This must be a joke!

Obama awarded Nobel for Peace! I guess the might of the US is all encompassing. Read this:

What's the authority of a prize that has been awarded to terrorists like Yasser Arafat or Marxist mythologists like Rigoberta Menchu Tum?

Again

A new job, and along with it come new expectations, pressures, people, practices, timings. It is always tough to move out of a comfort zone, but its never good to get too comfortable. Hopefully, things should work out well. As we all know, the world can be a different place in a few months.

Listening to Wake Up Sid!'s soundtrack - Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have created a breezy, flirty soundtrack. Easy listening, but not in the league of say, Taare Zameen Par or Johnny Gaddar. Besides, it has this very 'inspired' feel to it that makes me go 'hmmm'.

Finally!

Picture courtesy the official website.

I am thinking about work, even though I am off all responsibilities for this week. If I persist in this vein, its going to lead to nowhere good.

On that note, let me talk about a movie that the hubbysaur and I thoroughly enjoyed watching - Kaminey. I can't remember the last movie I saw where my favourite (and possibly the best) scene in the movie had none of the lead actors in it. Two crazy guys encircle each other with guns in their hands, enacting an eerie mock shootout, but only one of them is truly crazy, the other is merely pretending to be- I was literally at the edge of my seat with my heart thudding!

The movie boasts several non-regulars - the hero (Shahid Kapoor as Guddu) is dressed up as a giant condom in his introductory sequence, the heroine is a manipulative woman (Priyanka Chopra as Sweety) who cons her boyfriend into marriage, and the other hero (Kapoor again as Charlie) is in a borderline-homoerotic relationship with his best friend!

The plot is fairly mainstream - politicos, drug kingpins, police, and other irregulars with the main leads caught in the crossfire. Vishal Bharadwaj (Maqbool, Omkara) dips liberally into Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino but adds a completely Bollywood flavour and sensibility to the plot. Shahid could have been better, but shows promise. Priyanka is great - as if she knows she's landed the role of a lifetime and has really sunk her teeth into it.

But what really makes this movie tick is the sheer brilliance of most of the supporting cast. Special mention goes to Mikhail (Chandan Roy Sanyal) , a guy so off his rocker that he's mesmerizing. Others, such as the hilarious Bengali brothers (Mikhail's actually) and Bhope Bhau (Sweety's brother) are wonderful as well. Everybody else (Bhope's goons, Tashi the drug trafficker, the crooked cops, the wily child) also adds on to make this movie a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Bharadwaj could have done away with the songs, though. Much as I like Dhan Te Nan, it does break the momentum of the movie!

Verdict - Finally, a movie that lives up to the reviews!

Hilarious

The Quick Gun Murugan soundtrack is hilarious!

Such is life!

Henry Blodget interviews Elliot Spitzer, the man who famously destroyed the former's Wall Street career before going on destroying his own in a prostitution scandal.

Girl Power!

(Warning - Spoiler ahead!)

Watched Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (part of the Grindhouse double feature with Robert Rodriguez), and for some absurd reason, was really tickled by it. Maybe it was because the pervert (Kurt Russel, playing creepy to the hilt) who commits 'vehicular homicide' (i.e. stalks and kills young, attractive women) gets his ass whipped by a gang of badass girls! Great fun - Zoe Bell was such a scream!

I'm happy

That's all :).

Alice in Wonderland

SOme stills from Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Love the pictures, but Johnny Depp is so not the Mad Hatter!

Bill killed himself

David Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok hotel. Sadly, Bill did not die because of the 5-point-palm-heart-exploding-technique. RIP.

This is how politicians abuse taxpayer money

This is really absurd. Make an ailing ex-MP's wife a Minister of State so that the old man can get free medical care?! As if they are distributing their ancestral wealth instead of taxpayer money! When most of the country cannot even afford proper medical care, why should we pay for a politician who has probably lined his arteries with the fat of the land? If Pranab wanted to help Munshi, he should have paid the hospital bill himself! Its appalling, the way the so called 'clean' PM has also agreed to this. He is just as corrupt as the rest!

Fabulous

The new Star Trek movie is great. Review soon.

Kamala Das - RIP

Until I found you,
I wrote verse, drew pictures,
And, went out with friends
For walks…
Now that I love you,
Curled like an old mongrel
My life lies, content,
In you...

I never understood that emotion when I first read these lines. When I did, I appreciated them even more.

Hubble flies again

The Hubble space telescope is flying alone again, after its fifth and final repair. Hope the Hubble lasts for as long as possible, and continues to dazzles us with its brilliant glimpses into the universe! Sampler:

Places

I've always wanted to travel, and the hubbysaurus has made it possible to travel more often. He loves travelling as much (if not more), and we've been to some nice places including Goa, Kerala, Thailand and Singapore. I will try and post some pictures and experiences later. Still, Peru remains on top of my wish list - if markets continue to improve, maybe next year! In the meantime, a spa vacation sounds like a good idea, don't you think?

