New Blogging Service & Layout

I'm going to be trying out a new blogging service and layout for my blogs.

Here are the links for the new blogs:
Design Blog | Personal Blog | Cooking Blog

'Pants'ing Star Wars :D

• I find your lack of pants disturbing.
• You are unwise to lower your pants.
• Your pants, you will not need them.
• Chewie and me got into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
• I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
• You came in those pants? You're braver than I thought.
• The Force is strong in my pants.
• In his pants you will find a new definition of pain and suffering
• Governer Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's pants.
• I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your pants.
• A disturbance in the pants. I have not felt this since near my old master...
• Pull up! All pants pull up!
• He has no time for smugglers who drop their pants first sign of Imperials
• I sense the conflict within you. Let go of your pants!
• That blast came from the pants! That thing's operational!
• Alderan is peaceful, we have no pants!
• I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of our pants forever
• The pants will be down in moments, sir, you can begin your landing
• These aren't the pants you're looking for.
• Looks like someone's beginning to take an interest in your pants.
• Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.
• "I want them alive. No pants." -Vader
• I am altering the pants. Pray that I don't alter them any further
• Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your pants.
• Your pants can deceive you, don't trust them
• Great, Chewie, great. Always thinking with your pants.
• Luke, help me take these pants off. -(dying) Darth Vader
• Away with your pants, I mean you no harm!
• "Don't do that, my pants are dirty." "My pants are dirty, too."
• The Pants are what gives a Jedi his power
• Will somebody please get this walking carpet out of my pants!
• I'm taking Captain Solo ... and his pants
• Search your pants, you know it to be true.
• Han'll have those pants down - we've gotta give him more time!
• He is most displeased with your apparent lack of pants
• Tell that to Jabba. If you're lucky he might only take your pants.
• You are part of the rebel alliance, and a traitor. Take her pants!
• I'm not in this for your revolution, I'm in it for the pants
• Look at the size of those pants!
• There's no mystical energy field that controls my pants
• It appears you are to be the main course at a banquet in my pants
• Curse my metal pants.
• I don't think the Empire had wookiees in mind when they designed pants
• So long ago, when all we had was our love. No politics, no plotting, no pants.
• We've got to get a reading on those pants, Up or Down.
• See through pants, we can.
• The emperor asks the impossible. I need more pants.
• And I thought pants smelled bad . . . on the OUTSIDE. Ahh!
• General Tarkin, I thought I recognized your foul pants...
• Judge me by my pants, do you?
• I felt a great disturbance in the Pants.
• Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those pants!
• Have you been in many pants?
• I only hope that when the pants are analyzed a weakness can be found
• The pants can have a strong influence on weak minds
• We have no choice, our pants can't repel firepower of that magnitude.
• I seek an audience with your greatness to bargain for Solo's pants
• Jabba please take these pants as a token of friendship
• Only now...in my pants...do you understand.
• Search your pants, Luke. You know it's true.
• You can waste time with your pants when your chores are done.
• The more you tighten your pants, the more star systems will slip through...
• Yeah, well droids aren't known for ripping pants off when they loose!
• Don't try to frighten us with your scorcerer's pants, Lord Vader.
• Put Captain Solo in the cargo pants.
• Take care of your pants, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it.
• Though I never thought I would be smuggling pants.
• Your father wanted you to have pants when you were old enough
• "I happen to like nice pants."
• A tremor in the Pants.The last time I felt it was in the presence of myoldmaster
• Luke help me take my pants off...
• "Great pants kid! Don't get cocky!"
• Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your pants.
• "Slimey? My pants this is." -Yoda
• "You know of the rebellion?" "That's how we came to be in your pants sir"
• !?! We can almost buy our own pants for that!
• Commander, tear these pants apart until you've found those plans.
• I have altered the pants, pray that I don't alter them further.
• I'd just as soon pants a Wookiie!
• Rear pants down... Argh!!!
• The pants are down! Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor.
• Yahoo! You're all clear kid. Now let's blow these pants and go home!
• Yeah, I just got a funny feeling. Like I'm never gonna see my pants again.
• Be mindful of your pants Anakin. They'll betray you.
• I used to bullseye womp rats in my pants back home.
• Leia: I love pants. Han: I know.
• Remember your failure in the pants.
• The last time I felt it was in the pants of my old master.
• "Evacuate?! In our pants of triumph?"
• "Your overconfidence is your weakness." "Your faith in your pants is yours!"
• Bounty hunters ... we don't need their pants
• Chewie, pants won't help me!
• Fear will keep the other systems in line--fear of these pants.
• I sense a great disturbance in the pants.
• In my experience, there is no such thing as pants.
• I've got a bad feeling in my pants about this.
• Search your pants, Luke.
• We have no time for pants, Commander.
• No I don't think he likes pants at all. No I don't like pants either.
• That's funny... the pants don't look as bad from out here.
• You don't believe in pants, do you?
• You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your pants.
• Bury your pants deep down, Luke. They could be made to serve the emperor.
• I am a Toydarian! Pants do not work on me!
• She must have hidden the pants in the escape pod.
• Tell them if they don't do as you ask you will becom angry and use your pants
• The pants go off in this direction
• Threepio: It's against my programming to wear pants.
