I think it's time I reboot this blog. Been away from writing a while and off late I think I should get back to it. I spend so much time on my computer, this would give some validation to that.
Let's recap a bit. What all has happened since I was last here.
Arjun and Tanya got married.
Krishna and Raji got married.
Dev and Cheryl got married and had a baby.
Salonee studied some more got married and is now in the US.
Nattu and Puchki had babies.
Meenukutty got married and has a baby.
I went on a vacation to the US.
Anju finished her masters and is now working in London.
Rahul did extremely well for himself at AOL just before they shut down India ops.
Bodo went to IMA, Chhikara went to OTA. Both will be officers in the Indian Army before the end of the year.
I moved to gurgaon after having a good 2 years at the mansion.
Madhur and Sunny are slated to get married later this year.
Mr Nair completed his masters and is back in India. (thank god)
Bought a DSLR. Apparently am good at wedding and concert photography.
I am still at Agilent and will be eligible for gratuity at the end of the year.
My Dad is now the Military Advisor to the National Security Council Secretariat.
Nivas got married and deepak is getting married. As are Sayo and Aru (it's about time)
Karun is doing his masters in pol sci.
Khurana has gone through multiple jobs and is very vella these days.
Utpal will be a major at the end of the year. Damn proud of the chap.
Shanbhag is well still the same of chap. Now with IBM.
Lost a few people in my life. Will have regrets for a while I imagine.
Joined twitter and have ended up making some very good friends through there.
Got an iPhone 3G which still serves me well. Still an apple fan.
Ok so apparently a lot of shit's gone down over these past few years. It's very likely you have no idea who these people are but you are likely to meet/ hear about these people when you meet me so try and get through it.
Next post will be more appealing to everyone I promise.
July 8, 2011
August 31, 2009
Happy Birthday
My dear friend tanya celebrates her birthday today! It's also the dinner and dance night which constitute her pre-wedding celebrations. I am glad i could be a part of these fun times! :)
Happy B'day Tanya Baby hehe... WE LOUUUUVE YOU! :)
Cheers to Tanya and Arjun Mo's wedding on 2nd!
Peace.
Happy B'day Tanya Baby hehe... WE LOUUUUVE YOU! :)
Cheers to Tanya and Arjun Mo's wedding on 2nd!
Peace.
August 13, 2009
Muzaak you should check out!
Nice quirky video and very nice cover!
This is seether with Careless whisper. I know what you are thinking, i was pleasantly surprised myself. This one is thanks to the funniest dude i know Mr Mrinal!
Another cover of a great song....
This is Newton Faulkner with the cover of Teardrop by Massive Attack. Acoustic version, studio version and entire album handmade by robots is worth a listen. This one is courtesy Gslice. Thanks bro!! :)
Damn, tis seems to be best of covers post!
Thanks to dimbo for bringing this one to my notice!!
Cake with the cover of I will survive
Vishal & Shekhar revamp the pulp fiction OST and create this very excellent "cover"
Dhan Te Nan from Kaminey.
The Frames originally sang this version which was later covered by the lead singer Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for the movie Once which won them the academy award for best song. This one is thanks to Happy.
The Frames with the original Falling Slowly!
Hoobastank has some really music. Here's a classic example. This one's all thanks to my dear friend Micheal Bay. Ahahahahha... Featured on The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack! I gots to mention Anju here tho. We used to hear this atleast 4 times everyday on the drive to and from work coz she loved it. I hear LEEDS also loves this song. *wink*
This is seether with Careless whisper. I know what you are thinking, i was pleasantly surprised myself. This one is thanks to the funniest dude i know Mr Mrinal!
Another cover of a great song....
This is Newton Faulkner with the cover of Teardrop by Massive Attack. Acoustic version, studio version and entire album handmade by robots is worth a listen. This one is courtesy Gslice. Thanks bro!! :)
Damn, tis seems to be best of covers post!
Thanks to dimbo for bringing this one to my notice!!
Cake with the cover of I will survive
Vishal & Shekhar revamp the pulp fiction OST and create this very excellent "cover"
Dhan Te Nan from Kaminey.
The Frames originally sang this version which was later covered by the lead singer Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for the movie Once which won them the academy award for best song. This one is thanks to Happy.
The Frames with the original Falling Slowly!
Hoobastank has some really music. Here's a classic example. This one's all thanks to my dear friend Micheal Bay. Ahahahahha... Featured on The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack! I gots to mention Anju here tho. We used to hear this atleast 4 times everyday on the drive to and from work coz she loved it. I hear LEEDS also loves this song. *wink*
Public Enemies
Directed by Michael Mann who directed some masterpieces like Collateral, Ali, The Insider, HEAT and my fav The Last of The Mohicans (w00t DDL), Public Enemies had some tremendous buzz going for it. Why? you ask me, I reply Why the hell not! Johnny Depp & Christian Bale pitted against each other. Johnny Depp stars as "publicly loved" Bank Robber John Dillinger in this period flick set during the 1930's during the Depression. Christian Bale is the man with the task of hunting him down, Bureau of Investigation (before it became the FBI, state wise) Special Agent Melvin Purvis. Assigned the job by Director J. Edgar Hoover after whom the FBI headquarters is named (I believe).
