I remember Boomerang, too, both in NZ and India! But, that channel went off the air within 5 years in NZ and 7 years in India!

Thank you, Walter! That is so sweet of you! Hope you, Mrs. Walter and Walter Jr. are doing well! Hope the construction of your dream home is going well!

I just landed on my dream job today in Data Analytics! I got the call just a few minutes ago and I still can't believe it...I start on Monday. The hunt for my break into the Analytics industry, has not been easy at all. While applying for jobs, I have even faced discrimination just because I am not an Engineer and just because I am a woman. At one point, I became terribly disillusioned with the system but, my beautiful parents urged me not to give up! In life, you really have to have someone in your corner, who loves you and who believes in you! My incredibly loving parents, my goofiness and the music of a wonderful band from Canada called Rush (who IMHO is the greatest band of all time) kept me afloat and prevented me from turning into a dark and cynical person with severe depression, who chose to give up on her dreams. All this time, I have been working two jobs. One is in the form of volunteer work as a student mentor because I love helping people who show an interest in the subject that I love : Econometrics. The other involves being a Subject Matter Expert in Statistics. To anyone out there whose having problems in any aspect of your life, this post is for YOU! Whatever you do, don't give up, EVER! There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, please remember that the only way from DOWN is UP!!!!

In honour of the sanctity of Cuban Cigars! Oh blimey! That pun was just too good to resist!

Not to talk ill of the dead or anything, but that's one less fiend that our planet has to deal with.

That's wonderfully encouraging! We really need to spread awareness among the kids of today. Honestly, if it were up to me, I will definitely start a TV channel called Nostalgia TV or something and broadcast back to back episodes of all the classics like The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, Here's Lucy, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, The Jack Benny Show, I Dream of Genie, Three's Company, Man About The House, Man from U.N.C.L.E, Batman and Robbin, Get Smart, All In The Family, Different Strokes, On The Buses, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served?, etc. coupled with Classic Cartoon shows like The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, The Yogi Bear Show, Wally Gator, Winsome Witch, Augie Doggie, Secret Squirrel, Atom Ant, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinx, The Smurfs and so many more! Now, if only I had the capital and the connections, I'll get started on this project right away!

I don't visit Starbucks either. That was just a one time visit (I was trying to keep my dad happy - the poor man was so eager to go that I didn't want to hurt his feelings). As the old saying goes: Never again.

When I was a little girl, I used to come home from school at 3 PM and eagerly sit down to watch an episode of The Brady Bunch and other classic shows like I Love Lucy. It was at that time that I also discovered Bewitched, which used to be the show I watched just before bedtime! Shows like these warm my heart even today. Mrs. Brady and Alice were my favourite characters.

