Tantrums 101

Had promised a video of combo #1 earlier..(a special tantrum thrown by baby at random).

This is not that video. This is combo #2.

Let me explain.

The little one did not cooperate with Mommy during her nail cutting attempts.

She(the little one), was smart enough to follow mommy, find out the secret hiding place where the nailclipper was kept, and got them, just as mommy went on to do other things over a busy weekend.

Feeling something along the lines of the crow that stole the Vadai from the old grandma (TOYWAP, this is from the Tamizh equivalent to Aesop's fables!), she was perched on the couch attempting to cut her own knees, fingers, feet or anything that was close enough to her nails, when she spotted "Secret Video Daddy"!

SVD, feeling the same thing a National geographic photographer feels when he is about to videotape a poor Gazelle just when it is being ambushed by a lioness, was in two minds. Do I continue the video? or do I stop and go pull those clippers out of her hands before she injures herself! SVD decided to do both, at the cost of the video not being secret anymore and the possibility of incurring mommy's wrath on being irresponsible and proving it to the world on video! He kept rolling the tape and tried to use

1. sweet talk
2. scolding
3. threats

and when all failed, resorted to calling in the marines, a.k.a. Jr., who has a strange hold on her little sister. Sometimes, Jr. is able to get things out of the little one's hands when the adults have failed. Last week she got daddy's tea glass from the baby, just when she was going to drop it on the concrete in the backyard, looked at the adults and said "see, that was easy. all you have to do is ask nicely!". If you read carefully, I said "sometimes". Today was not Jr.'s day. She pulled out the clippers on the pretext of asking nicely and the little one promptly went on to combo #1...

SVD does not think the world is ready to see Combo #1! That will have to wait.

SVD also thinks he has no chance of controlling these girls by the time they become teenagers. He is wondering if he will be alive to see them reach their teens at this rate!

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Anybody home ?

Follow my logic here.. just humor me..

1. I do not exactly love SUN TV. (I am glad that they were the only Tamizh Channel around, but their programming needs a lot of improvement).

2. I do love everyone who lives at home and would like to see them happy

3. However (there is always a however), their happiness depends on SUN TV programming. As long as Abhi is crying, my wife and mother in law are not. If Abhi (or the other superwomen heroines in the Tamizh soap operas) stop crying, they will make sure I cry instead. So, you could say that I am glad that Abhi's tears are flowing like the Colorado or Cauvery river.

4. SUN TV has to get its act together. The last one week has seen some really pathetic broadcasting.

First it was the double audio. It drove me nuts to watch the heroines work their lachrymal glands with a solid echo. The ladies at home solved that one by watching in a low volume and did not seem to mind the slight(?) inconvenience.

Then it was the video getting stuck at times for a few minutes and jumping frames. You would end up watching a freeze frame of some dude or dudette with their mouth wide open, for a full five minutes. The suspense of what they were going to say next would kill you!

Now it is the delayed video. Yes! The audio is ahead of the video by a solid 45 seconds or so. You get to hear Abhi cry before she actually breaks into tears. This cracks me up, and I am about to roll on the ground laughing, but all I can do is laugh on the inside, because the ladies will crucify me if I show any signs of enjoying this broadcast. They still watch it as though it does not bother them!

I do know that they are in pain, watching SUN TV at its broadcasting worst. If you happen to be a SUN TV broadcaster and are reading this, please, please improve the quality of the video and audio stream. I am saying that because a "painee of your painer is your painee" or vice versa.

ps. I have not been well. Apparently driving for 4 hours with the sun straight on your face, with the AC going full blast in the car, can do wonders to your infection prone sinus! Couldnt even wake up this morning. So, what I am trying to say is, the parnoramic pictures of our trip, will have to wait!

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Deda Nu Cheeees

Deda Cheees -> Old canon S30

Deda Nu Cheeees -> the Digital Rebel XTi

in baby talk! The little one has creative ways of renaming electronic products.

Here is a picture of the two kids saying "Cheese"!

(now that I am fully covered in protective gear, pillows etc.)

Ever wonder why there are no video blogs on this site ? Well, EOS 400D does not have video capability.

San had mentioned something about writing a paper on "Effects of spousal complaints on rapid deterioration of female footwear" in the New England Journal of Medicine, if she ever heard a single complaint about the Digital Rebel (hence the protective gear before writing this post)!

The absence of video capability was known prior to the purchase. The goal was to go back to my old hobby and take it seriously. In short, start taking great pictures, again! The other deal was that I will use the old Camcorder to record secret videos for videoblogs. Unfortunately, the install CD that came with the camcorder to download the videos has been misplaced last year in the move to Cupertino.

Now what is a good man like me, to do in a situation like this? (the keyword here is man.. in the, "after all, I am just a man" sense)

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A day in the life of Jr. and baby...

Decided to go eat with friends at the famous "Yan Can Cook" restaurant. As fate would have it, there was some ingredient in the yummy stuff that I was allergic to, and ended up sick on friday night. That meant, spending some quiet time at home with the kids and keeping a low profile (not to mention the two birthday parties attended over the weekend)!

They were up to their usual antics..

In other news, the canon S30 has reached its limit. After making it through steam and sulfur at Yellowstone, even daylight images are getting grainy! (the fringes you see in the video however are not due to the S30, they are due to the insect screen on the sliding door!).

In other other news, San is getting me a new camera for our wedding day!

To all those (you know who you are) who have recently gifted digital cameras to your spouse for various occasions like anniversary's, birthdays, fathers day etc. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Needless to say, you will hear all about the new camera. I can't wait to open that box!!

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Another game

No, we are definitely not talking Cricket anymore !

The latest game between the girls is "touch your tongue" or the extreme sport version called "pull out your tongue"! The trick is show your tongue, wait for the other one to try and touch it, but pull it back in, just in time.

Initially I thought this game was gross, but now that I have gotten used to seeing them play this game, it looks cute!

Note how good daddy has gotten at taking these secret videos. Once they found out they were on camera, I had to oblige them by saying Hi to the video!

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