The first thing you notice about the movie is the color tone used to shoot the movie. It gives the movie an additional character of being dark and brooding. Also noticable is the very documentary style of shooting. The way the camera moves, its a treat to watch. Every detail was worked on and i have to hand it to the production team to recreate america of the 1930's. They did a phenomenal job.
*edit: Just learnt that some portions were shot in High Def. I thought that some scenes were different. Hmm guess i do have a keen sense of observation!!
Johnny Depp as usual pulls off the roll with ease. Its what he does best. Slips into the skin of the character and you can't help but root for him. Even in this movie, he's a gangster but i was rooting for him all the way. He's cool, he's composed, he knows what he is doing. Christian Bale for once doesn't talk in a growl like in the Batman movies or Terminator. He was above average, not his best showing though. I think American Psycho was his best performance till date. Its understandable though, coz the movie is centered around John Dillinger. Nonetheless, he adds value to the movie with his "I am gonna get him" speeches and looks. Marion Cotillard plays JD's love interest. Very nicely potrayed considering it was but a small role, yet very pertinent to the story.
The soundtrack is oldschool and very very good. You can help but love the music played when robbing the bank. I am gonna post the video here for you all to enjoy!
Some of the things i wasn't really happy about. Main thing was the pace of the movie. Seems a tad bit slow and slightly long. Over two hours. Sometimes the heavily accented dialogues were hard to make out (although the theatre seemed to have some issues too). My retard friend (say it like in the hangover) tells me that he saw the making and that one of the actors was charlize theron. He kept insisting throughout the movie and that drove me up the wall. SHE IS NOT IN THE MOVIE!
There are quite a few exciting scenes in the movie. I won't give them away or else the thrill will be lost but believe you me, if JD did what was potrayed on screen he had some kahuna's. Respect!
4 out of 5 stars in my book. 2 stars are for Johnny Depp itself. He carries the movie on his shoulders with ease. Paraphrasing Will Smith i gotta say "he makes this look good"
Cheers
p.s. i deleted my last post coz the account on youtube where the trailers were uploaded was suspended
The first thing you notice about the movie is the color tone used to shoot the movie. It gives the movie an additional character of being dark and brooding. Also noticable is the very documentary style of shooting. The way the camera moves, its a treat to watch. Every detail was worked on and i have to hand it to the production team to recreate america of the 1930's. They did a phenomenal job.
*edit: Just learnt that some portions were shot in High Def. I thought that some scenes were different. Hmm guess i do have a keen sense of observation!!
Johnny Depp as usual pulls off the roll with ease. Its what he does best. Slips into the skin of the character and you can't help but root for him. Even in this movie, he's a gangster but i was rooting for him all the way. He's cool, he's composed, he knows what he is doing. Christian Bale for once doesn't talk in a growl like in the Batman movies or Terminator. He was above average, not his best showing though. I think American Psycho was his best performance till date. Its understandable though, coz the movie is centered around John Dillinger. Nonetheless, he adds value to the movie with his "I am gonna get him" speeches and looks. Marion Cotillard plays JD's love interest. Very nicely potrayed considering it was but a small role, yet very pertinent to the story.
The soundtrack is oldschool and very very good. You can help but love the music played when robbing the bank. I am gonna post the video here for you all to enjoy!
Some of the things i wasn't really happy about. Main thing was the pace of the movie. Seems a tad bit slow and slightly long. Over two hours. Sometimes the heavily accented dialogues were hard to make out (although the theatre seemed to have some issues too). My retard friend (say it like in the hangover) tells me that he saw the making and that one of the actors was charlize theron. He kept insisting throughout the movie and that drove me up the wall. SHE IS NOT IN THE MOVIE!
There are quite a few exciting scenes in the movie. I won't give them away or else the thrill will be lost but believe you me, if JD did what was potrayed on screen he had some kahuna's. Respect!
4 out of 5 stars in my book. 2 stars are for Johnny Depp itself. He carries the movie on his shoulders with ease. Paraphrasing Will Smith i gotta say "he makes this look good"
Cheers
p.s. i deleted my last post coz the account on youtube where the trailers were uploaded was suspended
May 14, 2009
Movie n TV Trivia Part I
Ok, i was wondering how i could do this. I realised that i need to approve comments, so i shall check the answers and comment giving out the number of correct answers. I know that if you use google then u will be get the answers in a couple of seconds but i would ask you to refrain and try to answer "truthfully"
Lets start of with a favorite of mine.
1. When Neo and Trinity are on top of the lift. Neo looks up and says something before shooting the cable and catapulting to the roof. What does he say??