Didn't want my last post to be too long. So, I am posting an in depth article of the story behind Mum's List in a separate post: 'KATE LEFT US 79 DYING WISHES' Touching true story of the life lessons a mum left behind for her husband and sons which inspired new movie starring Emilia Fox Mum-of-two Kate Greene left the heartbreaking list before she lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010, aged 37 BY LYNSEY CLARKE CRAWLING around a field, Singe Greene scoured the flattened grass for hours before shouting out in joy. “I’ve got one!” he called as sons Reef, 12, and Finn, ten, looked excitedly towards their dad and ran over to jump in his arms. All smiles . . . Mum Kate Greene with husband Singe and sons Reef and Finn Tears filled their eyes as Singe presented the perfectly formed four-leaf clover — and by the end of that afternoon, after six years of searching, they had found not one, but FIVE of the lucky charms. “Find four-leaf clovers” had been one of the requests of Kate Greene — Singe’s wife and the boys’ blue-eyed mum — before she lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010, aged 37. In her final days, she wrote down 79 carefully considered requests, suggestions and instructions, including snorkelling in the Red Sea and for Singe always to kiss the boys twice. The story behind Kate’s cancer battle has been made into the film Mum’s List A story of devotion . . . Emilia Fox as doting mum Kate in the new film When she died, Singe, now 50, turned her labour of love into a book, Mum’s List, which became a best-seller, printed in 22 languages. And this Friday, the touching tale hits cinema screens, with Emilia Fox and Rafe Spall giving touching performances as the couple. Paramedic Singe — short for St John — from Clevedon, North Somerset, says: “Finding the four-leaf clovers was the hardest of Kate’s requests. I looked for six years. “Kate was amazing at finding them — she was a clover snob. I used to stick two together to make a six-leaf one but it wasn’t good enough for her. A woman of note . . . Rafe Spall as Singe reading Kate’s List “I had people scouring the countryside and I sprinkled seeds by her grave, thinking they might grow by her. After I found that one in a field, we searched for more, and in the end we got five. It was incredible.” Reef, who was just six when his mum died, says: “We laminated them to keep them green for ever. I keep mine under something in my room so then I forget about it. “Then when I’m cleaning and I lift the object up, I find it and it reminds me of Mum.” Singe and Kate met as teenagers. He recalls: “We didn’t start dating until Kate was 16, and from then on we were besotted with each other. “Even then she used to make lists. She wrote a dating contract for me to sign. “It said I had to phone twice a day, flatter her and supply a flower once a week. “We were the cool couple. We travelled the world together. We didn’t have a lot of money but we made the most of it — we both said life is not a rehearsal. “That’s where Kate’s list came from. She was adventurous and loved life. “In the film, the most emotional scene is when Emilia looks down the lens and reads the list. She nails it. She sounds just like Kate.” When insurance underwriter Kate was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, Reef was recovering from the disease, though he had been given just a six per cent chance of survival. Singe says: “He was 18 months old when he was diagnosed with rhabdoid sarcoma, one of the rarest cancers. It took Singe and the boys six years to find a perfectly formed four-leaf clover He said the hardest request was to 'find a woman to settle down with' for the boys “As parents we felt helpless. Kate was pregnant with Finn and the stress brought on early labour. "He was born ten weeks early and was also on life support, but he pulled through, and by some miracle so did Reef. “He had 40 lots of chemotherapy and 30 lots of radiotherapy. “I remember one New Year’s Eve while Reef was in hospital, Kate said, ‘I wish I could swap places with him.’ I said, ‘I do too.’ “We didn’t realise anybody was listening to us, but looking back it seems I couldn’t keep them both.” At first Singe and Kate thought she would beat the cancer, like Reef had done, but after a mastectomy it came back and spread around her body. One night when she came home after a spell in hospital, she asked Singe to take the boys to Llantwit Major on the South Wales coast when she was gone. This was the start of the list. Singe says: “Llantwit Major is where Kate went caravanning as a girl and where she picked four-leaf clovers. She reeled off a couple of other things, like to get a pebble chess set. "She said, ‘I’m not going to make it, but you can take bits of me.’ “I had to leave the room and I completely broke down. But later I came back with a cup of tea and said she should write them down. Dad Singe gave the boys sealed letters from Kate to coincide with the film's release Scene from the film capturing the four-leaf clover find “We stayed up until the early hours. From them on, I’d get texts or find Post-it notes saying things like, ‘Don’t let the boys smoke,’ ‘Mummy liked orange Club biscuits,’ and ‘Say the phrase acres and acres instead of I love you.’ “In December 2009 Kate insisted we go to Lapland. We didn’t know then that the cancer was back but her lungs were weak and she had an annoying cough. “She could barely breathe but not a doctor in the world could have stopped her going on that trip. “She wanted the boys to see Father Christmas in Santa Claus land. Afterwards, in her list, she said she loved their sparkly eyes on that trip. “We got back on Christmas Eve and by Christmas Day she was in hospital. The cancer had spread everywhere. "A couple of weeks later, we were told she only had 18 months — but she actually had about 18 days. She was gone by January 20.” After Kate died Singe started to find the notes in his jeans, or get reminders on his phone. He says: “The list’s helped us. A FEW OF KATE'S WISHES - Teach the boys to respect women and not to double date! - Go and see the Northern Lights - Go around the Natural History Museum on rollerskates - Never leave it more than a week before making up with someone - Find a fairy mushroom, the red one with white bits on - Grow a sunflower every now and again We’ve had so much to focus on, from the smallest thing like saying ‘acres and acres’ to big things like scuba diving in the Red Sea and getting a speedboat. “Acres and acres’ came from when we were kids. I wasn’t ideal boyfriend material. I wore a leather jacket and rode a motorbike. “Kate came up with the code words which meant even more than ‘I love you’ so we didn’t get in trouble when talking on the phone.” Reef and Finn, who are named after their parents’ love of diving, have had dozens of adventures based on Kate’s list. Finn says: “The best thing was when we got to go around the Natural History Museum on roller skates. “We were on This Morning and I mentioned that it was on the list. Someone from the museum was watching and let us go around before it opened one morning. “We also screamed when we saw our speedboat — it’s yellow and black, like a wasp.” For Singe, one of the hardest requests to consider was to “find a woman to settle down with so the boys can have a female influence and stability” — but he has now found that special person. He says: “You couldn’t ask for a better role model for the boys — other than their mum. She and Kate are cut from the same cloth. “We all live together with her son, and the boys are like the three musketeers, always laughing and singing.” Living by the list . . . Singe and his sons today To coincide with the film Singe also gave the boys sealed letters which Kate wrote for them on the night she died. He says: “Kate dictated the letters and our friend typed them so I’d never read them. “I cried within the first line. She did such a good job.” Reef says: “The letters are really special. She told us to be strong and when things get you down, try to get back up again. “She said we should look after each other and go on adventures.” Singe says: “That’s what we’ve been doing and it is what Kate would have wanted. The film was another opportunity, and if you don’t grab those moments, they’re gone. “I think Kate would be impressed with how the film turned out." — Mum’s List opens in cinemas nationwide on Friday. Distributed by Studio Soho Films. Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2242091/touching-story-behind-cancer-victims-heartbreaking-bucket-list-which-inspired-new-movie-mums-list/

