not my own...

Hello kindred spirit brother!
Have you traveled far today?
"Far enough" I know you'd say!
And when again we meet,
"We may have fun or we may have grief;
whatever it is, we'll dare it.
and we may go broke and we may get rich;
whichever it is, we'll share it."
You know, kindred spirit brother,
this is always the best way;
I can never believe in any other.
Cause in the vagabond's house they say,
"Theres time and stories for all to share!"
Theres not enough miles to seperate smiles,
and time is too free, not to dare!
Have you traveled far today?
I was hoping you'd ask!
"Far enough" brother, "for today!"
But theres always tomorrow;
and stories for today!

word of 2005

editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary have selected "podcast" as the Word of the Year for 2005. Podcast is defined as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player".
ways to use it:
so are you a podcaster? have you podcasted? stop podcastinating...

disco top 25

here's a master list of all-time hot disco songs that i chanced upon for those of you/us who like disco... it's reportedly an eclectic collection for the highly discerning disco fan.
i have heard all of five/seven i think.

The Undisputed Truth: "Ball of Confusion," "Higher Than High"

Eddie Kendricks: "Goin' up in Smoke," "Keep on Truckin'"

Gloria Gaynor: "Never Can Say Goodbye"

Silver Convention: "Fly Robin Fly"

Pierre Bachelet: soundtrack from "Histoire D'O (Story of O)"

ABBA: "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Voulez-Vous," "Fernando"

Diana Ross: "Love Hangover"

The Trammps: "Disco Inferno," "I Feel Like I've Been Living (on the Dark Side of the Moon)"

Marvin Gaye: "Got to Give It Up"

The Isley Brothers: "Go for Your Guns"

Sylvester: "Stars," "Body Strong," "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real," "Do Ya Wanna Funk"

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder: "Four Seasons of Love (four-part album)"

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, from "Once Upon a Time": "Now I Need You," "Working the Midnight Shift," "Queen for a Day," "Rumour Has It"

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, from "Bad Girls": "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls," "Walk Away," "Lucky," "Sunset People"

Irene Cara and Giorgio Moroder: "Cue Me Up," "Flashdance (What a Feeling)"

Giorgio Moroder: soundtrack from "Midnight Express"

Yvonne Elliman: "If I Can't Have You"

Bee Gees: "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever," "You Should be Dancing"

Evelyn "Champagne" King: "Shame"

Saint Tropez: "Violation"

Cerrone: "Je Suis Music," "Supernature"

Vicky Sue Robinson: "Turn the Beat Around"

The Michael Zager Band: "Let's All Chant"

Karen Young: "Hot Shot"

Cheryl Lynn: "Star Love"

Pattie Brooks: "After Dark"

Rick James: "You and I," "Super Freak," "Give It to Me, Baby"

Teena Marie and Rick James: "Behind the Groove," "Lover Girl"

Ashford and Simpson: "Found a Cure," "Don't Cost you Nothing'"

Jackie Moore: "This Time, Baby"

Machine: "There But for the Grace of God"

Gino Soccio: "Love Is," "S-Beat"

Jackson Five: "Can You Feel It?"

Michael Jackson: "Billie Jean," "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," "Shake Your Body"

Olivia Newton-John: "Physical"

Grace Jones: "Pull Up to the Bumper," "Demolition Man," "Slave to the Rhythm"

The Gap Band: "You Dropped a Bomb on Me"

Slave: "Slide"

Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross: "Jump to It"

Prince: "Delirious," "1999," "Let's Go Crazy," "U Got the Look"

Lime: "Angel Eyes"

Chaka Khan: "Ain't Nobody"

Stephanie Mills: "Pilot Error"

C-Bank: "One More Shot"

Up Fron: "Infatuation"

Madonna: "Burnin' Up," "Into the Groove," "Lucky Star," "Dress You Up," "Open Your Heart," "Causing a Commotion," "Who's That Girl," "La Isla Bonita," "Vogue," "Deeper and Deeper"