2. Assasins was the writing debut for these talented guys. The movie starred Antonio Banderas n Sylvester Stallone. Who are these talented guys?
3. This awesome actor made a spoof video with a comedian last year which prompted the comedian's boyfriend to reply to that video with a spoof video of his own. Both videos were insanely awesome.
4. This immensely talented TV actor wrote, directed and starred in his own movie and actually won a grammy for the music compilation of the movie.
5. This TV actor who earned his fame playing a doctor starred in a movie about the death of a university football team in a plane crash. Truly amazing movie!
Lets start of with a favorite of mine.
1. When Neo and Trinity are on top of the lift. Neo looks up and says something before shooting the cable and catapulting to the roof. What does he say??
2. Assasins was the writing debut for these talented guys. The movie starred Antonio Banderas n Sylvester Stallone. Who are these talented guys?
3. This awesome actor made a spoof video with a comedian last year which prompted the comedian's boyfriend to reply to that video with a spoof video of his own. Both videos were insanely awesome.
4. This immensely talented TV actor wrote, directed and starred in his own movie and actually won a grammy for the music compilation of the movie.
5. This TV actor who earned his fame playing a doctor starred in a movie about the death of a university football team in a plane crash. Truly amazing movie!
April 7, 2009
Things that make me smile when nobody's watching
Listening to Sarthak on Hit 95 fm. "Delhi's freshest Radio Station" He's a funny guy with all the right comments and that pep which you require to keep the listener hooked. Add to that his "vault" with classic rock and pop numbers and he's a must hear!!
Waking up in the morning and still groggy eyed, switching on the monitor to my desktop to find that what i had queued last nite was not enough and bandwith was going to waste. Aah, the sense of joy. Thereafter, quickly putting up the new stuff for download before asking for my chai to be reheated :P
Coming to office and realising that my boss has yet to come. This one really :) Boss, in case you are reading this, heck you know i am smiling when u come into work after arjun!! :)
Getting an email from Kicha... yea yea i know senti crap, i love my brotha etc etc... but the guy can be funny sometimes.
Chatting with Shanbhag.... Shanbhag is the funniest guy i know, period! Chatting with him has me smiling followed soon by uncontrollable laughter and weird stares from colleagues.
Talkin to TD just generally sometimes about Roadies, sometimes about what's happening, sometimes about kicha and sometimes about what time i will get free to go over for a quickfire drink..
Listening to Invaders Must Die by the Prodigy in the car on slightly higher than normal volume! :) Well this involves some bit of smiling and a lot of head banding and air guitar :P
Nailing a riff on my guitar. This one has more impact than most others especially if i am watching my fingers across the fretboard in the mirror. Yea, yea go on think i am a narcissist but the truth is, i do that just to feel amazed at what I have done. I never thought i could be even this decent. I still can't play and sing at the same time but i have done well for myself over the years!
Whenever i think about Karun's "crazy act's" over the past few months. He is a funny guy but not when many ppl are around for some reason. Some highlights, include running after bingo along with tanya in the garden, his refusal to wear socks on the way back from agra by train in peak winter, his dialogue "this is the last time i miss class........ this week" and ....
Whenever i think abt "collateral?? What kind of collateral?" and everything we did while making and presenting "Life, Love & All That" This one's on ya Mr Nair.
Remniscing about Wellington and the good nay great friends i made there and am still in touch with. Heck two of them are getting married later in the year.
HAS Juice, Martins, Burger King, Blue Nile, Bade's and all the other wonderful eating joints i went to on my Pune-Mumbai trip. Of course Prem's is a given too and so is the masala chai.
Playing golf at the unearthly hour of 0445hrs and enjoying it thoroughly. Also getting my first and only eagle and that too on a par 4. That's in the hole in 2 shots when par is 4. Thanks Nikhil Bhaiya for witnessing that and buying me a celebratory HCF after :P
Beating Kicha in most sports as a kid even though he was better but competition always brought the best out of me.
8pm nites with Shyam, Bodo & Mekhu. Thanks for the interesting conversation in those dark times.
Zinc live in concert @ 59PC and anything and everything connected with 59PC. I miss it so much. Thanks Pips, Tina, Arjun, Mekh, Bodo, Madzy, Sunny and of course Mr. Nair
Its seems to be that I smile a lot but well, i dont think about all this stuff all the time. When i began writing this, i thought i will have to save it and complete it later as i probably won't be able to make a substantial list but one thing led to another and well, i thoroughly enjoyed writing and smiling throughout! :)
Waking up in the morning and still groggy eyed, switching on the monitor to my desktop to find that what i had queued last nite was not enough and bandwith was going to waste. Aah, the sense of joy. Thereafter, quickly putting up the new stuff for download before asking for my chai to be reheated :P
Coming to office and realising that my boss has yet to come. This one really :) Boss, in case you are reading this, heck you know i am smiling when u come into work after arjun!! :)
Getting an email from Kicha... yea yea i know senti crap, i love my brotha etc etc... but the guy can be funny sometimes.
