Thursday, June 24, 2004

creative juices

In the past few days I have seen a really old movie - Mask, and a really new movie -The Day after Tomorrow.

Both had brilliant concepts, one was expertly executed, the other was a thorough mess.

If you've seen Mask you will realise that it couldn't be the badly executed one because the film maker took a really bizarre idea and transformed it so brilliantly on screen.

I for one like reality based movies which is why I am still dithering over seeing the Harry Potter -latest release- and Van Hesling. I would rather watch serial killers getting busted or the new spoof on Bush, Fahrenheit 9-11 I think its called.

But surprisingly I loved Mask. Similarly I loved Monsters Inc. I thought it was superbly executed.

So now I am thinking...why hasn't Bollywood ever created a smashing animation film? I hear we have some cutting edge animators in the country... so why are we still watching films with tried and tested plots like extra marital affairs, riots, cops and robbers, comedy romances, idiot ghosts... Koi Mil Gaya was a shade different, so my guess is that Indians can arguably be as creative as their western counterparts when they want to, but are poor risk takers.

Guess the market dictates most screen ventures and ours is still evolving. So we will just have to wait? And anyway, who on earth will financially back cartoon characters here?

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

debatable

Carrying off from a debate I had this morning, what matters more? Passion or perfection?
Content or packaging?

Supposing there's this writer who is brimming with exciting theories/ideas, but he is not a good communicator and is unable to get his message across smoothly enough. Does that make him a good writer or a bad one? Is good writing just about a good idea or is it about style...

Similarly what if there's this guy who has extremely sound knowledge of a certain subject, but put a mike in front of him and he starts making grammatical errors and using wrong pronounication.

Is he a good speaker or a bad one? Is a great theory presented sloppily a bad one in the end...?

angrez names

i have only just realised the advantages and disadvantages of my angrez name. First the bad: I can never get an email ID smoothly...i have to try underscores, full stops, numerals, dots, turn my name on its head...and only then will the mail service say: you have yourself a new address.

The good part is that if I type my name in google search I find over 55 entries which makes me very pleased and a little bit overawed. Only two of these are actually me...the others are athletes, chicks from Saudi etc. One of them who shares my name even contacted me once.
But that is history now.

Also within a few days of opening my gmail account I began getting invites for others...i know people with gmail accounts who are still waiting for their chance to invite 6-8-10 friends.

Maybe google thinks I am the Michelle sitting in San Jose!!
hehe
(check out gmailswap.com)

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

i want my gmail

everyone around me is obsessed with getting gmail... so much so most handles I see have gmail as a suffix. Of course some handles are quite funny...like the one that says Goodbye Hotmail.

either way I guess it makes sense to have a gmail account since it is being sold on ebay for an exorbitant sum of money. Even with yahoo all spruced up now, gmail still seems swell.

ps: i got mine free--mailmichelle@gmail--hence this post!

Friday, June 11, 2004

this or that

Someone told me the other day that I am not idealistic. I stand by that. I never was either.

I can either be practical or principled depending on my mood at that time of day.

But I am not idealistic.

Truth is I don't know anyone who is anymore...

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

in touch

what do people mean when they say "stay in touch"... i have never ever understood this phrase. Does it mean keep calling/emailing/smsing jokes..what? All my friends say "you never keep in touch". But for me keeping in touch is being able to pick up from where you left off in the blink of an eye...

This means I may not call someone up for months but the minute I meet them I know exactly whether they've been happy or sad all that time. For me that's "keeping in touch".

Over time I have come to realise that I don't have the patience to pick up the phone and "chat". I am not a "chatterbox" though I do end up having my best conversations on messenger...

Strange!

Monday, June 07, 2004

speak up

Sunday morning I woke up and there were speakers taller than me in my living room. SO naturally I am back to listening to music. And I don't mean listening to it while I surf or bathe or cook. I mean sitting down, putting on soft lights, closing your eyes and letting the sound waft towards you. Its been a while since I did that. Somehow I am always multi-tasking while I listen to music and if there's nothing to do I immediately switch on the TV. The latter will have to take a backseat now. Music is enlightening and opens the mind to countless creative ideas.... unlike the television I watch!!

And while I am at it I plan to compile a list of my 100 favourite songs of all time right here. The link on the right is not in order of preference...

100 favourite songs of all time-
First entry-- I wanna know what love is - Foreigner

Saturday, June 05, 2004

If...

If we are what we eat, do vegetarians and non-vegetarians take radically different approaches to life?

small talk

Something to think about:
men live 7 years less than women and more often than not die a violent death.

Where did they research this? America, where else!!

ice spice everything nice

Whenever I cook, I realise that I can never use a recipe. Call it laziness, lack of recipe books or whatever... But I have become an expert at following through aromas... So depending on what I smell at a particular stage in my cooking cycle will determine what ingredient I add next. Of course I have by now perfected this art. Which is why I wouldn't advice anyone to try it out as a first timer.

You have also to first decide what is your favourite spice. Mine is black pepper and garlic. So I add this to almost everything I make...Except banana fritters!!

The next thing is you have to know which ingredient will complement what food... Like green chillies go very well with baby corn in a stir fry while garlic goes well with mushroom... Similarly brinjal goes well with garam masalas and ladyfingers go well with coconut milk.

I am still in the process of experimenting...the last thing I found out was bell peppers go well with oregano and basil.

Back to the kitchen then!!

Thursday, June 03, 2004

gay fest

Taking off from an ongoing discussion I have been following on "gay morals etc", I wanted to say that men having sex with other men or wanting to have sex with other men is even more common than divorce today. Nobody talks about it but 2 out of 5 guys I have spoken to have had some gay encounter in their lives. Some of them as kids, some of them in boarding, some of them as consenting adults. Most of them look at it as another of life's experience and move on, others take to it as a fish would take to water and become closeted gays. Some of them go on to get married until such time as the truth comes out and they have to end the farce.

What is disturbing is that a lot of gays -- I hear-- are closeted paedophiles too. This is when it becomes a morality issue I think.

Otherwise who cares about sexual orientation today? I have been part of Mumbai's glam world as a journalist and know for a fact that quite a few models/actors/directors/artists are bisexual or swinging both ways. As one gay puts it,"The prettiest boys in the world are gay. That's because they are perfect and are naturally attracted only to perfection which you can only find in another good looking man..."

I am at a loss for words at this point!!

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

fake sarcasm

One thing I've learned -- not everyone can be sarcastic... You are born with it or else its fake. I have encountered many people who try very hard to be sarcastic with just one aim in mind -- to put the other person down. I think "fine" sarcasm has its roots in "wit" which most pseudo sarcastics lack. You will notice that if a person is being genuinely sarcastic, it will never hurt you. These are the ones who end up with the most admirers!!

If you have seen American Idol, the brains behind the show is Simon Fuller. He is a Brit with unmatched sarcasm standards. If you hear his insults hurled at contestants, you will cringe. But they are delivered with elan.

If a similar competition were to take place here in India and the contestants were repeatedly told how inferior they were, there would have been walkouts.

Indians I am afraid can't take criticism well! Ever wondered why?

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast"-- Oscar Wilde

the world is obsessed with competitions

Everywhere you look today, people are competing against each other. If its not little kids competing to be geniuses then its teenyboppers competing to become American idols or women in red competing to be Miss America.

Usually the worst ones always win!! Or I am just a bad predictor...