Is ATP a hoax and other updates

Brilliante Award

First, thanks to Ladybird for giving me the brilliante blog award. She gives it to me hoping that it would prompt me to blog frequently. Thanks Ladybird for that diplomatic nudge.

Breaking News

And after some extensive investigation, lead by my colleagues, we come to the conclusion that Asal Tamizh Penn (ATP) is a hoax and much of the blog is fiction. At least she is not a journo with TH claims the majority of the population surveyed. Though I just cannot believe it, all evidence points au contraire.

I have to tell it for this writer - "hoax" or otherwise - she/he/whoever wrote extremely well, and could weave stories out of the most mundane activities like eating curd rice, drawing room discussions and picking up an aunt from the railway station.

Yet, I never liked ATP for her stereotyped of north Indians, her obsession with gothrams amidst other things. But, who am I to judge her blog, its hers, or his, or whose ever.

But still it was a bit scary to read her blog, because I cannot in a very naive way imagine journos as anything but open minded and objective. (Yes, I can hear you laughing.)

Though some office pals are enraged and are calling for blog ethics, I on the other hand believe in Sakshi Juneja's succinct byline - to each, his or her own.

Blog fodder

Gloria Steinem and Zuheir Hammad in conversation, a link via Mekie. She sure reads a lot every day.

And this amazing illustrations on the CERN experiment. I know everyone knows about PhD comics but I cant help but marvel at their brilliance. After all, what many write in 4000 words, these guys sum up in five comic strips! Pure genius.

Some day, ah...someday, the news industry will catch up.

the rain in spain and other phonemes

I take it you already know
of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
on hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
that looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead -- it's said like bed not bead --
and for goodness' sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)

A moth is not the moth in mother,
nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose --
just look them up -- and goose and choose,

and cork and work and card and ward,
and font and front and word and sword,
and do and go and thwart and cart --
come, come I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful language? Man alive.
I'd mastered it when I was five.

(author?)

~~
via a forward, does anyone know its origins?