Elvis At 21 : Unseen Till Now

There are a vast number of pictures of Elvis from his early days, but
none as intimate and revealing as the Black-and-White ones taken by
Alfred Wertheimer as part of an assignment for RCA Records. Seems
they wanted to create a buzz around their new 21-year-old singer but
since Elvis was still a financial risk he didn't merit Color footage. Color
film and processing was very expensive in those days hence the orders
to Wertheimer to shoot in B/W.

The Daily Mail UK ran a bit about that period in Elvis' life, accompanied
by a few choice Wertheimer captures and some great captions to boot.
Here's one of my favorite pics (click to enlarge) from the article :


The accompanying text goes 'All shook up: On his way to a concert in
Richmond, Virginia, Elvis pretends to throttle his date for the night.
Even in these early days he never liked to be alone - an early
Memphis Mafia minder rides in the car with the couple'

A great piece by Ray Connolly, worth a look.

Link to the Daily Mail article
Google Search results for Elvis and Wertheimer

Cool Tool 4A Fool

From Daylife - a widget for your Blog or website that tracks
and displays the day's news images as chosen by their editors.
Based on your preference, e.g., I chose India, which is about
as close as I could get to the theme of the Virtual Poona Blog.....and in
order to clear any confusion that may arise, the 'Fool' I speak of in the
title of this post is none other than yours truly.

Being as how even a fool like myself got to use it simply by typing in the
required field. Explore Daylife. It's a new way of looking at the news.

R.I.P. George Carlin (1937-2008)

Sunday, June 23 2008
It seems truly fitting that just before his death Mr. Carlin received the news
that The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts would
present him with its Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Come Nov.,
he will become the first person to receive the honor posthumously.
And deservedly so. His fearless, outrageous, brilliant and exceptional
observations on life educated, entertained, inspired and paved the way for
folks like Bill Maher, Jerry Seinfeld et al. He is sorely missed as may
be witnessed by the back-to-back marathon of his HBO specials now on
TV.

I posted some of my favorite George Carlin quotes here back in Nov. 2005 LINK
and suggest you check out the tons of tribute videos available on YouTube
which I can't post here due to the graphic language. And speaking of language,
this was the master : the author, speaker and performer.....a legend.

Father India and My Father

This is a follow-up to Mother India and My Father.
Read it after this post: Please.


Found on Ads of the World.com:
'As per the census, there are 958 women for 1000 men.
Because, more than 1 million female foetuses are aborted
every year. Wake up before it's too late.
Ban Sex Determination.'

Agency: Index Advertising
Copywriter: Shoeb Shaikh
Art Director: Shoeb Shaikh & Khalil Shaikh

Think this is a great bit of creative work by Index Advertising
Agency and the two Shaikhs involved ? Ads of the World did,
perhaps because their reasoning is, the message gets through
to the target audience via an iconic image. But consider this : the
iconic artwork is simply a revamping of an old classic movie poster
which most Indian moviegoers are familiar with. So : shouldn't the
Artist and/or the film Producer be credited or thanked in some form ?
In all fairness, there hasn't been a complete butchering of the work
in this case, only the word 'Mother' has been changed to 'Father',
in English and in Hindi. Not too bad, but is the mash-up of a classic
iconic image something to be reviled ? Does anyone care ?

Apparently not, especially when almighty Bollywood has been getting
away with wholesale copyright infringement for decades, thereby setting
the (low) standard for other media in India. This is something I had been
musing on as a Blog post for a good while now and so it's only natural
that something like Indian Blogger Nita's words would set me off :

'One hears of bloggers infringing copyright but have you ever
heard of a major “reputed” publication stealing a blogger’s work?
Well, here is an instance. I got a shock to see that a reputed
newspaper like the Hindustan Times had stolen a photograph
of mine.'

Nita the newswoman-turned-blogger has neatly ignited folks' ire
against infringement not only nationwide but globally as well,
judging by the comments posted. Read it all here.

Getting back to what I was aiming for. I've decided that I'm as guilty
as most others are when it comes to Mash-ups, Photoshopping
and the like because it's a fun process, but I must take a harder
look at whether I want to ignore the legal and ethical aspects involved.

And now, take a look at the original poster created by my father,
then read my post about him here.

Senior Stickers

You know you're getting older when things like this
seem funnier by the day......













































More funny stickers here
(Thanks, Rusty !)