Evelyn Thomas: "High Energy"

Laura Branigan: "Self-Control"

Pamala Stanley: "Coming out of Hiding"

Bronski Beat: "Smalltown Boy"

Bananarama: "Cruel Summer"

Alisha: "All Night Passion," "Into My Secret"

Patti Austin: "Gettin' Away With Murder"

E.G. Daily: "Love in the Shadows" (45 RPM Special Remix), "Mind Over Matter"

Dead or Alive with Pete Best: "You Spin Me Round"

Taste-T-Lips: "Hypnotize"

Inner City: "Good Life"

Adele Bertei and Jellybean Benitez: "Just a Mirage"

Pretty Poison with Jade Starling: "Nightime"

Jody Watley: "Don't You Want Me"

Real Life: "Send Me an Angel"

Isaac Hayes: "Shaft"

Curtis Mayfield: "Move on Up," "Superfly," "Freddie's Dead"

lincoln?

i feel good when i do something good,
i feel bad when i do something bad,
this is my religion.

pick up

watched The 40-year-old virgin, the other day, chart-topper supposedly. the film had its moments with a colourful, actually extremely colourful script, and some fairly graphic viusals. it's about any other loser male, except in this case, he is a virgin AND 40. enough to form the premise of a film that has got rave reviews. so here you have a completely simple, bicep driven, long-nosed, all american guy who is trying to get a piece of the action. interesting to see how the script unfolds. nice pick if you're looking for some mid-week laughs. not for a weeekend though. (but this is purely a female perspective.)

city of god

there are consistently two kinds of answers one gets upon enquiring after people in mumbai --
dead. divorced.

icons of our time

just something i came across.
"...If you were to draw a graph of innovation and Microsoft's wherewithal in terms of people, capacity, recruitment, training and salaries, you would find that the more Microsoft hired the best minds at the highest salaries, and so forth, the less innovation it got. For a user, there are no substantial changes whatsoever between the various versions of Microsoft Windows. For anybody who's used a 1990 version, a '96, '98, 2000 or XP version, it just seems like the color of the icons changes. Does it take 5,000 engineers with postgraduate degrees to change the color of icons...?"

two much

"...the creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: one is the sexy creative kind, second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. this tense duality always plays centrestage. it will never be transcended..."

virus alert

why do men handle viruses so haphazardly? am not referring to the computer ones which are axed with proper fanfare, but the ones that attack the immune system. men get wide-eyed at a body malfunction since they cannot download a software that will solve the problem. they stare forlornly at themselves wondering why there never was a virus alert... why couldn't it be a plain and simple pop-up that stated in its display bar: "virus detected". crocin was never as effective as symantec anti-virus...hell it could not even be counted in the same league! men make for bad patients... ask any self-respecting nurse. they turn curt, self-piteous, and make for ungracious hosts.

beauty is the beast

says my bong colleague: there are more beautiful women per square mile in calcutta, yet, men don't want to go within an inch of them coz they are dominating, irritating, and completely obsessed with not becoming doormats. So Beauty be damned, the men turn their backs on the doe eyes, and just check out the other communities.
Which means that there are loads of bong beauties, all single, many even divorced, unable to find someone who would take the chance and date them in culture rich Cal...
maybe they should all just move to mumbai, where they can carry out relationships without ever making conversation!! no doubt, that might solve the problem?

imagine a world without one-liners

long ago, a man walked into my office telling me he was the best thing that happened to mumbai. i looked at him quizzically and he returned the glare with a brilliant one-liner. later found out he was ash chandler, at that time, one of the few stand up comedians around. my first question to him was why only a handful of people in the city took up humour as a career choice. why would stand up comedy clubs never take off in mumbai? he gave me a limmerick i think in exchange, and whatever it was, it really made me laugh.
today when i see the great indian laughter show on star, i think that maybe the time is near when you can drop by your neighbourhood adda read laughter club and chill over one-liners and a few drinks. isn't that an incredibly easy way to unwind... i mean think about it, the people you veer towards most when it comes to spending an evening out are the ones who can make just a lil fun of themselves...
has the concept of a comedy club finally arrived in mumbai?
on another note, everyone today is interspersing business communication with something geeky, just to fan out the flames. should effective one-liners become part of college curriculums?

