It was expected of Him. If He did not get to it first, Sehwag would have. But it is better that He is the first.

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Yet another case of false reporting, more due to ara-gora knowledge than anything else.

The TREAD act was passed in response to dozens of deadly Ford Explorer rollover crashes caused by faulty Firestone tires. No fines were ever levied in that case.

In that case, both parties were culpable, especially Ford whose Explorer design was faulty and was known for years to be prone to rollover in industry circles. But it never came to light until a tire that caused the instability to worsen was put on it. See here and here, if interested more in the history of one of auto industry's biggest lawsuit and recall mess.

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Thala's vendukol to Thalaivar

Recently, our Kalaignar granted land (asku busku. avaru enna pocket lerndhu edutha kodupaaru, elaam govt sothudhaan) to the members of FEFSI (adhavadhu Film Employees' Federation of South India) group. So the cohort comprising of mundhirikottais like Vijayakumar, Bharathiraja, Vairamuthu, Radhika, Sarathkumar et al. had to felicitate Kalaignar and so organized yet another bramaanda nigazhchi to potrify thamizh thaai's kalai sothu. One of the comedy highlights for it was having Harris Jeyaraj compose a 'thalaivar potru' song to praise our thalaivar. Naa edho Puli Urumudhu range ku song compose panni, they will superimpose images of our thalaivar from his young and dynamic days till the recent 'stephen hawking' stage with mandatory pictures of Valluvar Kottam, Mini-Flyovers and Kanyakumari Valluvar statue (because no Tamilian can recall any other achievement in our thalaivar's aatchi) nu edhirpaathen. Instead, Harris surprised everybody by going for a melody. Infact, the surprise was even more when he did not have Bombay Jayashree sing the melody. But anyways, listen to the wonderful lyrics. There is a goosebump causing line (sung by Unnimenon I think):

Neela nirathu kanaadi, kangalin mele koluviruka

Also, Ajith created a furor during the felicitation that was held on Feb.6 (probably at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which has now become a dedicated paaratu vizha/audio launch/kalai kondaatam arangam). Unlike others he did not do the vazha vazha kozha kozha talk of potrifying thalaivar. After the mandatory couple of lines of he did that and this, he boldy made a firm request to thalaivar (which was actually more of a message to all the Tamil Industry's self proclaimed leaders and the general people) to not drag all actors and the cine industry into politics and force them to attend functions (he did not go as far as adding the line 'such as this' but it is implied). This must have been made long before the likes of Bharathiraja etc shot to limelight through the Neyveli fast or like Sathyaraj through the Hogenakkal fast. Both were for the same issues, by the way, but separated by few years which only goes to show the futility of such mass fasting. Rajini once came quite close to it (watch the video from 3:58). So, Ajith much be greatly appreciated for having the guts to say it in front of everyone. I am sure there are going to be a lot of calls for his head now!

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One of the many articles that show Toyota's nightmare in real light (without the media glare that is). An interesting anecdote towards the end though, where the writer has mentioned about the infamous Audi 5000 issues of the late 80s:

Toyota either blames its customers and faces the wrath of the media or expresses contrition and admits it has quality issues. Perhaps having learned from the backlash against Audi when it—rightly—blamed its customers, Toyota has chosen the latter course of action.

Now you know why Toyota is in a fix. The real problem is not the recall but how to firefight right way. Because whatever it does now, the mass media will pounce on it. Say it is the driver's fault, they get thrashed because they were arrogant enough to pass the blame onto innocent blonde heads whose only fault was texting while driving and not knowing how a car functions other than knowing about its stereo system. Say it is their fault, they still get thrashed because Toyota is no longer the bastion of quality blah, blah, blah.. A classic case of the modern global organizations' operations being influenced by things out of their hands.

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I have a mic, so what I say must be right

Continuing with the topic of Toyota's troubles with its massive recall, the media which glorified Toyota in the late 90s is now happily thrashing it. After all, the media does not care who you are or what you do. All they need is some news to create a frenzy. They ride on your good times and your bad times and feed off it; just like parasites.

When TMC recalled its cars for accelerator issues, immediately there was a wave of people owning older cars (that were not part of the recall) claiming 'sudden acceleration' which led to their vehicles crashing. Obviously, they follow it up with lawsuits claiming obscene sums from TMC. There was this guy who says because he is not able to get the accelerator pedal replaced in time for his car, he had to suffer mentally, and is depressed blah, blah blah.. Naturally, when the news of some braking issues with the 2010 Prius came out, people suddenly were saying their cars don't brake either.