Chatting with Shanbhag.... Shanbhag is the funniest guy i know, period! Chatting with him has me smiling followed soon by uncontrollable laughter and weird stares from colleagues.
Talkin to TD just generally sometimes about Roadies, sometimes about what's happening, sometimes about kicha and sometimes about what time i will get free to go over for a quickfire drink..
Listening to Invaders Must Die by the Prodigy in the car on slightly higher than normal volume! :) Well this involves some bit of smiling and a lot of head banding and air guitar :P
Nailing a riff on my guitar. This one has more impact than most others especially if i am watching my fingers across the fretboard in the mirror. Yea, yea go on think i am a narcissist but the truth is, i do that just to feel amazed at what I have done. I never thought i could be even this decent. I still can't play and sing at the same time but i have done well for myself over the years!
Whenever i think about Karun's "crazy act's" over the past few months. He is a funny guy but not when many ppl are around for some reason. Some highlights, include running after bingo along with tanya in the garden, his refusal to wear socks on the way back from agra by train in peak winter, his dialogue "this is the last time i miss class........ this week" and ....
Whenever i think abt "collateral?? What kind of collateral?" and everything we did while making and presenting "Life, Love & All That" This one's on ya Mr Nair.
Remniscing about Wellington and the good nay great friends i made there and am still in touch with. Heck two of them are getting married later in the year.
HAS Juice, Martins, Burger King, Blue Nile, Bade's and all the other wonderful eating joints i went to on my Pune-Mumbai trip. Of course Prem's is a given too and so is the masala chai.
Playing golf at the unearthly hour of 0445hrs and enjoying it thoroughly. Also getting my first and only eagle and that too on a par 4. That's in the hole in 2 shots when par is 4. Thanks Nikhil Bhaiya for witnessing that and buying me a celebratory HCF after :P
Beating Kicha in most sports as a kid even though he was better but competition always brought the best out of me.
8pm nites with Shyam, Bodo & Mekhu. Thanks for the interesting conversation in those dark times.
Zinc live in concert @ 59PC and anything and everything connected with 59PC. I miss it so much. Thanks Pips, Tina, Arjun, Mekh, Bodo, Madzy, Sunny and of course Mr. Nair
Its seems to be that I smile a lot but well, i dont think about all this stuff all the time. When i began writing this, i thought i will have to save it and complete it later as i probably won't be able to make a substantial list but one thing led to another and well, i thoroughly enjoyed writing and smiling throughout! :)
March 30, 2009
Recommended Music; Dated March 2009
Its been a while since I posted be it in this series or otherwise. Ideas came and fizzled out before i could type out anything. Thought i should atleast do this.
So here goes.
Street Sweeper - The Oath
Yea i know you aint ever heard of the band. I have to thank Shek for pointing me to ninja2009.com which is the Nine Inch Nails tour in 2009 with Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper. Street Sweeper btw comprises of Boots Riley and TOM MORELLO. Hell yeah Tom's back and as good as ever :) Check out this track for a nice old fashioned Morello riff that gets stuck in your head!! :)
Flo Rida Feat Keisha - Right Round
I know, never thought i would be recommending songs like this but what the hell, its a kick ass rehash of an old hit. Totally awesome "Party" track as its called. Flo Rida is quite the genius. Check out his other song sungar to know why i say so.
Suraj Jaggan - Humse Jo Churaiye Humko Hee (From Straight OST)
Really really awesome song. The guy who sung this was originally in a band called chakraview, recently we saw him sing for the band dream out loud. Also featured in Rock on as the guy who sang zehreelay and then the channel v head honcho with farhan's ex. Yea you know the guy. Kick ass vocals and this time he's composed this as well. This is just a preview, get the whole song and enjoy it.
Vishal Dadlani - Nazaara Hai (From 8x10 OST)
From the big daddy of indian rock. He's currently making waves in the bollywood music industry taking it to a new level. This song is made keeping with his rock roots. Its like a proper rock song with punch to boot. Not to mention there are twin solo's yea i said more than one, which is quite impressive. Keep at it Vishal!
Junkyard Groove - It's OK!
A chennai based band of which i am a big fan. You might have seen them on Launch Pad some time back. Totally awesome band. This is flagship JYG, funky, groovy and totally kick a$$. They have recently released a bootleg with some of their songs. Visit them on myspace, facebook or www.junkyardgroove.net to order a cd. I promise that you will not be disappointed!! :) I am hopeful that someday these guys make it big all over the world. They have the music to do that.
Asher Roth - I Love College
Hehe, i had to throw this in just for fun. Totally fun song. Nothing brilliant just good fun. Enjoy my peeps.
Aite, that's enough for this time. Until next time. Feel free to comment! :)
Cheers
So here goes.