Oh, where have i been for so long? dunno...
can't remember a thing of the past month, so makes it difficult to write.
the most exciting thing that happened was that i got rejected for my US visa the second time.
why exciting?
the conversation followed the same flow:
why do you wanna go?
how long will you stay?
how long have you been with your present company?
your visa says you've been to canada? (eyebrows raised)
how long did you stay?
aha
sorry/really sorry.

so now i am wondering if a trip to canada has made me ineligible to enter the united states for good.
oh the price of toronto:(

on the flip side, why do americans name all their hurricanes after women?

heroes

Kitne Guevara the?
Che, Sarkar.

if you're a che guevera fan, check out the motorcycle diaries. it's a slow film but a better bet than the other hero tribute mangal pandey...

the old fold

mumbai has become a great place to retire, it seems... i realised that on my last trip there. riding on the roads is like a space odyssey since you're mostly getting tossed about courtesy some rocking craters, the papers that reach you every morning are fatter than the da vinci code, the news is inundated with so many unnecessary tidbits that you can spend the whole day deciphering it, the over-60 citizens are all wearing Tommy Hilfiger and Reeboks, the film stars are now all on the streets, in some form or the other, and the cacophony is become so commonplace that it is now referred to as piece and serenity... what more could you ask for in your golden years? no wonder everywhere you look, its the 60 plus generation that's making the most of it. the 16 year olds meanwhile are busy trying to gatecrash mocha or coffee day...

pots and pants

i finally discovered the one big difference between a man in a kitchen, and a woman in a kitchen.
man: to make one sabzi, 10 dishes will be used, 4 spoons, many lids, 5 powders, and all will be accomplished in stages. by the end of the 35 minute hot flush episode, there will be a colourful sabzi, matched by a colourful amount of dirty dishes, all strewn around for the bhai to handle the next morning.

woman: to make one sabzi, a small pan will be taken, which will see the sabzi through from tadka to dining table, all in the span of 5 minutes. bhai next morning will have one dish and one serving spoon to contend with...

so which is the better output? am still working out that one.

kiss and yell

so many people i know kiss ass to get ahead. and get ahead they do. if they're the butt of jokes, they don't care, coz in the end they are climbing faster than the neighbouring geek. so here's a personality profile i have drawn up of people most likely to ass kiss on their way to the top:
1. 5%intellect + 95% hot air
2. exaggerated sense of self
3. wannabes of the highest order
4. if you ask them a pointed question, which they are supposed to know, they will reply with a question, and then flee
it's not that i am against ass kissers, it's just that you require a skill set to pull it off, and most of the ass kissers i know, and they are omnipresent, just don't have it!
5. freaky humour
6. inability to enjoy the money they make

boxing day

i don't like boxing movies... blood spilling over the audience as teeth shatter and ribs smash ain't my cup of tea. but i chanced to watch the latest ron howard film cinderella man. it had russel crowe in it, and once again in beautiful mind mode, he gave a breath taking performance. in lots of ways, he reminds me of aamir khan. you don't get to watch him often, his films are few and far between, but when he does do a film, it stays with you for a long time to come.
coming back to cinderella man, its the story of a man who reaches his pinnacle only to fall face down... but he gets up again, and goes on to become the darling of the masses. true story of course! must watch... if you are into all of the above.