Look what's happening to me

I seem to be able to find no time to do some thing that I used to really enjoy - I don't blog, I hardly listen to music, I don't read books at the same pace and definitely not with the same excitement levels, and worst of all, I think about work all the time. Damn it, I have turned into a workaholic!

Blue

I need books

Came across the BBC Top 100 books in the UK (2003). I’ve read only 45 :(.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (Read)
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Read)
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (Read)
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (Read)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling (Read)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (Read)
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell (Read)
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (Read)
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë (Read)
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (Read)
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (Read)
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (Read)
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (Read)
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell (Read)
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (Read)
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling (Read)
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling (Read)
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck (Read)
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (Read)
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez (Read)
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens (Read)
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson (Read)
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert (Read)
40. Emma, Jane Austen (Read)
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (Read)
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Read)
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh (Read)
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell (Read)
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell (Read)
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Read)
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden (Read)
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (Read)
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough (Read)
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (Read)
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding (Read)
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind (Read)
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce (Read)
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy (Read)
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (Read)
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac (Read)
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo (Read)
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (Read)
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer (Read)
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (Read)
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie (Read)

A unique experience

I am not too fond of Carnatic music - I've always assumed that it is too staid, rigid, and to top it all, usually sung in a language that I don't understand. Being a music and lyrics person, I've always been baffled by the lyrics (or lack thereof) in this ancient art form. So, I went to watch Margazhi Raagam - a movie that was simply a 2-hour Carnatic concert (by Bombay Jayshree and T.M. Krishna) - simply out of curiosity.

To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I 'd heard Bombay Jayshree before, and it was lovely watching her sing- the sight of those straining vocal chords is still fresh in my memory. T.M. Krishna, on the other hand, was a revelation! If Jayshree was Gilmour - perfect, serious, and solemn, Krishna was Freddie Mercury - vibrant, joyful, a rock star. I enjoyed every moment of his performance - the audible gasps of appreciation for his musicians, the self satisfied sighs of approval for his own performance - this man was having a blast and it showed! I would have never thought that a Carnatic musician could be so mesmerizing!

That said, I still cant relate to Carnatic music like I do to rock, primarily because the lyrics still baffle me. I need to be able to connect to the song, and while Carnatic can be comforting, it is still only vaguely so. Ju, sing me some good lyrics, will you?

Song for the day

Ban the monkey virus!

Scientists have now found a way to infect monkeys with HIV so that they can test anti-HIV vaccines on them. Reminds me of this movie where monkeys are taught to operate flight simulators while they are exposed to extreme radiation. Reality can be worse than life. Killing animals is one thing, but is human life so valuable that other life forms have to be tortured so that we can have a better place to live in?

Nice strategy

This is hilarious. So is Amit's reaction - At least some relief will come.

Public memory

NDTV's attempt to silence a lone blogger has united bloggers against the channel and Ms. Dutt. The blogosphere is buzzing with protests, and bloggers much more prolific and worthy than I have written extensively about it. I'd just like to ask one thing - how long before we forget this Mr. Kunte The same time it took us to forget 26/11, or the train blasts before that, or the Satyam scandal? The thing with public memory is that it is very short lived. Sooner or later, the rest of us will return to our normal lives. What happens to the ones who were actually affected by the issue?

Dev D

Been listening to Delhi 6 and Dev D a lot these days. Amit Trivedi is fantastic. Current favourite:

Rahman makes a killing at the Oscars

AR Rahman has made India proud with not one, but 2 Oscars. Resul Pookutty also won himself a golden man. A great day for the global Indian indeed. As for the movie [Slumdog Millionaire], itself one word - overrrated!

Anush, you are right. Here's the man -

Heard after a long time!

Song in my head

Words are flying out like
Endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
Are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which
Dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
Restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as
They make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life
Are ringing through my open ears
Exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
Shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world

Whoa boa!

Scientists have found fossils of 45-foot giant snakes in Colombia, and aptly named the species Titanoboa cerrejonensis. To provide some perspective, the average python measures about 20 feet in length. The Titan boa also weighed a whopping 1.25 tonnes, while the average anaconda weighs about 200 kg. Monster snake indeed!

Pomegranate Phone

If ...

... you turn the clock back and make it go away
... you could give something back when you really want it
... you were forced to receive something that you really want to throw away
... you couldn't just accept whatever life threw at you
... you couldn't just let it be

................. would you?

World weary

Sometimes it gets difficult to muster enough enthusiasm to just get through the day. Where's Jimbo when I need him?

Tell me why

If every crime has a motive, then every confession has a bigger one. What prompted Raju to confess?

Raju is no gentleman

Satyam's Chairman Ramalinga Raju has put India to shame by admitting to what may well be the largest corporate scandal to hit Dalal street so far. Takes the gleam off the Indian Shining phenomenon, doesn't it? The regulators better come down hard on the promoters, (the auditors and the guys who awarded Satyam for corporate governance as well!) else we might see foreign investments fleeing the country.

Haapy New Year!!!

New hopes, thoughts and aspirations, and oh yeah, resolutions! Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year!