Really hope I get to see Mum's List! Everybody needs to see this movie, IMHO.

They should start a separate TV channel with all these classic shows, Debbie!

I visited Starbucks for the first time in my life, just the other day. My dad insisted on taking me there, because according to him, it is the place to be seen at! And as I had initially suspected, it was utter shite! I ordered a caramel frappuccino. It was like tasting water, sugar, milk and cream and chewing on bits of ice! And the caramel? You had to use a bloody magnifying glass and act like Sherlock Holmes to investigate the mystery of the missing caramel! Or better yet, employ those Enid Blyton characters - the Five Find-Outers and Dog to investigate! Oh and did I mention that I had a brain freeze?! I cannot believe that business is thriving and people are reviewing this shitty place so highly! If someone tells me that they will be taking me to Starbucks on my birthday, I'll honestly go on strike and will probably tell them to get stuffed! Overpriced nonsense! Bleh! A lesson for all us food lovers out there, is to be extra cautious when it comes to trying out restaurants that are overly hyped about or which look 'too clean' for their own good!

Thanks, CP! I sure hope so! I do hope you and Mrs. CP didn't fall sick or anything after eating at that cafe? It sucks when a cake shop that looks so promising, is such a huge let down. Your experience sounds similar to the one I had with a cake shop called Warm Oven. The place received such glowing reviews from customers on rating websites and the shop looked so clean and professional. The cakes looked so creamy and attractive. Some were like works of art. Such visual delights. But within 24 hours after eating their chocolate truffle, my mom and I fell ill with a horrific tummy bug and we thought :'never again!'. And then there is this tiny little insipid cake and savoury shop called Cake Genie. When I first visited, there were hardly any customers there and you could miss it at the blink of an eye, since it was located smack in the middle of a busy intersection. After dining there, all I can say is that, the people of Bangalore are so silly for not visiting this hidden gem. I mean you can buy lasagna, slices of blueberry cheesecake, apple pie, strawberry short cake, lemon tea cake, truffle, chocolate mud pie and cup cakes (to name a few!). The owner is so nice that he even allows customers to give descriptions of the desserts they want, even if it hasn't been featured in the main menu! Speaking of pizzas, the majority of pizza outlets around here, serve pizzas with excessively thick crusts and sometimes even have cheese bursting out of them! Yikes! The first culprit to come up with this fat fest, was an outlet called Pizza Corner! Oh brother! But then surprisingly, Dominos changed all that and their wheat thin crust pizzas are actually pretty tasty. I am not kidding, CP!

Ahhh!!! Son of a bitch! The bloody Grim Reaper has struck again! I remember when I was a little girl, I used to come home from school at 3 PM and a classic TV line up consisting of The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy and Three's Company greeted me! 90 minutes of television bliss! Mrs. Brady and Alice were my favourite characters!

We lost a true talent on this day (24th November) 25 years ago in 1991! R.I.P Freddie! Miss you! ♥

I've been to quite a few restaurants over the years that claim to serve 'authentic' Italian Cuisine. One such restaurant was called Bella Ciao (in Chennai), which in my opinion was utter shit (still have no idea how that damn place hasn't shut down yet)! Their pizzas were thin crusted but actually tasted like Poppadom! The moment I visited Little Italy for the first time and tasted their Pasta Primavera, I knew that there was something special there! I'm so excited, CP! I am even planning to photograph the food and post the photos exclusively on this thread!

Now this is what newsroom reporting should be all about! Such action packed stuff! I love this guy! I tune into the BBC Business Report just to watch him in action!

