The Brave and The Hearts

Q. Imagine you are investigating a murder, and come across an object with suspicious hole in it, with gunpowder sticking to the edges. What is first thing you, as a CID officer, will do (and the last thing a normal person will do)?
A. Well, those of us who are trained to stare down the barrel without blinking don't need to think about the answer:

Q. When do you know that economy downturn is affecting you?
A. When you ask for a new interrogation room, and then you find yourself hearing to a criminal confess in a crowded restaurant.

Q. Why shouldn't people fall in love?
A. They are tempted to do this, and this:

Deathly Hallows Covers Announced...

UPDATE:changed some points based on comments

Probably the second biggest news of this year (of course, the biggest was when the date of publication was announced)... The covers for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" are out.








(For those not able to see the images: Check this post out.)

My Thoughts?

1. The locket on the adult UK edition is definitely Slytherin's (so it is a horcrux). We haven't "seen" any other horcrux. So why this?


2. The UK children's version shows Hogwarts (think so) at the back. So Hogwarts should make at least a guest appearance, despite what the "jacket description" says (or does not say, to be precise).


3. The "jacket description" does not mention anything about the quest. In fact, I guess this is the least informative jacket ever seen on Harry Potter books.


4. Why is Ron Dobby (at least I don't think any other house-elf will help Harry so much) holding The Sword? Is the sword a horcrux after all? If not, where did they get it from and why? And why none of them are wearing school robes? Is the thing they are "spilling" from "Helga's cup"? (Looks like it, doesn't it?)


5. What is Prongs doing on the jacket?


6. The US Childrens' edition cover is highly interesting. The person Harry is facing must be is (confirmed by Scholastic) Lord Voldemort. The scenery looks almost like an arena (given the arrangement behind them) or a stage (given the drapes on two sides). Is that the "Veil Room" again? (I know the last confontration is expected to happen in Godric's Hollow, but the background doesn't look like any house to me, that's why...) Are the odd shadows in the background death-eaters? Given their expressions, is Harry "accio"ing something?

Given the history of Harry Potter on this blog, I am pretty sure this will be the end of discussion here. So please prove me wrong, and I beg all the hidden Harry Potter fans to comment...


- For I am The Great Eagle...

P.S. For more on Harry Potter, check my review of the series.

The Rs. 4,41,25,000 Question #2

The second in series of questions which humankind (I don't want feminists on my case) has tried to puzzle out for ages (or at least, since when hostels were invented):

After a survey of a lot of horror series as well as movies, we have realised that one thing is always taken for granted. But, here at Aerie Institute, we always question all the premises:

Why do all urban ghosts (male and female) congregate in ladies hostels?

This phenomenon may have something to do with the fact that the extraordinary happenings, like restroom doors locking themselves, sometime forcing the occupant to "rest" inside until released, or your entire luggage being shifted to corridor are taken for granted in the boys' hostel (whoever said boys will be boys, may be right). It also may have something to do with the fact that the chattering and giggles and squeals (after sighting a crawler) in ladies hostel make many a supernaturalkind feel at home. This may also have to do with the ghosts' innate desire to get maximum scares for minimum efforts.

But, a lot of research is being carried out in the institute currently, which may suggest that the ghosts' habit to walk through the doors and walls, and not knocking unless they want to scare someone may have something to do with this.

Not totally related, but showing the difference in genders, is an incident which took place some years back.

We, the classmates of third year engineering had gone on a tour. One day (or one night, to be specific), some of us decided to keep awake for the whole night as we had booked a bus for early next morning (and I mean around 5 am by early). Naturally, after sitting for some time outside our rooms, the subject turned to ghosts. One fellow told a nice little story about a ghost near their house which stands on a bridge and asks the passersby for matches to light his cigarette.

One or two stories later, there was a slight lull in conversation as many of us were thinking that keeping awake is such a chore, when we spotted a person striding towards us. He stepped closer, and asked, "maachis hai kya?" ("do you have matches?"). After a minute of silence all the boys started guffawing and one girl was almost reduced to tears by fear, while the unfazed seeker had to wait for a lot of time for one of us to calm down enough to enlighten him that his quest was not ended.



- For I am The Great Eagle...


P.S. For the start of series, read this, which is one of the most commented upon posts in this blog's history. Also, if you are wondering about the changes in title, that's because the exchange rates have changed.

Something To Make You Think...

Biology labs are really interesting... and I am not talking about putting some hot seniors in a room, with covered windows, and switching off the lights. Well, we were testing the rate of photosynthesis, you know (you dirty minds, what did you think)...

Anyways, something our TA said brings me to the second in line in my attempt to post on some serious, hard-hitting questions which are puzzling the greatest minds in the universe (to wit, mine)...

Why do we say, "first things first"? I mean, it goes without saying that first things will be, err... first by definitions. Or else, we would have called them second things or third things or so on.

And while we are on the subject, why do we say "it goes without saying"? Haven't we "said" it already, thus making it self-contradictory?

I tell you, this English language is...



OK, if you think I am being weird, try getting exactly 1:00:00 on the 1/100th second stopwatch... Now try getting it twice in a row, and tell me how you feel.

The Rs. 4,54,20,000 Question #1

Or The 45.42 mya Question #1 (and that would make it Ages-Old, right about the time when there are records of primates splitting up into two divisions on some question)...

I have decided to make my blog "legit", i.e. to have serious content on the blog, which sparks some serious discussion and makes the readers* think. So, first in series of serious questions which will be pondered here:

In a survey conducted by me recently (just finished the number-crunching), it was found that 62.5% of the female bloggers and 33% of the male bloggers in my Google Reader list don't display their ages in the profiles. This leads us to the age old question, which has been forced to the forefront again:

Why do women hide their age?

Now, let the discussion begin...



P.S. How many of you did I get by all that taking it "legit" gambit? OK, I will tell you the real story behind this... I woke from my siesta with a firm purpose of doing some completely non-sensical things. And that's where the idea was born.
That said, I would like some discussion...


*Note the fact that the number of users is cleverly left out.