So with all the bashing of Toyota that has been going on ( I am no Toyota enthusiast, mind you) I cannot help but notice the statements from several news agencies who have no clue of what they are talking about. Explaining a mat that holds on to the accelerator is simple enough. A worn out shim inside the pedal mechanism gets a bit more complex to explain. But a hybrid car's brake system? That is where the real fun begins.

It is reported that while driving on slippery or bumpy roads, sometimes the drivers of Prius suffer a momentary loss in braking. So some wise guy assumed that 'a moment' that is described by drivers equals a second and came up with a calculation that at 60mph the car would have traveled another 90 feet before it stops. This is going around in all channels and reports including America' s Dhinathandi, CNN.

Let us see in a simple way how the hybrid powertrain works, especially on a Prius. The Prius has a normal gasoline powered engine that combines with an electric motor to drive the car. The electric motor drives the car at low speeds (city driving or stop-and-go traffic) upto 30mph. Once the car accelerates to higher speeds, the gas engine takes up and drives the car. The electric motor continues to serve as power boost for rapid torque requirements. An important feature of such hybrid systems is the concept of regenerative braking. In simple terms, when the car brakes while it is being operated by the electric motor, the motor actually reverses its function and acts like a generator by using the kinetic energy of the vehicle to charge the battery pack. So in essence, this braking happens when the electric drive is functioning, i.e., at speeds less than 30mph. If the braking power needed is more than what the motor can apply, then the braking is done by conventional means using brake pads that slow the vehicle by friction. This transfer of control from the regenerative braking to conventional braking takes place during a fraction of a second giving the driver a feeling that the car is not braking as hard as it should, especially on surfaces where the ABS feels the need for more brake power causing the brake pads to step in.

So coming back to the original reports of 90 feet of increased stopping distances at 60mph: firstly when the car is at such high speeds, the braking is directly by brake pads and so there is no instance of control transfer. If considering a maximum speed of 30mph, the car requires another 44 feet to stop. Adding to it is the fact that the lapse is for a fraction of a second. Even if it is half a second, you are looking at 22 feet. And this control happens only when the car is already being braked by the motor. So you are looking at speeds less than 30mph, after which the brake pads step in, if required. So maybe 10 feet? 15? Significant number yes, but not as much as CNN and rest of the media says it to be.

CNN showed a segment in the evening, in which one of its viewers, Jessica Yellin had this problem with her Prius. Jessica is a smart lady, I should admit. She clearly mentions in her interview that the car does not lose braking power at high speeds but only when she is driving within city. When she applies the brakes hard it stops as it should but only during slow stops from low speeds does it give that feeling of momentary loss of braking. CNN then shows her trying to contact TMC to get an answer about her issues with Prius but they do not respond to her. Duh! Obviously, if 5million customers and 1million news reporters call you at the same time, you cannot expect a response.

Talk about shaping public opinion.

Not sure why Toyota is not coming out with a media blitz yet against all these propaganda.

And I should stop sounding like their P.R.O!

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'Moving Forward' with Unintended Acceleration

With Toyota's massive recall over the last few months culminating in yet another recall last week for a 'sticky pedal', the company has taken severe beating to its image. Now, TMC has admitted to braking related issues in its marquee 2010 Prius. Though, I am not sure how much of a headwind it will prove to be for GM and the likes, I believe it will take Toyota Motor Corporation much work to regain the market share it lost in Jan. 2010 (as much as 20% drop in sales I believe).

I think issues like mats holding down the pedals are made out to be much bigger than they really are. Manufacturers have had much more serious recalls before (such as the Ford Explorer); Ford has million recalls in their 2009 models. But of course, it is bigger news when the King trips compared to a commoner tripping. So US house wants to hold a hearing and NHTSA is considering a fine that could total up to $15m! Good chance to recover some of they money that GM has swallowed, I say!

The common perception of Toyota's quality being far superior compared to GM & Ford (let us not include Chrysler in this even now), was created largely by GM's self initiated downfall in the late 90s and the seemingly never wrong-footed steps of TMC accentuated by the generous publicity by American media. Though it is no longer realistic, still the two American giants had a touch time of convincing people about it. But now that TMC has fallen down a notch, the playground seems to be more leveled. Will this prove to be the watershed? It will be interesting to see how TMC's PR division handle the crisis and how their sales fare in the next few months.

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Enadhu?? Mahatma Gandhi sethutaara?

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Goa not Go'a?

If you are asked to line-up Venkat Prabu's movies in the order of its quality, it is simple. Just list them in the chronological order. There was an innocence with Chennai28 because of the obvious amateurish treatment of the subject that was fun to watch. With Saroja, he took the 'amateurishness ' to the next level with a serious and taut screen play in the 2nd half of the movie. With two hits and the weight of expectations, Venkat Prabu should have realized he can no longer hide behind that tag.

