Thought it was going to be a comedy from the plot outline. Parul agreed to watch it on that premise. The option was to watch American Dreams but somehow I was not quite up to it. Turned out to be a thriller, quite in the genre of Payback. But had a better mystery element. You don't quite know whats going on till quite late in the movie.
Interesting characters - Josh Hartnett , a guy having a really bad day but managing to take it in his stride (Coming to think of it, that did seem a bit strange); Bruce Willis, the hitman; Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman, two warring mafia dons who stay in buildings across the street.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Think I can write one too.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
My next life
In my next life, I want to be an officer in the East India Company posted somewhere remote in India where I can build roads and railways.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Idle Time
Have downloaded myself a few GB of music. All that I always wanted to listen to. Have not gotten round to listening to any of it. Do most of my listening at work and the music played usually needs the approval of those around me. So the Travelling Wilbury's are about as adventurous as I can get. Some of my colleagues who are above 30, have heard some of their songs. Have not yet rigged up a music system at home so all the music that I have downloaded lies dormant in my D drive.
Got myself a DVD player. A Phillips model dubbed - the king of playability, with the promise of playing anything - even pirated Chinese ones. A few days ago, a Chinese man whose English vocabulary was restricted to DVD landed up at our doorstep selling the latest English movies for just 10 AED per DVD. I bought 10. Basic Instinct 2 was disappointing; Transamerica, unusual; The Constant Gardener, brilliant; Memoirs of a Geisha - so-so; the rest I have forgotten and a few I have still not seen.
Have given up on a few books. Among them , The World is Flat - American propoganda; Autobiography of a Yogi - could only take 200 odd pages of disappearing saints etc; Lawrance of Arabia - just too damn complex to comprehend (though have resolved not to give up on it).
Am a bit bored.
Got myself a DVD player. A Phillips model dubbed - the king of playability, with the promise of playing anything - even pirated Chinese ones. A few days ago, a Chinese man whose English vocabulary was restricted to DVD landed up at our doorstep selling the latest English movies for just 10 AED per DVD. I bought 10. Basic Instinct 2 was disappointing; Transamerica, unusual; The Constant Gardener, brilliant; Memoirs of a Geisha - so-so; the rest I have forgotten and a few I have still not seen.
Have given up on a few books. Among them , The World is Flat - American propoganda; Autobiography of a Yogi - could only take 200 odd pages of disappearing saints etc; Lawrance of Arabia - just too damn complex to comprehend (though have resolved not to give up on it).
Am a bit bored.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Blood on the Tracks
I first heard the album in Shankar's room at FTII. He it as the greatest album ever written. To this day I agree with that opinion.
'Idiot Wind' was the first song that he played. Both of us laughed at Dylan's diction as he spits out the words, 'yeeediiot wind' which make the very vicious lyrics even more spiteful.
He made me a copy of the album and I heard it till I had memorised all the lyrics. The song that I made my own was 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts', a song-story about a bank robbery, murder, love and the principal architect i.e. the Jack of Hearts.
I was particularly taken in by the term, 'Jack of Hearts'. What makes a person the Jack of Hearts? Dylan could have chosen to call him the King of hearts or the Ace of Hearts but the Jack has a completely different character. A lesser status and a hint of deviousness.
Were at Shomi's place yesterday and Parul wanted to hear, Idiot Wind as one Chinese Horoscope test that she once made me take had matched the song to her.
I heard the entire album once more after a very long time. Shomi strummed completely out of tune and declared every now and then that he used to be a damn good rhythm guitarist but can now only play when he is drunk. He has his eye on a 12 string, which Tulika will let him buy only when he practices on his current 6 string and gets back in form again.
