens are the biggest benificiaries of the games.  A new world class metro, many flyovers, bridges, roads, parks, traffic lights; in short great infrastructure for Delhiites.

Of course there will be detractors who will complain of child labour being used for the construction of venues (What else will the child do sitting around when their parents are working at the site?  They will also contribute and earn some money…so what’s wrong with it?). Shanties and slums being demolished (they were all illegaly occupying the government land and they were demolished.  Is that wrong?  Why don’t those bleeding heart liberals take each of the families affected by the demolition and give them shelter in their own homes?).

So ignore all the crappy complaints, rest and relax as the biggest ever carnival on the land of India begins tonight.  The opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games gets underway at 1900 hrs IST.  Watch it on TV or at the stadium (if you are lucky to get the tickets).  As for all the ones who complain of human rights abuses and corruption, go and take a hike.  The people of India care two hoots for your complaints.

By yesterday, 6700 players had confirmed their entries to the games making it the biggest Commonwealth Games ever (beating the 5766 athletes and officials who took part in Melbourne four years ago). 71 teams from 54 countries.  Millions of viewers across the world watching the games and a giant alien over the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for the opening ceremony. 5000 years of civilization and the secular ethos of the country will be a part of the ceremony.  Enjoy.

Come out and Play.

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Unless you have been living under a rock, you would have known by now that the capital city of New Delhi will be hosting the 19th Commonwealth Games in another 16 days.  The games will start off with an Opening Cermony on the 3rd of October 2010 and run till the 14th of October 2010.  The 12 day extravaganza has gone through a lot of controversies about venues not being prepared on time, corruption in the organisation and stuff.

At the end of the day, Kalmadi and his band of merry men still reign.  He is determined to put up a good show fully knowing that the whole country is looking to pin him down on a single mistake of his. Whether all the spending has been worth it or if the organising comittee and the people involved in the same have been corrupt is for time to tell and for the investigative departments to find out.

Meanwhile, lets keep our differences aside and put up a positive cheerful face for the world to see.  With just 16 days to go for the games to happen, i plan to have a roundup of the venues and the changes the games have brought to New Delhi.

First of all, the games village which had a soft opening yesterday and going by the reivews of the people who have seen it, its mighty impressive.  Our crappy media will for sure find some negative points to ham about, but lets look at the brigther side of life.

The gym in the games village

Kitchen @ the games village

Shera looks hungry

Leisure swimming pool @ the games village

Complete schedule of the games and the venues can be seen at the games website here

All pictures courtesy: NDTV

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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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