phobic

Girls and boys start out at comparable levels of interest and abilities in math, science and technology during lower elementary grades... Research has shown that perceptions begin to slowly change in upper elementary grades when girls tend to view the computer as a tool to complete a task, while boys begin playing games and establishing a "friendship" with their computers.
(Research has shown that girls prefer problem-solving and strategy computer games over shoot-to-kill scenarios.)
Perhaps if girls in elementary school experience technology as fun and enriching they will make the choice in high school to enroll in advanced math and science courses. In this way, opportunities will remain open to them that previously would be closed. Teaching girls the benefits of being tech-savvy requires the collaboration of parents, teachers, and designers.

changin..

what we are never changes,
who we are never stops changing...

art of the matter

Gordon MacKensie, the former “creative paradox” at Hallmark Cards, tells of visiting public schools to talk about art.
When he asks kindergartners, “How many of you are artists?” all the children raise their hands.
Among first graders, a third of the hands no longer go up.
Half of the second graders raise their hands.
By fifth grade, no hands go up.
In six years, school has managed to beat the creativity out of its pupils

film feisty

decided to take some time off from hollywood and catch up on some foreign films...

caught two this weekend, y tu mama tambein, and malena.

the first is an old favourite, had seen it 2 years ago, and loved it. its the story of two guys, a girl, and a long journey. it's a hot film as a lot of foreign films usually are, but it conveys a message far far beyond "skin show". it talks of betrayal, death, destruction, and wrong turns... must watch.

malena too was quite a handful... again, hot scenes dominated, but what stayed were the images of war widows and hasty bargains we all make in the hope that all will be well in the end. more often than not, the price is too high to pay. a brilliant depiction of obsession, and hypocrisy that exists in a war torn society.

ditties

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish, he'd go away


As I was sitting in my chair,
I knew the bottom wasn't there,
Nor legs nor back, but I just sat,
Ignoring little things like that.

------"Antigonish", by Hughes Mearns.

sdfjhfjdfhdjfdjshfs

i am feeling rather confuzzled of late... all because of the woots around me. at first i attributed it to cognitive displaysia or gription, or maybe even my current display of "dunandunate"... but this wannabe whinese of mine is courtesy the polkadodge i play each time i go to the water cooler...
have i lost it? no i simply found merriam websters favourite words not in a dictionary.



confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time

woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement

cognitive displaysia (n): the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway

polkadodge (n): the pseudo dance when two people attempt to pass each other, each moving in the same direction

dunandunate (v): to overuse a word or phrase that has been recently added to one's vocabulary

whinese (n) a language spoken by children or spouses on long road trips

remembering

your memory doesn't work the same in every situation. certain factors, such as time of day, distractions, and your own internal states can affect your ability to remember things. these factors all make up what some people call the context of your memory...
http://cat.xula.edu/thinker/

i told u so

approach love and cooking with reckless abandon -- dalai lama

wine wine situation

my two favourite instruments of all time are the flute and the saxophone. strangely both are played by the mouth which is why they maybe speak more coherently to me? i was first introduced to the sax in college when a jazz enthusiast introduced me to the albums of spyrogyra and sadao watanabe. i got hooked. then later i had a job where i spent weekends doing music reviews which is when i began to build my collection. today i no more listen to cassettes, my tape deck lies bereft in a dusty corner, but i can't bear to part with all those tapes. whether a miles davis or an obscure african band, i hang on to them.

then recently i caught sideways, the film on two friends who take an adventure in the vineyards of california, taking copious gulps of merlot and sauvignon blanc while resolving interpersonal conflicts.

it had some very interesting music and i was lucky when somebody got me the soundtrack. trust me when i say that if you are a wine lover, and a jazz aficionado, this is a great option. its witty jazz for a sunday afternoon, just the way the movie is -- smooth!

other OSTs that i have just added to my collection: kill bill and pulp fiction.
yes am a tarantino fan!

my first glimpse of thrissur

all i can see from the sky are rows of velvet green palm trees forming a thick blanket over the city..