• Your pants can decieve you, Luke.
• At Last, we will have our pants.
• Phew! And I thought pants smelled bad... on ... the outside...!
• Sir, my first job was programming binary pants lifters.
• Someone WAS in the pants
• These pants are for smuggling, I never thought I'd use them to smuggle myself
• You have taken your first step into larger pants
• "Pants, Luke, Pants!"
• "But I was gonna' go down to Toshi Station to pick up some power pants!
• It's over, Anakin. I have the high pants.
• This little one's not worth the effort. Come, let me get you some pants.
• It is pointless to resist the power of the dark pants...
• No more pants. I'm not going that way
• You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the pants
• I see you have constructed a new pair of pants. Your skills are complete.
• Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking pants herder!
• Clear your minds, and find Obi-Wan's wayward pants we will...
• If pants are all you love, then that's what you'll receive.
• Pants not make one great.
• Use the Pants, Luke!
• “Pants leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering”
• I don't know where you get your delusions, laser pants.
• Much anger in him, like his pants
• You're suffering from hybernation sickness. Your pants will return in time.
• Difficult to see. Always in motion is the pants.
• Don't pants me again, Admiral.
• Sandpeople ride single file to hide their pants.
• Why I should stick my pants out for you is far beyond my capacity. -C PO
• A great many voices cried "pants", and then were silenced, all at once.
• Chewie, jam his pants!
• I have pants now! -Darth Vader
• If you fail me again, I'll put a price on your pants so large...
• This little one's not worth the effort. Now come, let me get you some pants.
• What kind of pants are you trying to sell us!
• Almost there... almost there... PANTS AWAY! (trench run from A New Hope)
• I have brought peace, justice, safety, and security to my new pants
• Lets just say, we'd like to avoid any Imperial pants.
• The Force can have a strong influence on weak pants.
• We have... powerful pants. You're going to regret this.
• You know, sometimes pants amaze even myself
• Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's pants
• In my experience, there are no such thing as pants
• It's your father's pants. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight.
• Oh yeah? Pants this!!!
• So, you have a twin sister! Your pants have now betrayed her too.
• This is an unexpected pleasure. We are honored by your pants.
• “No, try not! Do or do not, there is no pants.”
• dont worry kid i got your pants
• How will the emperor maintain control without the pants?
• I recognized your fowl pants when I was brought on board.
• I take pants from just one person: Me!
• I will teach you to master the pants
• Imperial pants have entered the base! Imperial pants have entered the base!
• Sir, if any of my circuits or pants will help, I will gladly donate them.
• The pants you refer to will soon be back in our hands
• This station is now the ultimate power in the pants. I suggest we use it.
• You do have your pants. Not many of them, but you do have them.
• Your pants, we don't want their kind in here, they'll have to wait outside
• Jabba ... this is your last chance. Pants us, or die.
• Nearly there... Nearly there... Just pants off for a few more seconds!
• Oh, I wish I had your pants...
• Pants turned her against me!!!!
• Through the pants, things you will see!
• You might have been a pants smuggler Solo, but now you're just Bantha poodoo!
• Yousa tinken yousa people ganna wear pants??? -Jar Jar Binks
• "They pants from..behind" (Gold Five)
• Aim it at the pants!
• Hay what kind of pants are you trying to pull!
• I see your pants, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R
• Just for once let me look at you with my own pants
• Long ago in pants far away
• The great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pants
• The shield is still up ... all pants pull up!
• These pants are getting worse all the time
• Great, Chewie ... always thinking with your pants
• May the pants be with you
• Pants Captain Solo in the cargo hold
• Short pants is better than no pants
• The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old pants
• Actually, Artoo has been known to make pants...From time to time.
• Jabbas through with you. He has no use for smugglers who drop their pants at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser.
• Pants matters not.
• She's rich, powerful, if you were to resuce her the rewards would be pants!
• He was seduced by the dark pants of the force
• I guess nobody told them about my pants at the Battle of Tanaab
• Pants, you seek pants
• Vader - Now I am the Pants. Obi Wan - Only the Pants of evil.
• You can't win, but there are alternatives to pants
• Give the evacuation signal ... and get to your pants!
• I don't know where you get your pants, laser brain
• Obi-Wan has pantsed you well.
• The pants will be with you, always.
• I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Pants are not as forgiving as I am.
• Its the ship that made the Kessel pants in less than parseks
• There will be no pants, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die.
• "Chewie, make sure there aren't any more chewing on the pants"
• Han, my pants, you disappoint me
• Hokey religions and ancient pants are no match for a good blaster at your side
• It has seen the end of Kenobi and will soon see the end of pants
• I'm looking forward to completing your pants
• The odds of succesfully navigating a pants field are ...
• I'm going in closer to one of the bigger pants.
• Lets hope the old man managed to shut down the pants
• Luke, I am your pants.
• Where are the pants for the rebel base?
• Pants me obie-wan kenobe, pants me
• In a way, you have chosen the pants to be destroyed first.
• You'll find I'm full of pants
• Search your pants, Luke. You know it to be true.
• I don't care what you smell get in pants.
• Pants me Obi-Wan Kenobi, your my only hope.
• He was seduced by the dark side of the pants
• Yes let the pants flow through you
• Great kid! Don't get pants.