Street Sweeper - The Oath
Yea i know you aint ever heard of the band. I have to thank Shek for pointing me to ninja2009.com which is the Nine Inch Nails tour in 2009 with Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper. Street Sweeper btw comprises of Boots Riley and TOM MORELLO. Hell yeah Tom's back and as good as ever :) Check out this track for a nice old fashioned Morello riff that gets stuck in your head!! :)
Flo Rida Feat Keisha - Right Round
I know, never thought i would be recommending songs like this but what the hell, its a kick ass rehash of an old hit. Totally awesome "Party" track as its called. Flo Rida is quite the genius. Check out his other song sungar to know why i say so.
Suraj Jaggan - Humse Jo Churaiye Humko Hee (From Straight OST)
Really really awesome song. The guy who sung this was originally in a band called chakraview, recently we saw him sing for the band dream out loud. Also featured in Rock on as the guy who sang zehreelay and then the channel v head honcho with farhan's ex. Yea you know the guy. Kick ass vocals and this time he's composed this as well. This is just a preview, get the whole song and enjoy it.
Vishal Dadlani - Nazaara Hai (From 8x10 OST)
From the big daddy of indian rock. He's currently making waves in the bollywood music industry taking it to a new level. This song is made keeping with his rock roots. Its like a proper rock song with punch to boot. Not to mention there are twin solo's yea i said more than one, which is quite impressive. Keep at it Vishal!
Junkyard Groove - It's OK!
A chennai based band of which i am a big fan. You might have seen them on Launch Pad some time back. Totally awesome band. This is flagship JYG, funky, groovy and totally kick a$$. They have recently released a bootleg with some of their songs. Visit them on myspace, facebook or www.junkyardgroove.net to order a cd. I promise that you will not be disappointed!! :) I am hopeful that someday these guys make it big all over the world. They have the music to do that.
Asher Roth - I Love College
Hehe, i had to throw this in just for fun. Totally fun song. Nothing brilliant just good fun. Enjoy my peeps.
Aite, that's enough for this time. Until next time. Feel free to comment! :)
Cheers
March 13, 2009
Movie Review TWBB
This past weekend as I was scrolling through my vast database of movies trying to figure out what i would like to watch, i remembered having promised myself to find the time and patience to watch some of the drama (read serious) movies which i had so as to strike them off my list. After pondering for a long time i was stuck in between Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood. After a quick calculation i decided to go with TWBB as i wasn't in the mood to see Johhnny Depp singing and slashing people (i am assuming that is what happens).
As i was copying the movie onto my pen drive to watch on the telly (yea my dvd player has a usb port and plays divx files) i tried recalling what i had read about the movie. I remembered only reading about the oscar nominations and wins, i remember the words crazed, dark, haunting. I kept telling myself, you have to watch this in 1 go or else you know you won't ever finish it.
The first thing you notice once the movie begins is the silence. There is no conversation in the first 10 minutes. The background score is dark and haunting. It totally suits the gruesome nature of the movie. In the first 10 minutes which has no speech we learn about the beginning of Daniel Plainview who is masterfully, brilliantly, awesomely (you get the picture) played by Daniel Day Lewis. Fully deserving his Oscar win for best actor, he carries the movie through and through. The direction of Paul Thomas Anderson is superb as he uses not only DDL but the surroundings with such ease that it immerses you and you can't help but hate DDL. He is driven by greed and hatred in his quest to make money in the oil business. The movie spans the early 1900's when oil was discovered in california and oil prospectors like Daniel Plainview who have prior experience prey on unsuspecting locals to screw them out of their land and money.
Paul Dano, who i remember from two movies "Little Miss Sunshine" the silent kid and "Girl Next Door" the star of the Sex-Ed movie, gives an excellent and restrained performance showing that he has come a long way. The kid playing DDL's son is also good as he plays a troubled child who loses his hearing in an accident near the oil drill.
DDL in the end though is the shining star. There are sequences in the movie which scream madness and he brings you to believe in that madness. He is well known for his eccentric behaviour while fiming. He stays in characted during the whole time the film is being shot. While filming "My Left Foot" which won him his first oscar, he was in character the whole time. His character was that of a wheelchair ridden paraplegic, so you can imagine what a pain it would have been for the crew to wheel/carry him all over. Heck, he broke 2 ribs because he was hunched over in the wheel chair all the time for a good 2 months. But if this craziness can get such a performance, it might just be worth it.
He has become one of those guys who does one movie at a time with enough gaps in between that leave you longing for more each time. Also he gives all his performances all he's got and frankly, it has become something like if he's in a movie he's likely to be nominated for an oscar and a likely contender to win as well. He's scared the bejesus outta me in gangs of new york! What a butcher!! He does something similar in TWBB as well.
Johhnny Depp also shares a similar fate when it comes to being nominated, but sadly he has never won. It is my hope that soon he gets that coveted prize. But until that time i say to yall watch "There will be blood", its long, its hard hitting and may leave you with a sour taste in your mouth but its an experience which is worth having.
