Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in December 2020 & January 2021
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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More light is coming now on the violence in Delhi few days back, indulged in during farmers' protest. It is very sad that so many police constables and officers got injured (police were under instructions not to open fire). Such violence should not be tolerated in democratic India. Those who resorted to this violence against the police must face the full force of the law so that they will not think of repeating these actions in future.
Republic Day raid was pre-meditated, planned well in advance, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/republic-day-raid-was-pre-meditated-planned-well-in-advance-101611822032282.html, 28th Jan. 2021.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian politics. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a grateful beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India.
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Offbeat Wild West movie about a gunslinger-killer who is a reformed man after 18 years of prison but who struggles to find a decent livelihood after he is free, due to his past involving 12 murders
More Dead Than Alive | Full WESTERN Movie | Free Cowboy Action Film | Spaghetti Western | Wild West, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2cgVMpEOzA, 1 hr. 36 mins.
The movie's wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Dead_Than_Alive
I found some of the dialogues in the movie to be quite interesting. I have shared a few of them below from the youtube video transcript.
The background is that the gunslinger-killer Cain is forced to accept a travelling shooting-showman Ruffalo's offer of being a star billed as "Killer Cain". Ruffalo knows that people will be willing to pay see "Killer Cain" and even engage in a shooting at target (like pins & cups) contest with him. Ruffalo's business proposition works out well with "Killer Cain" attracting more visitors.
But this creates a problem for the earlier shooting-star Billy who is a young man but still a minor (I guess that means less than 21 years old in this context). Billy gets overshadowed by Cain and does not like that. Further, Cain's shooting skills are not as good as they were when he was a young man, and Billy is a better shooter than Cain.
However, people are still more interested in paying to see Cain shoot rather than Billy. That makes Billy lose his mental balance and veer off eventually into madness where he becomes a killer himself, and then gets killed as he had fired all the bullets in the gun he was wearing but had forgotten that (showing his immaturity as a gunman), and then got into a duel with an outlaw.
There is a romantic angle in the movie too. The movie ends on a very harsh note as Cain is killed by the son of a murder victim of his, 20 years back.
The movie script is available here: https://www.scripts.com/script/more_dead_than_alive_14051 .
Now for a few dialogues from the movie:
Ruffalo to Cain (Note that this dialogue is in 1891 and the area is in or around Arizona state of USA) at 20 mins. 15 secs. into the video: Cain, listen to me. The West is a lot different than it was back in '73, when you were part of it. A whole lot different. The railroad and the telegraph, they've changed everything or almost everything.
The only fact that you can be sure of is that you're Cain. A man to be feared. Certainly not trusted.
No, it's gonna be real rough for you to find a job. It is for all ex-cons. Well, maybe you've noticed that men don't wear guns anymore, unless they're on the road. No, things have settled down out here.
And that makes for a lot of Easterners coming out west. And there ain't enough jobs for them. Let alone, you.
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[Billy's at a saloon where he is attracted towards a lady who operates a wheel on which bets are laid. He tries to impress the lady that he is the shooting star of the show that came to town but the lady's not impressed at all!]
At 36:27, Lady: Say, aren't you that kid from the shooting show?
Billy: I'm the star.
Lady: Well, I didn't see the show, but I sure heard it.
Billy: You did?
Lady: Say, honey, you sure do make a lot of noise.
[Billy's deflated. I liked this scene as I felt it showed how the modern West had changed. The sharp shooter was no longer feared! Instead the guy was looked down upon for creating a lot of noise with his shooting in the shooting show!]
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[After Cain joins Ruffalo's shooting show, he picks up his old gun which had notches for his kills (and which Ruffalo had acquired and was used as a macabre display item to attract visitors to his show) and tries shooting at a tree branch. His shooting is not great. Billy then shows off his shooting skills which are much better. Billy seems to idolize gunslingers of the past and finds it hard to accept that Cain's shooting is not so good now.]
At 41:30, Billy: I bet you're pretty... pretty good with that. What I love are those 12 notches. Those were the good old days.