this after seeing the semi-thatched roofs of dharavi. big relief.
the heat hits me as soon as i disembark. it's like a blast of hot air and it acts as a revitaliser. almost!
i get into the a/c taxi.
trissur, i say, hoping i won't be asked to answer something in malayalam.
luck i see is on my side. he nods.
and we are in first gear.

the taxi speeds on. on and on. it's a never ending journey. where on earth is trissur? i wonder. my last trip was from blr and it didn't seem half as long.
the life size cut-outs of heros and heroines, both looking voluptuous from my position, stare down at the little a/c cab.
i look up and the sun gets into my eye.

the palm trees are multiplying by the minute, so are the beads of sweat on the pedestrians. though they don't seem to mind.
i feel guilty though riding in a/c comfort with my nose pressed to the window pane.
meanwhile we come upon a railway crossing. there's bumper to bumper traffic, but the cool dude driving me is not in the least bit ruffled. he just makes his way forward

along the wrong side of the road, and finds a suitable gap. again and again. how does he know he'll find a gap? only god's own country bumpkin knows between taking calls

on his cell and doing a Jim Carrey on a bulimic street.

and then it's off again. in the face of fast speeding trucks/buses, our dude doesn't budge an inch. i shut my eyes tight, i have been forewarned not to keep an eye on the

road since its bad for the heart. lesser known mortals have been known to pass out at the sight of an oncoming truck with no room for escape.

i enter thrissur, the rows and rows of shops, are full of the hustle and bustle of a saturday morning.
women with flowers in their hair and gold bordered saris are talking in high pitched voices.

the temple looks busy.

i reach the confines of my room. there i get ready to face the crowd. they all speak mal, i don't.

i make my way through the wedding hall, sit in my chair, and begin to stare.

first i stare at the stage, so many flowers... then i look at the musicians, very nice, then i look at the 700 faces... they all merge into one.

large kohl eyes are all around, as are men in mundus.

i catch sight of the one person i know, but he is very busy welcoming the guests so i look to the groom. his face is expressionless, he takes huge gulps of oxygen as he sees

more and more smiling faces.

the bride enters carrying her share of the flowers, and her share of the trepidation. what next looms large on her face...

the ceremony kicks off, i turn to look at the turnout. when i look back on the stage, the pair is already married. i blink once then blink again. goodness gracious me! this is

faster than a wedding in las vegas.

then everyone is happy, happy shining faces. some wipe away tears. these unions have a strange way of moving people. women of differing ages make their way towards --

oh no ---me? i smile. i say "malayalam areela". they remain unperturbed. not so i.

i am pulled away to wash my hands since i am about to embark on the banana leaf trail. i sit eyes wide open and watch as the leaf in front of me gets brighter and fuller. payasam heralds itself with a splash. i am too thrilled as i dive fingers first into the mounds of red, green, and mustard. my palate gets its first taste of authentic fare after a

long day of airline food. it is pleased. meanwhile i am getting full/fuller though the servers show no signs of stopping. they are merrily piling it up, and my stomach grins in the only way it knows best.

then it's over and out, as the next lot of hungry revellers amble in, hands washed, stomachs growling.

soon the couple leaves and the guests sit around waiting for phase 2, read, reception at the groom's house. for another round of appam and vegetable stew. and the ubiquitous orange crusted gobi manchurian which is fast becoming a national obsession...