POWA and Blank Noise Think Alike

An interesting Ad image for People Opposed to Woman Abuse (POWA) that I
came across while checking the RSS feed for Scary Ideas, website that
tracks unusual media files. (See warning below)

This one



brings to mind my friends at the Blank Noise Project in India,
who bravely fight the daily fight against Violence and Sexual Harassment
of Women in their communities. Notice how in India their call to action by
subtle (Blank Noise) methods parallels the one in South Africa, a country
that's thousands of miles away. Yes, it's a ongoing, worldwide problem
since time immemorial and they need your help in spreading the word that
it's downright wrong, immoral, disrespectful, hateful, demoralizing, immature
and plain stupid.

Be Warned : Scary Ideas can be scary as it contains images that
some may consider offensive or NSFW !

See all Virtual Poona posts labeled Blank Noise

Flirt at Harrah's Rio

Now this is a marriage made in heaven for Harrah's and Microsoft alike.
Harrah's iBar, located inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is the
second major showcase for the Surface application after AT &T but the
signs are good that this will be the one to beat. Why ? Because while
the usual high-rollers are busy at the gaming tables taking their chances
with Lady Luck, the younger, techie-type 'players' got some real 'game'.
You might say they are virtually upping the ante, and all without the watchful
eye of the dealer. Hey, Lady Luck just might be sitting across the room, and
Mr. Lucky can channel her in real time and see her in person.

Here's a bit from the Surface Blog of June 11, 2008 :
Harrah's 'most ambitious application is “Flirt” which uses strategically
placed video cameras to create an exciting new way to initiate
conversation, flirt and meet new people from one Surface to another.
Additional applications include a series of play-for-fun interactive
games like bowling, a challenging musical memory game, and multi-player
pinball with a twist. There's even a cool mixologist app that lets you
design and order your own drinks. In addition to the applications that Harrah's
created, they are also using the photos and concierge apps that the Surface
team built. Harrah's has taken those apps and customized them to the
Rio/Las Vegas environment with photos, video, maps and attractions info to
help guests plan their stay all within the comfort of the iBar.'

Video: Microsoft Surface at the Rio in Las Vegas

Earlier post about the Surface app - a year ago, actually.

Boing Boing Baby

The Banjo goes plonkity-plonk and the Baby goes Boing ! Boing !
This baby has a natural ear for Music and Dance and who knows what
else. Hope we can follow the progress of this wunderkind through the
eyes of his parents. Many thanks to Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing
for the link to this Flickr videoclip !

Hey Kids ! It's Mr. Picassohead !

Are you a budding Picasso ? No ? Well, this is your chance to go
crazy and express yourself in the style of the Master of the Abstract
just by a few drag-and-drop gestures of your mouse. Then....Voila !
You get an e-mail that says :

'A Mr. Picassohead painting has been created for you to view online.'

I tried a self-portrait and it was impressive in a primitive sort of way.
Please visit the link below
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=80e9e05&skin=original
to see my painting, cruise

or make your very own Mr. Picassohead.

Plenty of good, clean fun for you - and your kids, and I highly recommend
exploring the Wikipedia page on Pablo Picasso

Mr. Picassohead was created by Ruder Finn Interactive

Ruder Finn ... Creativity delivers.

Real Age Wants Us to Go Fish

Any health-savvy individual knows that Fish is equally healthy as Veggies *
and the tastiest alternative to Meat. Now a little more research has surfaced
to give us more reason to heartily indulge in our seafood cravings. I gladly share
these findings with you as a subscriber to


Fish Helps You Keep the Beat
In this ever more polluted world, sometimes you just can't avoid a little
bit of particulate matter in your lungs.

So go fish! Eating finny food not only reduces your risk for heart disease
but also may protect your heart from air-pollution-induced arrhythmias.

Taking Heart Against Pollution
Short-term exposure to small airborne particles spewed from cars,
power plants, and other industrial sources may cause an irregular
heart rate. Serious stuff, because it could open the door to heart
arrhythmias and even heart attacks in people who are over 60 or
have heart or lung diseases.
(Find out what the early warning signs of heart disease are.)

Airing Things Out
But fish could help thwart that unhealthy chain of events. A study found
that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may help alleviate those
irregular beats. That's just what happened when people over 60 who
were exposed to particulate matter took a daily fish oil supplement.
Fish oil supplements aren't for everyone, though, and should be
discussed with a doctor first.
Read up on both the benefits and risks of fish oil supplements

But most people can eat a couple servings of fish each week
without worry.

RealAge Benefit: Eating nonfried fish three times a week can make
your RealAge up to 3 years younger.

* Veggies ! Find out more