Cain: How would you know?
Billy: I've heard. I've heard how every man would wear a gun and if he wanted to have it out with a guy, why, he did. Today you're lucky if you can get a guy outside to fist-fight.
Ruffalo: Here, load up.
Cain: I'll see if I can trim that branch back a little.
[After Cain's shooting is poor.]
Cain: Looks like I need some practice.
[After Billy shoots very well.]
Billy: I never miss.
Ruffalo: Well, Cain, you just got yourself a free show.
Billy: Now, I know what you're doing there, you're holding back, aren't you?
Cain: No.
Billy: Yes, you are. I know you killed 12 men. I know you must have been sharper than that.
Cain: I was.
Billy: How'd you do it? How'd you kill 'em, I mean?
Cain: Different men, different ways.
Billy: "Different men, different ways"? But you always let 'em draw first, right?
Cain: No. Not if there was a chance I might get beat. The only code I had was to let 'em know I was coming.
Billy: But you never bushwhacked anyone, did you?
Cain: Well, like I said, they knew I was coming, so they all had guns and none of them got it in the back.
Billy: Well, see, I thought...
Cain: You thought that I marched down the street, called 'em out and waited for 'em to draw?
Billy: Yeah.
Cain: No, Billy, I was hired to use my gun and I did.
Billy: Well, I'd let anyone draw first. 'Cause I can outdraw anyone. It's hard for me to believe that you never were as good as I am.
Cain: Good at what, Billy, hitting branches? Or killing men? There is a difference. Eighteen years ago a man never holstered an unloaded gun. You're just playing games, kid.
Billy: Let me ask you something. How old were you when you killed your first man?
Cain: Sixteen.
Billy: Sixteen. What was he? A sheriff or a marshal or what?
Cain: Soldier.
Billy: Soldier? How much you get paid?
Cain: I didn't get paid anything. It happened in a fist-fight.
Billy: Oh, well. No, I mean, what about when you had that first notch on your Colt?
Cain: What about it? I didn't get paid anything for that, either. I killed a bounty hunter who was after my hide.
Billy: Well, the first time you got paid, how much?
Cain: $50.
Billy: - $50!
[Billy?]: $50.
Ruffalo: Fifty bucks don't mean much to him, Cain. He's spoiled. He don't know what it was like out here in those days.
Cain: Well, it was different.
Ruffalo: [Mutters something in agreement]
Cain: A lot different. My father was a sergeant in the Fourth Cavalry, and they were always out chasing Indians. I never saw much of anything except the inside of army forts till I killed that soldier. All my life I'd seen men die. The ones that lived bragged about killing others, so life was cheap to me. And $50 was a lot of money. Especially when you were on the run.
Billy: Yeah, you make it sound lousy.
Cain: It was.
Billy: Hell, I just wish... I just wish I'd been living in those days. 'Cause the way I handle a gun, boy, I'll tell ya.
Cain: The way you handle a gun, you'd been a dead man. Somebody would have shot you in the back because they were afraid to face up to you. That's the way it was, and don't you think different.
---------
[Just after Cain is shot dead by a man. Cain's wife Monica is distraught and asks the man Why?]
At 94:30, Monica: Why?! Why?!
Killer-man: Why? Why? All right, I'll tell you why. Because 20 years ago, Cain killed my father.
Monica: He served 18 years in prison.
Killer-man: No, that was the price of one life. Cain took 12.
Monica: Oh, no!
------------
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Watch Chris Cuomo's emotional tribute to Larry King, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlXZZhcWfyg, 8 min. 15 secs.
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https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1352630623173828610/photo/1 - Brazilian PM Bolsonaro thanking Indian PM Modi with pic of Lord Hanuman flying with vaccine from India to Brazil!
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A couple of interesting 1930s Wild West movies:
Westward Ho 1935 John Wayne, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOTyuNbT_gs, 1 hr. 1 min.
Two-Fisted Law (1932) Tim McCoy, John Wayne, Walter Brennan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24lqf3ouYN0, 57 min.