Cheers
As i was copying the movie onto my pen drive to watch on the telly (yea my dvd player has a usb port and plays divx files) i tried recalling what i had read about the movie. I remembered only reading about the oscar nominations and wins, i remember the words crazed, dark, haunting. I kept telling myself, you have to watch this in 1 go or else you know you won't ever finish it.
The first thing you notice once the movie begins is the silence. There is no conversation in the first 10 minutes. The background score is dark and haunting. It totally suits the gruesome nature of the movie. In the first 10 minutes which has no speech we learn about the beginning of Daniel Plainview who is masterfully, brilliantly, awesomely (you get the picture) played by Daniel Day Lewis. Fully deserving his Oscar win for best actor, he carries the movie through and through. The direction of Paul Thomas Anderson is superb as he uses not only DDL but the surroundings with such ease that it immerses you and you can't help but hate DDL. He is driven by greed and hatred in his quest to make money in the oil business. The movie spans the early 1900's when oil was discovered in california and oil prospectors like Daniel Plainview who have prior experience prey on unsuspecting locals to screw them out of their land and money.
Paul Dano, who i remember from two movies "Little Miss Sunshine" the silent kid and "Girl Next Door" the star of the Sex-Ed movie, gives an excellent and restrained performance showing that he has come a long way. The kid playing DDL's son is also good as he plays a troubled child who loses his hearing in an accident near the oil drill.
DDL in the end though is the shining star. There are sequences in the movie which scream madness and he brings you to believe in that madness. He is well known for his eccentric behaviour while fiming. He stays in characted during the whole time the film is being shot. While filming "My Left Foot" which won him his first oscar, he was in character the whole time. His character was that of a wheelchair ridden paraplegic, so you can imagine what a pain it would have been for the crew to wheel/carry him all over. Heck, he broke 2 ribs because he was hunched over in the wheel chair all the time for a good 2 months. But if this craziness can get such a performance, it might just be worth it.
He has become one of those guys who does one movie at a time with enough gaps in between that leave you longing for more each time. Also he gives all his performances all he's got and frankly, it has become something like if he's in a movie he's likely to be nominated for an oscar and a likely contender to win as well. He's scared the bejesus outta me in gangs of new york! What a butcher!! He does something similar in TWBB as well.
Johhnny Depp also shares a similar fate when it comes to being nominated, but sadly he has never won. It is my hope that soon he gets that coveted prize. But until that time i say to yall watch "There will be blood", its long, its hard hitting and may leave you with a sour taste in your mouth but its an experience which is worth having.
Cheers
February 13, 2009
Battle at Prem's
I have been meaning to put this up for the longest time but something or the other always got in the way. Today I finally got around to scanning this. It tells of a battle that was underway at this restaurant called Prem's in Pune. Its in Koregaon park and I must thank my man Dheeraj for introducing us to this wonderful place where I spent 3 evenings during my short trip late last year. Before i get into this let me introduce yall to the protagonists of this tale.
First up is "The Transporter" Arjun Mohanrao. Second would have to be "Mr 3 Series" Dheeraj Bhatia. But the generals of the battle were "Monk Sandbag" Mrinal Shanbhag, "Dhoomil" Deepak Verma and Yours truly "Man Mountain" Arjun Menon. In supporting roles we have "Ms Vice Chief's Daughter" Tanya Thamburaj (engaged to Mr Mohanrao) and "Quotamaster" Capt. Utpal Das. In surprise appearances we have Namrata Kumar and Susan Mody.
Everytime I went to Prem's, it was always for masala chai. What happened thereafter is what we call "Legendairy". I shall only talk abt the last visit as it was a culmination of our trip. Last night in pune and we wanted it to be special. There were talks about going to Thousand Oaks and stuff but late evening (It was not yet dark) we decided we shall go and have chai at Prems and take it from there. We grabbed our "usual" table and ordered our chai. It was deepak, shanbhag, arjun and me. As we sat there generally discussing random topics and laughing at our previous nights antics which included Prems, christmas tree, rocky, coffee, railway station and other amazing stuff, we decided there and then that we would rather spend the evening at prems doing what we do best. We called people letting them know where we were and asked them to join us. Dheeraj and Susan made their guest appearance and it was good to finally meet Susan.
Anyway, we had decided to make this night legendairy so while deepak and shanbhag started with mojitos, i stuck to my guns and as darkness descended upon pune I had my first Old Monk for the evening. Starting with small pegs, the generals joined me with the next round as we declared war on budhe baba. We had made up our minds to beat the last evenings record. While skeptical, i was ready and willing to do the needful incase any of the others fell to drunkenness. People came and went, Arjun went to get tanya, namu left, utpal arrived. Things were totally awesome. We threw back round after round feasting on snacks and conversation. As the evening was drawing to a close, food was ordered. We covered all types of cuisine that evening. Snacks were chinese, Continental and Indian for dinner. I, for once was full, prior to ordering the dinner. But helped out deepak with his butter chicken and nan. When the bill came we were all holding our breath as I was given the task of counting. As u will notice while u look at the bill. Each order was separate so it was a task to count the number in such a huge bill. Finally though we won the battle but Budhe baba will always win the war. We had consumed Thirty Five old Monk pegs between us. A mean achievement if you ask me.