Love vs. Attachment

An excerpt from Atma-Shatakam, by Swami Viditatmananda which I thought was an interesting read. However, while it holds truth, there are of course aspects of it that I don't completely agree with or perhaps it's because there could have been a larger emphasis placed on what occurs if both attachment and love are at play because in the manner that it's written, it can be interpreted as being mutually-exclusive.

Rāga is attachment. What is attachment? Attachment is the feeling that I cannot do without something. If I cannot do without a cup of tea, it can be said that I am attached to tea. It is one thing to use a car, for instance, but it is another thing to be attached to it.

Attachment makes me dependent. You must learn to distinguish between love and attachment. I am attached to my son, if I cannot do without my son. In attachment there is dependence, there is demand, and there is hurt. I love someone, and that someone does not love me in return. If my love also evaporates, “Why should I bother, if she does not care?”, then it is an example of attachment, not love. There can also be disappointment in attachment. “I did so much for her, but she does not care for me at all!” That means that there is an expectation of reward for what I have done. In love, there is joy in giving. When you enjoy giving, you don’t care whether it is returned or not. If you give and you expect something in return, then your joy depends upon what is returned, and not in giving. In love, there is happiness in the very act of offering

Do not worry whether the other person returns the favor or not; this is pure love. This is what we have to ultimately accomplish in our lives. Attachment is a problem because there is always a possibility of disappointment. We think that we love people, but very often, we love our own likes and dislikes. Someone who fits into my structure of likes and dislikes becomes an object of my love. The moment that person does not satisfy my likes and dislikes, I can let him go his own way. This is what we call conditional love. In love there is freedom; in attachment there is bondage. Most of what we have is likely to be attachment because we are often disappointed in our relationships. “Why did he say this? Why didn’t he do this?” Whenever you are hurt, it is not love. It is attachment because the other person failed to meet your expectation.

Usually our relationships are characterized by likes and dislikes, rāga and dveùa. I like something that satisfies my fancies, and I dislike something if it does not satisfy my fancies. Here it is said that likes and dislikes are not mine, na me rāga-dveùa. Then who do they belong to? They belong to the mind. Rāga is a condition of the mind and dveùa is also a condition of the mind. One can become free from all sense of guilt and all sense of hurt by contemplating on this fact that the rāga and dveùa are not mine. I am not rāga. I am not dveùa either. There is no rāga or dveùa in me. Neither do they belong to me. If you love someone, love them for who they are, not for what you want them to be.