I think the above was the first Tim McCoy movie that I have seen. Quite a handsome and well-built on-screen character. He seems to be have been quite a man in real life too - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_McCoy .
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Lovely letter from Cricket Australia to BCCI (Indian cricket body) - https://www.instagram.com/p/CKQUAU7hc40/
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India claim stunning series win, end Australia's Gabba streak | Vodafone Test Series 2020-21, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6UyatwVTA, 8 min. 29 secs.
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Sunil Gavasker India Winning Moment Reaction Aus Vs India, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twu3yFw7Jok, 1 min. 26 secs.
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Interesting tweet of Indian cricketer Ashwin sharing prediction of Aussie cricket heroes of India losing the test series - https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99/status/1351454423332093952
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Interesting video showing how Pakistani cricket fans too enjoyed India's victory over Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Ei2IFWq-s, 8 min. 12 secs. It was really nice to see Pakistani cricket fans share in Indian cricket fans' joy.
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Lovely farewell video! Farewell Ambassador Juster! All the best for whatever you do in future, sir. .. Video is 2 min. 30 secs or so.
[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/3888909651225035 ]
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Former Australian captain and player in this match, Steve Smith is gracious in his comments. I think it takes a lot of character to be able to be gracious just after losing a test match and series. Overall I think this was a great contest between two powerful cricketing nations - Australia and India. Kudos to both the teams and the cricket fans and administrators from both nations for a great cricket test series that gave so many people good entertainment and showed that international sporting events like cricket test series can be held in a reasonably safe way, even while a horrible COVID pandemic is going on.
'That was a pretty special innings today': Smith | Vodafone Test Series 2020-21, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f3FbGwM_i4, 2 min. 40 secs.
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Former New Zealand cricketer Kyle Mills has interesting comments: Gill, Pant slay Australia in Brisbane | memorable chase, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o4u6DxguEg, 5 min. 25 secs.
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Pakistani cricketing great and a gentleman, Inzamam-ul-Haq, on India's test series victory in Australia with a young team after having gone down 1-0 initially (in Hindi/Urdu) (first 30 seconds or so in the video are promotion stuff and so may be skipped): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_-EPx0KJqk, 9 min. 2 secs.
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An oldie-goldie Hindi patriotic song from 1970 film Purab aur Paschim (East and West) - Hai Preet Jahan Ki Reet, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdmUuRELfWI, 7 min. 40 secs, sung by Mahendra Kapoor with Manoj Kumar being the on-screen star singing it.
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[In Hindi and English:] Media Briefing by [Indian] Ministry of Health on COVID-19 vaccination, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No9LaH8IKpA, around 10 mins. streamed live on 16th Jan. 2021
Till 5.30 PM today, 165,714 persons were vaccinated across the country. In Andhra Pradesh 16,963 persons got vaccinated, and in Maharashtra 15,727 persons got vaccinated.
No case of post-vaccination hospitalization reported so far.
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[In English & Hindi:] India's Covid Vaccination: Healthcare Workers React After Getting First Coronavirus Vaccine Shot, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XAnGwCYGds, 8 min. 33 secs, published by India Today.
Ravi: It's great to see Indian doctors and other health care workers step forward so confidently to take the vaccine, sending a great message to the rest of the country. I salute India's health care workers for their leadership in fighting the COVID pandemic in India, including in this crucial step of vaccination which is expected to lead eventually to the end of the pandemic.
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[In Telugu] COVID Vaccination Begins at 26 Centres in Anantapur District | Ntv, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsOUQvzzZ5U, 3 min. 36 secs.
The vaccine seems to be COVISHIELD. Initially the frontline workers are being vaccinated. If I understood it correctly, the reporter/interviewee says that 26,000 odd frontline workers were scheduled to be vaccinated over next few days.
Good to see COVISHIELD vaccine rollout in Anantapur district on same day it rolled out across India. Kudos to Indian govt. and Andhra Pradesh govt. for this.