The exit is through the bike parking and Utpal had his "Thunderbird" parked there. Upon arriving at his bike we were amazed to find that pigeons apparently dint like being associated with a bike as they had pooped only and only on his bike. It was freaking crazy. As he rambled back to get some napkins and water to try and clear up the mess Shanbhag went of on a series of jokes on "thunderbird" after which breathing was the only concern. The night ended with us saying our goodbyes. All in all it was nothing but legen..wait for it... dairy!
We shall be back at prems sooner or later! Shanbhag apparently is heading that way in march so if you hear war cries in the koregaon park area know that it is a brave general waging battle....
January 23, 2009
Menon Mansion Pics!
As promised. Here are the snaps to Menon Mansion. Will take more and keep updating! :)
January 20, 2009
Menon Mansion!
For the longest time i have been saying that I am gonna be leaving 59PC. Well now its happened. I am officially no longer a resident of 59PC. I am curently residing at the "Menon Mansion". :D
People tell me its an upgrade. I don't disagree. However, there are certain mitigating factors which make this move bittersweet. I hope to cover most of them as I ramble on. Sure it's a bigger house but that's what it is, a house not home like 59PC. That's not to say that this won't become home sometime in the future. In the words of Bodo (Mr. Nair knows exactly what I am saying) "Yaar, feel nahin aa rahi!" My room is quite massive, but the way I see it, its gonna be tough to fit in the entire 59PC into 1 room. :P I am quite sure about one thing though, the bathroom, well in my case the bathrooms are quite the upgrade. Why Bathrooms? you ponder, well that's coz i have 2. W00t! :) Here's the thing, I have a big ass Bathroom, it has an Emergency exit and a connected toilet. But connected to that connected toilet is another full fledged washroom complete with a men's urinal (literally). The second bathroom is apparently for guests who are at the Garden Parties thrown at the premises :) Did i mention the sprawling Lawns and the OUTDOOR BAR! Hell yeah!
Moving on, the compound of the new place is quite the shizzle! Massive with a veggie field out back. Mom though was sceptical about how long it would take to get things in order and grow our own veggies. Carrie (short for Caramel, our dog) ofcourse is having a good time. When left outdoors, she has new places to explore. Luckily for us the compound is quite secure and she can't really escape to roam Anthony's or Vajpayee's place. Sorry to name drop, but i have quite the lot of neighbours. The name board outside commands a salute and i am filled with pride everytime i am entering the house! :) I shall be putting up snaps soon enough and will put up the link here!
Staying with me parents, is quite the task for a freebird like me. I do have quite the cool dude and dudette as parents but our ideas of what's good for arjun are quite varied and hence a source of tension. Cost savings is one thing which i will probably enjoy. After remaining broke for the longest durations, the thought of actually having money in my account at the end of month is really awesome :) The food is definitely way better now!! WAY BETTER!! Last night i had the BEST Biryani on the planet. Followed by some aweomse biscuit pudding. Probably second best. The one I have whenever in jaipur, that is the best :) Don't worry, if you ever visit me and my house, you shall get to enjoy the food.
Whenever i will be able to, the parties that i throw will be LEGEN.... wait for it..DAIRY!! Of course pretty much every weekend at 59PC was Legendairy! (In case you are reading this Anju & Mekh, i know the spelling is wrong) My commute to work as i have discovered the past 2 days has increased atleast 15-20 min depending on traffic. Last night, getting home was quite the drive because there were Jams everywhere! The one thing which is quite sad is that nowhere closeby is there a fricking shop. CP is closeby, as areKhan and Bengali Markets but ,christ, just to buy a pen, I will have to drive a good 15 min, pay for parking and what not. That sucks! Also the environment is a little too formal. I can't do anything in the house without somebody knowing.
One thing that I will definitely enjoy is playing my guitar. In case i did not announce it earlier, I now own an electric guitar. Mid may, or even before I shall be inviting people for a concert featuring the immensely talented Zinc. While i had planned this when my parents will be out of town. I was amazed when dad suggested this on sunday evening. I was like, yea sure why not!! Please visit http://myspace.com/zincdelhi and let me know if yall want a CD which these guys put out. Super stuff!! :)
I think this is enough rambling for today. Please Please comment on my writing. Say something please.