I hope he does.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Food Court
The food court at most malls offer a varied choice - Chinese; Lebanese; Iranian; Italian; the Americans on account of their global promise of providing choice to the consumer boast of a Burger King, a KFC and a Mc Donald’s - all serving an assortment of meats with buns of bread, French Fries (wonder why it is called so) and of course Coke or Pepsi depending on their tie up; and last but not the least Indian food - at times a separate franchise for North Indian food and a separate one for South Indian food - a true tribute to our varied heritage and of course due to the fact that we make up a huge percentage of the population which is in fact perhaps the majority (An honest confession again - Please note that as I am not aware of the exact percentage of Indians in the region I have made the sentence inordinately long and even used the term in fact in conjunction with perhaps, two terms which are in fact mutually exclusive).
Parul and I after an exhausting session of furniture scouting went to the food court to grab a bite to eat. Parul was clear that she wanted to eat Chole Bhature at the Light of India. The backlit picture of what looked like a Rajput princess was reassuring but the Phillipina at the counter was not and I also hold the belief that Indian food cannot be franchised as it calls for a degree of expertise and cannot be mass produced the way meat and buns can be.
So I decided to do the rounds scouting for options.
Lebanese I immediately wrote off - grilled meat (one has the choice of chicken, beef and lamb), with bread and chick pea sauce (ground chana with olive oil). Was in no mood for it.
The Chinese reminded me of the slight buzz that I got in my head on account of the MSG.
I have sworn not to eat any of the American fare on account of it being unhealthy and of course bad value for money but I must add in the same bite the fact that all of it does seem to get imprinted in the mind as its so easy to eat and I must confess tasty too in a vague sort of a way.
Italian - the sight of cheesy pasta made my stomach churn.
I was in a real quandary at the south Indian stall. My mind immediately cried Idli's soaked in sambhar and chutney. "Zorry Saar, Zaambaar is zerved zeparitly", the Mallu infourmmmed me.
The Chole Bhature at Light of India were nice and oily.
Parul and I after an exhausting session of furniture scouting went to the food court to grab a bite to eat. Parul was clear that she wanted to eat Chole Bhature at the Light of India. The backlit picture of what looked like a Rajput princess was reassuring but the Phillipina at the counter was not and I also hold the belief that Indian food cannot be franchised as it calls for a degree of expertise and cannot be mass produced the way meat and buns can be.
So I decided to do the rounds scouting for options.
Lebanese I immediately wrote off - grilled meat (one has the choice of chicken, beef and lamb), with bread and chick pea sauce (ground chana with olive oil). Was in no mood for it.
The Chinese reminded me of the slight buzz that I got in my head on account of the MSG.
I have sworn not to eat any of the American fare on account of it being unhealthy and of course bad value for money but I must add in the same bite the fact that all of it does seem to get imprinted in the mind as its so easy to eat and I must confess tasty too in a vague sort of a way.
Italian - the sight of cheesy pasta made my stomach churn.
I was in a real quandary at the south Indian stall. My mind immediately cried Idli's soaked in sambhar and chutney. "Zorry Saar, Zaambaar is zerved zeparitly", the Mallu infourmmmed me.
The Chole Bhature at Light of India were nice and oily.
Still Nothing
I log on to my blog with confidence stemming from arrogance that when I start to write a post, my fingers will automatically start spewing out words that when put together will form coherent profound sentences.
No such luck for the 9th time running. Instead I resort to a play of words that camouflages the absence of any real substance. Guess I should get some points for honesty there.
In continuation with the last post, Mukul does have a giant head and justifiably so. Remember, 'Not all men are equal'.
No such luck for the 9th time running. Instead I resort to a play of words that camouflages the absence of any real substance. Guess I should get some points for honesty there.
In continuation with the last post, Mukul does have a giant head and justifiably so. Remember, 'Not all men are equal'.
Blank Posts
I am extremely envious of Mukul and Rohan as they are prolific bloggers. I wonder how is that they manage to come up with something or the other that they find blogworthy. And here I am, having nothing to share with the rest of the world except my notion of envy.
Perhaps more happens to them during the course of their day or maybe they observe more or maybe they just think more. Mukul has always had this unusually large head you see. And here is envy leading to slander.
Perhaps more happens to them during the course of their day or maybe they observe more or maybe they just think more. Mukul has always had this unusually large head you see. And here is envy leading to slander.
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