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"I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it’s safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself."
https://twitter.com/adarpoonawalla/status/1350338040321851392
Ravi: The video clip shows the CEO of the company that is manufacturing the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine (called COVISHIELD) in India, taking the vaccine himself! That's great. He is walking his (sales) talk!
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https://twitter.com/adarpoonawalla/status/1348955050446503940 - "An emotional moment for the team at @SerumInstIndia as the first shipments of #Covishield finally leave for multiple locations across India."
The tweet has 2 pics. Covishield is the Oxford Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
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This should trigger the rollout of these COVID vaccines across India. Time will tell whether this will be the decisive step in finishing the COVID pandemic in India (my country and where I live), the world's 2nd most populous country with 1.3 billion people.
[Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/posts/10164706522770165 ]
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What happened in Nashville, Tennessee, USA was a tragedy! Bombs are not an answer to whatever issues the bomber (who died in the bombing) had with 5G towers or whatever other society related issues he had.
But what I find really laudable about USA media and USA democracy is how the media, and city council persons (democratically elected, I guess), are able to question the police authorities on a 2019 call that the bomber's girlfriend had made to the police where she said that the bomber (her boyfriend) was making a bomb in his RV trailer!
Hats off to USA democracy and media that such questioning of the police authorities is being done, at least partly in public, on a possible failure in following up on that 2019 complaint which would have perhaps prevented the Nashville bombing tragedy. Note that the heroic work of the police officers in evacuating people before the bomb went off, is mentioned by the media host in this interview. So it comes across as a balanced media report on the matter.
Nashville bomber's girlfriend told police in 2019 he was building explosives, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx8m5SVP7yA, 6 min. 53 secs, published on CNN on 31st Dec. 2020
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Why AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine approval ‘good news for whole world’? UK minister answers, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/why-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-approval-good-news-for-whole-world-uk-minister-answers/story-FgbnyjvsXNx76SbfF5UpYK.html , 30th Dec. 2020.
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Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID vaccine seems to be critical to India as an Indian private company is manufacturing that vaccine (besides other companies in the world, I guess), and that vaccine does not require the very cold storage that other COVID vaccines like the Pfizer vaccine require. This makes it more easily deliverable across a developing country like India.
So this news from UK about Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine seems to be really good news for India too. I think it is just a question of some time before Indian regulators approve the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, triggering its rollout in India.
Virologist: UK-approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is a ‘ray of hope’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SqohQe9Dg, 9 min. 43 secs, published by CNN on 30th Dec. 2020.
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I enjoyed this pic. I had not known that Mohammed Rafi had met Muhammad Ali!
Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/thebetterindia/posts/10158910235459594 ]
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USA HHS secretary Alex Azar, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci and others receive COVID-19 vaccine. Azar, Collins and Fauci speak at the beginning and also while they receive the vaccine. Collins speaks at the end too, and quotes from Psalm 103 of the Bible: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your inequity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Bless the Lord, O my soul! The people all said Amen."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnarCLgWPgY, 37 mins. 4 secs, streamed live by PBS NewsHour, 22nd Dec. 2020
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Great to see this!
https://twitter.com/WHNSC/status/1341157503539830785 "“President @realDonaldTrump presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the U.S.-India strategic partnership. Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS
accepted the medal on behalf of Prime Minister Modi.” –NSA Robert C. O’Brien"
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1341347039418966017 - "I am deeply honoured to be awarded the Legion of Merit by
@POTUS
@realDonaldTrump
. It recognises the efforts of the people of India & the US to improve bilateral ties, reflected in the bipartisan consensus in both countries about the Indo-US Strategic Partnership."
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1341347041637769216 - "The 21st century presents both unprecedented challenges as well as opportunities. The India-US relationship can leverage the vast potential of our people's unique strengths to provide global leadership for the benefit of entire humanity."
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1341347044812877825 - "On behalf of the 1.3 billion people of India, I reiterate my government's firm conviction and commitment to continue working with the US government, and all other stakeholders in both countries, for further strengthening India-US ties."
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Joe Biden receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AArEGEyzuJQ, around 10 mins, published 22nd Dec. 2020.