I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become a public nuisance. Oh for a few fools...

there's this highly addictive japanese game going around...
http://flash.qbol.net/pl;p/youxi/images/04042203.swf
There are 13 items hidden in this room in order to let you get out
of this room.
If you found:
0-6 items, your IQ is very low, total idiot
6-8 items, Low IQ, u r an idiot
9-10 items, u r normal
11-12 items, your IQ is high, above the average.
Find 13 items, get out of the room and consider yourself very rare!
Less than 4000 people in the world have got of the room! Inspiring
enough!?!

now everyone i know has found 12... and that's scary right? if everybody's IQ is above average, where have all the idiots gone to?

thumbs up

the theory going around is that "sending text messages via cell phone is leading to a renaissance in the use of that original human tool, the opposable thumb. a new generation of people who are growing up using their thumbs to tap out messages on their phones' tiny keypads are now putting those handy appendages to other new uses as well. Many kids in Japan now point and ring doorbells with their thumbs instead of their index fingers..."
how ironic is that!

mamma mia

all women become like their mothers. that is their tragedy. no man does. that's his!

angry kya?

its interesting to watch how different people react to anger, their own and someone else's.
while some just let it all out, others hold back and let it grow deep within.
the latter eventually become loonies slowly but surely without anyone knowing it.
today most people i know are suffering from some dementia or the other, which makes them so much more interesting i think.
i find sane people extremely boring since they rarely ever have anything interesting to say!
why am i saying all this? watched this really nice flick on the weekend -- a new Kevin Costner release called the upside of anger.
it's a must-see if only to realize how terribly futile it is battling demons within... it makes you laugh and it makes you think and it makes you wonder "angry kya? again?"

soppy this?

Falling leaves...

I was thinking of old friends today
And how many of them have slipped away,
Moved, got married, or stopped calling so much,
Found new friends, got busy, and just lost touch.
It reminded me of falling leaves.
Every autumn the leaves fall from the trees.
Some stay longer than others,
But eventually - Each leaf must fall, I'm told,
Leaving the tree alone to face the cold.

Why is it that in the time of utmost need
The leaves would seek to leave the tree?
And when we need our friends around
We look and they cannot be found?

Of course these friendships come and go
And in the spring new leaves will grow.
But I prefer autumn friends of old
With crackling laughter and colour bold.

It saddens me now I must admit
How somehow, someway,
I did forget Laughing with old friends of mine
During summers when the sun would shine.

And then I thought of you.
That one stubborn leaf that won't let go.
That clings despite the winds that blow.

Fighting ice, and snow, and winter's stings
Hanging on right through till spring.
So I guess that's what you are to me -
The very last leaf to leave the tree.
When I see that last leaf...
I think of you...

lonely v/s alone?

a lot of people i know find being alone daunting/intimidating/depressing/overwhelming... they need to be constantly around people to feel alive. i for one love solitude. i can be alone for hours, do nothing, and yet be completely occupied. that could be to some extent because i am constantly evaluating- people, places, situations, the tree in front of my window. so what makes some people so comfortable with themselves and others so terribly ill at ease when all alone?
some say "only" kids have this tendency to crave solitude. in fact, people beyond a point grate on their nerves. i can ascribe to that train of thought considering i am an only kid, yet, i think that being alone sometimes has tremendous advantages. not always but sometimes!
another thought that comes to mind is that we are fast becoming a world of single kid families, so are we on the brink of a generation that will constantly resent company that is below par?

express trrain

watched polar express over the weekend and couldn't believe i was watching an animation film... everything was soooo real, so subtle, and so unbelievable. i actually was waiting to see santa by the end of it.

people i know

these are divided into people who send forwards and those who don't. the latter form a minority--me included, the former is a burgeoning bunch... right from five ways to not be lonesome on a saturday night to why men prefer cricket matches to cream foundations, the forwards just keep coming, and coming. for some, its a first-thing-in-the-morning, last-thing-in-the-evening kind of regime, for others its timepass. i wonder whether it says something about personalities. this kind of intrusion into other people's private places read mail boxes. or even cellphones for that matter. are some people just more uncaring about making an appearance without calling? which brings me to the other breed-- people who just land up at other pople's houses without first calling. some say it's the done thing. after all, we are Indians and by the very nature of our upbringing, other people's time or space is not sacrosanct. so you have people just dropping by in the middle of your favourite TV serial wanting to spend some quality time with you. is that rude? today, unfortunately, lots of people think it is. but lots of other people just don't get it.

good god

movie of the week: City Of God (2004)
powerful depiction of life in brazil- drugs, violence, gang wars, and the degradation of little kids. for a true story, it's amazing how the director managed to keep the pace.
must see!

lovers, mothers, daughters

think John Mayer's Daughters is the most amazing piece of song writing I have seen in a long time...