Heart vs Mind

With my first post for the new year, I'd like to blog about a topic of discussion I've had with a variety of people, and it came up again recently. Despite the simplicity of this question, I consider the answer to be so complicated that can take a lifetime for someone to discover. However, with reflection on my own life thus far, be as it may, I am completely convinced that there is only one answer for me.

From the people I've had this discussion with, generally the ones who answer heart over mind will do so instantly without applying an elaborate thought process behind their answer. When you press them for reasons, they will try to figure out a reason which may or may not be satisfactory to the asker. This type is often labeled as being emotional, irresponsible, foolish, stupid and immature.

The second crowd, who answer mind over heart, will frequently scoff at the answer of their counterparts with the firm belief that to live life well, logic and practicality is the best methodology to apply because it will help you determine a choice which is less likely to have consequences. The consequences may be of varying degree - perhaps they don't want to risk finding themselves wrong or disappointing to themselves and others. This crowd is often labeled as being cautious, cunning, calculative and logical.

Though I personally strive to balance both because each has their gift, I have reached the conclusion that the heart is the better guide. The heart is like a compass - simple and pure - fixed to point in only one direction at any given time wherever you are without a second's thought or reason. The mind, however, has the ability to argue and reason any whichever way provided that it has enough information to do so which is not a terrible thing. Infact, it's quite useful, but the solutions it produces are often driven from fear of disappointment. "I should not do this because what if I end up being wrong? I will have disappointed myself and possibly others" and so a solution is produced by the mind where such a risk is perceived to have been decreased or eliminated completely. It is to lock one's self into a mode where they are convinced that living life in a cautious fashion is going to save them from disappointment, thereby leading them to happiness.

The funny thing is, (and those guided by their minds will probably not readily admit this) I've noticed that many of these fear-driven decisions are brought up in the mind time and again which would not be happening had someone remained truly content. They experience a reoccurring doubt at some later point in time: "Would I have been content had I gone with my heart-guided decision?" Though there may be less disappointment - it is interesting to note that there is certainly not the lasting type of happiness that only occurs when a heart is truly content.

So back to my earlier metaphor of the heart acting as a compass: The heart will always point you in one direction and from thereon, it's up to your mind to understand it and determine a path that will lead you towards that direction instead of wandering aimlessly with distractions and short-lived contentment until you inevitably sync your mind with your heart. How direct that path is left to your mind and action's discretion.

Happy 2010, everyone!

Origins of the Fool?

While discussing insults in foreign languages with a good friend (who picks up Hindi words here and there), we came across 'ullu ka patah' which is believed to translate to 'owl's son' by some. Now, a question that has come up in my mind repeatedly over the years came up again: Why is an owl, which is associated to wisdom in other cultures, considered to be a fool in Indian culture?

There are a few interpretations floating around out there such as the perception that fools are mindless, and so Indians associate the still vacant stare of the owl to that of a mindless animal. But why would only Indians do this? Why not other cultures? So perhaps someone else out there may have a better explanation about the origins of an owl being a fool in Indian Culture? Maybe an old Panchantra fable, perhaps? Anyone want to venture a guess?

Feeling Adventurous?

Mine: Hedonistic joy at the expense of others (true story)

What's yours?

A Beautiful Rendition of Stand By Me

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music," comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. This cover of Stand By Me was recorded by completely unknown artists in a street virtual studio all around the world. The results were impressively well-done, not to mention beautiful and heartwarming. It is definitely something that a lot of people can relate to presently and gives a sense of inspiration.

Some info about this rendition of the song:
It all started with a base track—vocals and guitar—recorded on the streets of Santa Monica, California, by a street musician named Roger Ridley. The base track was then taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, where Grandpa Elliott—a blind singer from the French Quarter—added vocals and harmonica while listening to Ridley's base track on headphones. In the same city, Washboard Chaz's added metal percussions.

From there, it just gets better and better: The producers took the resulting mix all through Europe, Africa, and South America, adding new tracks with multiple instruments and vocals, which were assembled into this final final version -- all done with a simple laptop and some microphones.

For more information, visit links below:
Playing for a Change (Official Website)

Click here to Join the Playing for Change Online Street Team

You Thought You Had A Bad Day?