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Interesting 1947 Western movie: Gunfighters starring Randolph Scott, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLf7Z3SCy8A, around 1 hr. 25 mins.
A good guy gunfighter decides to lay down his guns, as his fame as a fast draw leads to even his friends challenging him to a gun duel. He goes out to another town, without his guns, with the intention of joining his friend to work as a cowboy on a ranch.
But ...
The film's wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfighters_(film) , gives good info. on the movie.
What the wiki page does not mention is the greed of the big-rancher-villain who wants to have a virtual kingdom (with him as virtual king) and so pushes out all the small ranchers by rustling (stealing) their cattle, and sometimes even killing them.
[This part is mentioned in the wiki:] He is aided by a crooked deputy sheriff and other henchmen.
The sheriff himself is not directly involved but chooses to look the other way when the big-rancher-villain's henchmen do their crimes.
The good guy gunfighter ends up taking to his guns again and kills some of the bad guys. The main villain, it is presumed, gets jailed. The deputy sheriff is not killed but nicked with gun shots to make him reveal the main villain. There are two romantic complications in the plot too, with two similar looking sisters who are daughters of the big-rancher-villain 🙂.
In the finale though, the good guy gunfighter lays down his guns again, and begins his ride to California, with one of the big-rancher-villain's daughters, who is a good girl/lady, joining him.
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The Man From Bitter Ridge (1955) Western movie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN4BN7H-9vM, 1 hr. 20 mins
This movie's plot comes across as quite artificial. However I found the theme of the movie to be interesting. There is tension between two settlements of people - a town dominated by cattle herders (cattlemen), and a community of sheep herders (sheepmen) with the sheep herders based some distance away from the town.
There is a crooked guy and his brothers, whose wealth comes from robbing the stage coach that visits the town, with the robbers hiding their faces with cloth masks and so not identified by the victims. At times, the robbers have also killed some of the victims. The current sheriff suspects the crooked wealthy guy to be behind it but does not have proof and so can't do anything.
The crooked wealthy guy is competing in an election to be sheriff and has plans to later rise to bigger political positions (governor is mentioned in the movie). To win in the sheriff election he is willing to buy drinks and food for the voters, and provide presents for their families. He cunningly puts the blame for the stage coach robberies on the sheepmen! His election promises include removing sheepmen from the range!
Meanwhile the stage company sends in an investigator to find out who are the robbers. He then is targeted by the crooks.
There is a final showdown in the town between the sheepmen, the investigator and the current sheriff on one side, and the crooks on the other, on the day of the election. As expected, the good guys win, and the sheepmen earn the respect and affection of the cattle town sheriff (who is understood to be the new leader of the cattle town as the crooked wealthy guy and his brothers are killed).
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Interesting video as the two senior docs. discuss the vaccine hesitancy issue among some but that they (these two senior docs) have seen the data and so are comfy taking the vaccine, and then they take the shots! Walking the talk! Great stuff!
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta receives the Covid-19 vaccine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UeT3bgbzzM, 10 min. 31 secs, published on 18th Dec. 2020.
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[USA] Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence receive Covid-19 vaccine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LyF9wQCbC0, 4 min. 30 secs, published on 18th Dec. 2020
They seem to have taken the first dose of the two dose Pfizer vaccine. I think the 2nd dose is scheduled 21 days later.
Good leadership I think, from USA Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, the 2nd Lady of USA. This will give confidence to others to take the vaccine when it becomes available to them.
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https://twitter.com/DrHelenOuyang/status/1339283508267790337 - "Got my #CovidVaccine today. A shot of hope during these bleak times. Let’s vaccinate as many people as we can! #IGotTheShot".
Dr. Ouyang is Emergency Medicine doctor at a New York hospital and a Prof. at Columbia university. Some months ago, she wrote an article in the New York Times about her very tough experiences as an ER doctor in a New York hospital facing the COVID pandemic surge of serious patients. It is so great to see that she has got her vaccine shot now.