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Oh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
Cleaning up the mess he made

phew hollywood

Was listening to Rahul Bose the other day making a very interesting observation. According to him, most of the stuff coming out of Hollywood is trash, so why single out just Bollywood for the downward spiral. I am forced to agree with him after spending a weekend watching two movies which are supposedly on the top 5 list in Hollywood as of now. One was Taxi, the other was Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Now all I was looking for were a few laughs but the laugh that came out of me was anything but entertaining. The scripts made me gag, the treatment made me yawn, and the acting, well let's just say, all's not well that doesn't end well. Jeez, the two films were a lesson in what not to do in script writing.

On the other hand, also caught two very interesting films--Dear Frankie and A Song for Bobby Long. The story lines for each were unique so they made for interesting developments.

communalism this?

the funniest thing i heard in the past week:
beware of punjabi men and bong women...
don't ask why!!
now for a person like me this is really scary since the only thing that i stay off is gemini men, women, and babies!!

joplin revisited

joss stone and melissa etheridge have just risen a notch for me. this after seeing the amazing powerhouse performance they gave on stage for the grammies. they put up a janis joplin act, and the energy of etheridge was awesome. stone's range is quite unbelievable, especially if she's only 17-18. someone to look out for i would say! meanwhile another piece of my heart is still ringing in my ears...

joplin revisited

joss stone and melissa etheridge have just risen a notch for me. this after seeing the amazing powerhouse performance they gave on stage for the grammies. they put up a janis joplin act, and the energy of etheridge was awesome. stone's range is quite unbelievable, especially if she's only 17-18. someone to look out for i would say! meanwhile another piece of my heart is still ringing in my ears...

eyes wide shut

watched Ray the other day-- the film on the life of Ray Charles and it got me wondering... I always thought that good acting is all in the eyes. but if that is the way it is, then why is the lead who plays the blind musician being touted as a sure fire bet for Best Male Actor at the coming Oscars.

it only goes to follow, that good acting is not just about what your eyes say, it is also about what your body language says and how your dialogue delivery works.
it is also about how close a depiction of the real life character, in this case, Ray Charles, comes through on screen.

what if the film was not based on a real life person...then what?

could Jamie Foxx have still pulled off the scores of nominations with his eyes closed?

am still mulling over this.

i told you so

how many people like hearing the words i told you so...? nobody i guess. i am currently observing an extrememly smart person do something really dumb. i can see the consequences large and clear, but the person in question can't. i have debated this with others: do you let someone make a grievous error only so that he/she can take a lesson away from it; or barrage him/her with "gyan" only to be told "mind your own business". i for one firmly believe that it is better to do something then regret it and finally learn not to do it again, than not do it at all and never know how wrong you could have been (ouch, that was rather difficult to put together grammatically.)

hear or listen

learnt two important lessons in these past two weeks.
1. when you're stuck with a tough decision on a problem you don't understand, talk to all the smart people you know.

2. no idea is so good that it can't be improved upon.

thumbs up

johnny depp (finding neverland) and jude law (alfie) have given amazing performances in the above mentioned films. simply unmissable to say the least. just shows what a good script can do for you.

triples

the only image i came away with after seeing swades was three guys on a motorbike... this film has half the people i know saying wow, and the other half saying yawn. so what's it gonna be? i for one was impressed by just two spectacular shots -- one of the station urchin selling water, and the other of shah rukh's expression on the canoe. both are part of the promos, so i guess ashutosh thought that too!!