What I could not comprehend was if it was meant to be a full length spoof or a movie like Saroja where real story was interspersed with fun. If it is the former the movie appears undercooked and if it is the latter it grossly fails due to the thin screenplay that drags on.

So there are these three youths: Ramarajan, Vinayagam and Saamikannu from a village. They are summoned for the panchayat. The father of these youths are played by Vijayakumar, Chandrasekhar and (yes!) Shanmuga Sundaram. They have fought the nefarious activities of a local mirazdar (played by Anand Raj). A funny bit in which our three do-gooders fight the men of Anand Raj wearing shirt & pant with wigs on their heads is shown. So the scene goes back and forth in to give a brief glimpses of everyone's character. Saamikannu was conceived with divine blessing which makes him a 'theiva kuzhandhai' for the village. He grows in a highly confined environment where in he is restricted from enjoying life like the rest of his village friends. This makes him yearn for a freedom and the taste of life outside the village. VInayagam just wants to go to Americaa while Ramarajan is shown as a modern day Don Juan. So ultimately these three hatch a plot to escape from the village when they have specifically forbidden to do so.
They go to Madurai to see a friend Azhagar. But they learn Azhagar, the dark colored villager, is getting married to a vellaikaarachi. Azhagar tells them he met her at Goa, which is described in the movie as a paradise on earth.

So our trio decide to go to Goa, find a vellakarachi and make her fall in love with them and marry her and settle in a foreign country. The rest of the plot (?) surrounds this aim. They meet Danny (played by Sampath) and Jack (Aravind Akash) at Goa. They are a gay couple and offer a place to live in Goa while embarking on their search for white women. Now, Sampath is an excellent actor. He manages to pull off the role somehow. He neither overdid the kuzhayara part that has become synonymous with a gay nor does he fail miserably in that fake accent. If at all he (or Aravind) irritates you at any point of the movie it is not because of their acting but because of some of the long and unnecessarily dragging scenes involving them.

If there is anything that the Director has managed to pull off perfectly, it has to be the choice of the female cast in the movie! Melannie Marie, who is the love interest of Saamikannu, is undeniably cute while Piaa Bajpai is (ahem..). Sneha, the cunning and seductive business entrepreneur, looks good too inspite of the multiple folds in her neck.

Hopefully, references to Subramaniyapuram stops with this movie. The number of times Premji Amaran shakes his head ala Jai in Subramaniyapuram takes away the initial amusement it caused. In an effort to surprise the audience with the unexpected, I think the Director attempts some stuff that falls flat. If you manage to take the audience off their guard you should let them relish that moment and move on to the next scene instead of rubbing in the same scene (the gay couple sequences being a point in case). The climax speeds up like Ocean's Eleven with a heist planned to steal the jewels that is locked up in Sneha's ship. But stops dead when Ramarajan falls on Sneha's feet. Less said about the blink-and-you-miss appearance of Nayanthara and the closing scene of blood coming from Sombu's nose the better. Things are not made any better with the acknowledgement of Sombu's guest appearance with a Little Superstar as prefix to his name. Oh well if you can Yuvan Shankar Raja as Little Isaignani, then....

So anyway, the movie comes off as a masala with no pretentions but does not leave the audience with any satisfaction either.

P.S.: Sampath's portrayal of the gay character somehow kept reminding me of Vikram's Ambi and the CBI aapicer role in Kandhasaamy. Hmmm.

P.S.:2: Indha padathuku Soundharya 3crores kadan vaanginadhu romba adhigam. Andha 3crores, which is picha kaasu for her appa, kooda thirupi tharaama settu pasanga case podra alavuku vechukardhu adha vida romba too much.

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My HR is just like Obama. He spoke to me for about half an hour but at the end of it, I forgot what I went to see him for and also could not remember if he told me anything new.

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Sorgame endraalum...

It is that time of the year again: when the GRT calendar on the wall gets replaced as the month of Maargazhi draws to an end. Time to replace the Aircel simcard with a seemai naatu sim card. Chennai got more than its normal share of rains this month. Tried to convince paati and others that 22C is not cold at all and maargazhi pani is nothing compared to -20C, only to catch the cold several times and have them rebuke me for acting like a know-all.

A deep sense of regret would fill the mind as the flight takes off, as the separation from all that is home for an unknown period along with the periodic beepings of the in-deck announcement adds to the melancholy. Like a maniac, I ate at all places I knew from Mambalam to Adyar and went to so many places in the last one month to satisfy my longings of the last one year. And the cycle would continue for the next as well.

A dying city awaits me, welcoming me probably with a feet of snow.

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