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Indo-Pak War of 1971: You surrender or we wipe you out, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's message to Pakistan, https://zeenews.india.com/india/indo-pak-war-of-1971-you-surrender-or-we-wipe-you-out-field-marshal-sam-manekshaws-message-to-pakistan-2331080.html, 16th Dec. 2020
"The Indo-Pak War also led to the creation of a nation--Bangladesh and resulted in the largest military surrender after the World War-II." - 93,000 troops of Pakistan military forces (stationed in Bangladesh then known as East Pakistan) surrendered unconditionally to Indian military forces.
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The Painted Desert (1931) CLARK GABLE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqx9HktyRc, 1 hr. 14 mins.
Even though the print is not great, and it is a black-and-white movie, and I found it hard to understand words of some persons (including Clark Gable at times), I found the movie to be interesting.
It picturizes some raw pioneer/settler life and it has ego battles and love triangles that are quite common in life I think. BTW oldie Hindi films had lot of such ego battles and love triangle stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Desert shares some sad info. "Tragedy struck the production shortly after filming began when the fourteen-month-old baby playing the role of the infant Bill Holbrook, died while on location." Reading that was a punch in the gut - the baby looks really sweet in the movie. So sad that it died in real life while on location!
It also says, "During production, somewhere between twelve and forty actors were seriously injured in a dynamite explosion when the charge went off early during filming, and two crew members lost their lives"! My God!
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[Posted in a public group of "Ex students of cardinal gracias high school bandra e", https://www.facebook.com/groups/bandra/permalink/3564689886899507/ ]
Thanks for accepting my request to join this group of ex Cardinal Gracias school alumni. I passed out in May 1978 (SSC - Xth standard) from Cardinal Gracias and was with the school from mid 1974 to mid 1978. I have fond memories of my study there and I am very grateful to the teachers and my fellow students for the good education and good times I had then.
I have already been connected via Facebook to some of my batchmates and also other alumni. Will be glad to connect with others from Cardinal Gracias school here. Thanks.
...
Thanks ---. Glad you liked my post. Amen to God bless all our wonderful teachers!
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Interesting that you ---, and --- are from 1977 batch (one batch senior to me). Pravin Kochar, Anil and Sunil Nair (brothers) and Srinivasan were from senior batches to me - that I recall. Don't recall now whether they were 1 or 2 years senior to me (and so 1976 or 1977 batch). Pravin, Anil & Sunil all lived in Govt. quarters Bandra (E) like me. Srini lived in MIG colony.
...
--- Thanks for the info. Sorry but I do not recall Ramachandra Gupta sir clearly. Was he Hindi teacher? In my class at least for some year(s), Father Vijay taught us Hindi - that I recall clearly.
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--- Thanks for the info. about Anil Nair. I would be glad to re-connect with Anil & Sunil Nair. Do you have their contact info. by any chance?
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Great to read this. Prayers to Almighty God that this signals a turn-around towards finishing off the COVID pandemic in USA, and around the world.
Critical Care Nurse from NYC Receives the First COVID-19 Vaccine in the US, https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/breaking-news/2020/12/14/first-covid-19-vaccinations-in-new-york-to-be-administered, 14th Dec. 2020.
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John le Carré: Espionage writer dies aged 89, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55297558, 14th Dec. 2020
A great writer of our times - creator of George Smiley character - passes away! My prayers to God for his soul.
My 2017 post shares some of my thoughts about John le Carré: Fascinating interview of John le Carré; Parallels of betrayal in his books and Muddenahalli group, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2017/09/fascinating-interview-of-john-le-carre.html .
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Awesome story of a great woman and her three triplet daughters! Hats off to the ladies! Hats off to the mother's parents & sibling(s) who supported her when she chose divorce instead of aborting her triplet daughters.
[Shared article: ‘He Tried to Kill Me’: Single Mom Who Refused to Abort her Triplets 24 Years Ago, https://www.thebetterindia.com/239761/rajasthan-son-preference-single-mother-shatter-patriarchy-girls-triplets-inspiring-jasbeer-single-parent-india-gop94/ ]
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I just love Liz Mitchell's voice. Here's a live rendition of 'Rivers of Babylon' in 1979, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3QxT-w3WMo
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1965 serial murder mystery thriller Hindi movie Gumnaam, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a-hky-3xhg, 2 hrs. 23 mins.