BANGALORE IS GIVING YOU THE HOT-&-COLD TREATMENT Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Nov 15, 2016, 04.00 AM IST By: Ranadeep Chakraborty Wonky weather is not new to Bengaluru anymore. While the summer saw new highs, now it’s the winter’s turn to pop a few surprises. Noticed how sweltering the mid-day sun has been and how nippy the night? Meteorologists say, for this time of the year, the day temperature has gone up by 2-3 degree centigrade, while the night temperature has dipped by the same margin. On Sunday afternoon, the mercury level touched a record 31 degree centigrade, the highest in the last 10 years (for this time of the year). The normal temperature would ideally be 27 degrees. The sudden change in climatic conditions has even baffled meteorologists. The last-recorded highest temperature was in 2002 when it touched 31.7 degrees and then in 2006 when it hovered around 30 degrees. THE EXPLANATION GS Srinivasa Reddy, director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, attributed the change to the absence of north-east monsoons. “Usually, November is characterised by cloudy weather due to north-east monsoon, which brings enough moisture by sweeping over Bay of Bengal. And so, it is quite cold. This year, not only is the north-east monsoon delayed, but there is absolutely no wind movement from east to south. Hence, we are witnessing oscillating temperature.” According to experts, two back-to-back depressions over Bay of Bengal are the main reason for the current condition. “Due to these depressions, the moist winds have been blowing towards the north. We have been witnessing wind movement from north to south. Wind passing over a land mass lacks moisture. Had the same wind passed over the Bay of Bengal, it would have carried some moisture. Due to this, the days have become hotter,” Reddy explained. While the winter days have become hotter, nights have become colder. “While the wind direction during day is from north to south, the same winds are changing their direction during the evening hours and moving from east to west with slight moisture content. This condensation has affected the minimum temperature. Due to the due effect, nights in Bengaluru have become colder than usual this year. In fact, the night temperature has fallen 2 to 3 degrees below normal,” Reddy said. Experts said this would likely continue till the month-end with a couple of spells of rain in Malnad and coastal areas of Karnataka. “We are witnessing the formation of a trough off the coast of Lakshadweep. This would bring scattered rain in Malnad and coastal areas of Karnataka. There will be a slight dip in temperature too,” added Reddy. Source: http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/Bengaluru-is-giving-you-the-hot-cold-treatment/articleshow/55423014.cms

It's not the temperature as such, CP! It is that infamous icy blast of air that is out to get you at night and during the morning, till around 9 AM or so. Hell, I go to sleep every night now, with my quilt and blanket. I'm not taking any more chances as I have just recovered from an annoying bout of the flu. In the mornings, my mom and I get up and practically rush to put our sweaters on and my dad just acts as if nothing is amiss and refers to the air as 'pleasant and comfortable'! Lucky sod!

FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!! I want some heat, damn it!!!

Ahhhhh!!! Can't wait for my birthday! It's been way too long since I stuffed myself silly at my favourite Italian restaurant! Yep! Bangalore's got one of those. Oh and that restaurant is really close to my home. With the kind of shitty traffic jams out here, this is so convenient! Here's the link to the menu: http://littleitaly.in/menu/index.html I've been good all year, what with eating lentils, rotis, salad, tons of fruit, veggie and drinking oodles of glasses of water. I've been eating like one of those Indian guru dudes! Sheesh! I didn't even overdo it on Diwali day this year, except for the booze! It was like this meme was following me, every where I went, this year:

My, oh my! This was totally last minute. I unexpectedly won two tickets in a random draw to the Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai, yesterday. I booked my flight just two friggin' days before the event. I dragged my dad along as he really knows Mumbai in and out! My flight to Mumbai was delayed by nearly two hours and I got to the venue just before the gates were about to close (at 4 PM). Anyhoo, I'm back in Bangalore and I am not travelling again any time soon! No siree, bob! Too bloody exhausting! Oh and the price of tickets ranged from (in terms of US currency): $295 to $1500 (reminded me of Geezerpalooza and other over hyped events). Oh and I got to see Coldplay live, thanks to this festival. Didn't know much about their catalogue, though, but I just wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Besides, I've never won any thing in my life and this sure felt pretty special! Chris Martin and co. were cool, (I don't consider myself a fan even today). I wasn't screaming and yelling, unlike some of the kids in front but it was some cool music to listen to, live on a Saturday night. Let's put it this way, had it been Rush who was headlining the festival, I would not only have screamed myself hoarse, but I might have even fainted from all the excitement! Besides, out of millions of people, just 80,000 of us won tickets. Those were pretty poor odds to start with!

Just unwinding with some late night comedy