This was a very famous movie even in the 70s & 80s. I had seen some of its song-vidoes including the mad Mehmood song - Hum Kaalein Hain To Kya Hua Dil Walein Hain in TV shows of those days but had not got a chance to see the movie.
Saw it over the past few days. The plot is overly complicated (said to be based loosely on an Agatha Christie novel). It seems rather unreal as the characters continue to make merry even while some of them get bumped off. Real fear is portrayed only later on in the movie as the character played by Helen gets murdered, followed by the attempt to murder the character played by Nanda.
I have to say that it does not come close to some of the Alfred Hitchcock movies I have seen when it comes to raw fear being generated by the movie. Alfred Hitchcock was outstanding in that regard.
But still for a 1965 Hindi film movie, Gumnaam is pretty good. I can see how it was a big hit in those times, and remained popular even in the 70s & 80s, with the mix of murder thriller and slapstick comedy (by Mehmood).
Perhaps the roles that stand out in the movie are those by Helen and Mehmood, with the hero (Major Kumar), heroine (Nanda) and even main villain (Tarun Bose) roles being somewhat put in the shadow by these two supporting character roles (Helen & Mehmood).
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I had not known of this till I read the wiki page of the movie a few days ago. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumnaam "The film came to wider attention in the English-speaking world when its opening song "Jaan Pehechan Ho" (a Hindi-Urdu phrase roughly translated as "we should get to know each other") was included in the opening credits of Ghost World and used in the 2011 commercial The Date for Heineken. The song was sung by Bollywood music legend Mohammed Rafi. The lead dancer in the song as shot in the film was Laxmi Chhaya. The psychedelic choreography was done by Herman Benjamin, who also sang the song as picturised in the film."
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Here's the song from the movie: Jaan Pehchan Ho - Mohammed Rafi | Shankar Jaikishan | Gumnaam | Dance Song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnBbjc5hmho. Mohammed Rafi is the singer (unusually) and the fast-paced music is not by R.D. Burman but by Shankar-Jaikishen!
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The 2011 Heineken (beer) ad. based on above song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ30GCjPEjY . I had a blast watching this, remembering the many Heineken beers I have had in the 1980s mainly while on software development assignments in Europe (& perhaps some while in USA though it was mostly Budweiser beer that I had while in USA).
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Played by a band (only instruments no vocals) in 2016 in Massachusetts, USA, in HONK! 2016 which I gather is a street band grassroots festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFgeiLhdu_Y
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Seems to be a Belgian band playing with vocals in 2017 in Salvador, Brazil (as per youtube video info.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p35SzPHCG5o
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Great 2019 rendition: Jaan Pehchan ho By Vishwanath Batunge, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mst12cV1I9M
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GhostWorld (2001 "black comedy film") opening credits with Jaan Pehchaan from Gumnaam, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB4q9rcfvvE, around 2 mins.
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Decent instrumental rendition published in 2016 with everybody (somewhere in Europe I guess) in the video having a good time: Cornalitos - Jaan Pehchan Ho, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rh049iqpG0
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This is a nice peppy song in the movie which is picturized on Helen (whose name in the film role is Kitty Kelly) and sung by Lata Mangeshkar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKodgq-1TgY
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A nice 2017 rendition of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJMqZPZKodM
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Nice rendition by a young girl, video published in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5xDsE4kRC8
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On post: https://www.facebook.com/pavankumar.galgalikar/posts/5046445408706690 , I wrote:
Great instrumental renditions. Thanks. I enjoy the lyrics and singer's voice and so I tend to prefer renditions with singer. But there is no doubt, for me at least, that these instrumental renditions do a great job of these two very popular oldie hits.
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I really enjoy seeing the live orchestra versions where you see the faces and feel the emotions of the singer(s) and musicians. It is a total experience.
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