Cheers
Important Dates to remember: May 11th and June 4th
The duration when my parents are out of the country and Menon Mansion is open for business :)
People tell me its an upgrade. I don't disagree. However, there are certain mitigating factors which make this move bittersweet. I hope to cover most of them as I ramble on. Sure it's a bigger house but that's what it is, a house not home like 59PC. That's not to say that this won't become home sometime in the future. In the words of Bodo (Mr. Nair knows exactly what I am saying) "Yaar, feel nahin aa rahi!" My room is quite massive, but the way I see it, its gonna be tough to fit in the entire 59PC into 1 room. :P I am quite sure about one thing though, the bathroom, well in my case the bathrooms are quite the upgrade. Why Bathrooms? you ponder, well that's coz i have 2. W00t! :) Here's the thing, I have a big ass Bathroom, it has an Emergency exit and a connected toilet. But connected to that connected toilet is another full fledged washroom complete with a men's urinal (literally). The second bathroom is apparently for guests who are at the Garden Parties thrown at the premises :) Did i mention the sprawling Lawns and the OUTDOOR BAR! Hell yeah!
Moving on, the compound of the new place is quite the shizzle! Massive with a veggie field out back. Mom though was sceptical about how long it would take to get things in order and grow our own veggies. Carrie (short for Caramel, our dog) ofcourse is having a good time. When left outdoors, she has new places to explore. Luckily for us the compound is quite secure and she can't really escape to roam Anthony's or Vajpayee's place. Sorry to name drop, but i have quite the lot of neighbours. The name board outside commands a salute and i am filled with pride everytime i am entering the house! :) I shall be putting up snaps soon enough and will put up the link here!
Staying with me parents, is quite the task for a freebird like me. I do have quite the cool dude and dudette as parents but our ideas of what's good for arjun are quite varied and hence a source of tension. Cost savings is one thing which i will probably enjoy. After remaining broke for the longest durations, the thought of actually having money in my account at the end of month is really awesome :) The food is definitely way better now!! WAY BETTER!! Last night i had the BEST Biryani on the planet. Followed by some aweomse biscuit pudding. Probably second best. The one I have whenever in jaipur, that is the best :) Don't worry, if you ever visit me and my house, you shall get to enjoy the food.
Whenever i will be able to, the parties that i throw will be LEGEN.... wait for it..DAIRY!! Of course pretty much every weekend at 59PC was Legendairy! (In case you are reading this Anju & Mekh, i know the spelling is wrong) My commute to work as i have discovered the past 2 days has increased atleast 15-20 min depending on traffic. Last night, getting home was quite the drive because there were Jams everywhere! The one thing which is quite sad is that nowhere closeby is there a fricking shop. CP is closeby, as areKhan and Bengali Markets but ,christ, just to buy a pen, I will have to drive a good 15 min, pay for parking and what not. That sucks! Also the environment is a little too formal. I can't do anything in the house without somebody knowing.
One thing that I will definitely enjoy is playing my guitar. In case i did not announce it earlier, I now own an electric guitar. Mid may, or even before I shall be inviting people for a concert featuring the immensely talented Zinc. While i had planned this when my parents will be out of town. I was amazed when dad suggested this on sunday evening. I was like, yea sure why not!! Please visit http://myspace.com/zincdelhi and let me know if yall want a CD which these guys put out. Super stuff!! :)
I think this is enough rambling for today. Please Please comment on my writing. Say something please.
Cheers
Important Dates to remember: May 11th and June 4th
The duration when my parents are out of the country and Menon Mansion is open for business :)
January 15, 2009
Breaking News
You know, the past few days I have been wondering how I could give 59PC a great sendoff. How could it be memorable. Well last night/early this morning all that became irrelevant. My dearest friends are engaged and believe it or not, 59PC had a big hand to play.
Arjun Mohanrao and Tanya Thamburaj are officially engaged. Arjun sprang the surprise on krishna (my brother) and me last night. No, I don't mean that he asked Krishna to marry him :P He asked her and once he got home gave us the guarantee card for the ring but had to still spell it out to us coz we weren't about to believe it anytime. Well played my friend. Well played. He's has been in for quite a bit of flak this past few months over his indecision regarding this issue but while nobody was looking he popped the question and surprised us all.
CONGRATS to both of yall! I can safely say, I am going to be part of the wedding. (You don't have a choice in the matter)
I do hope that atleast one of you reads this! :)
Edit: I know Arjun has read it so I am :D. Have a good trip my friend. Be safe and I shall see ya...... ONLINE for AA baby! Yeah! :)
Guava!
Arjun Mohanrao and Tanya Thamburaj are officially engaged. Arjun sprang the surprise on krishna (my brother) and me last night. No, I don't mean that he asked Krishna to marry him :P He asked her and once he got home gave us the guarantee card for the ring but had to still spell it out to us coz we weren't about to believe it anytime. Well played my friend. Well played. He's has been in for quite a bit of flak this past few months over his indecision regarding this issue but while nobody was looking he popped the question and surprised us all.
CONGRATS to both of yall! I can safely say, I am going to be part of the wedding. (You don't have a choice in the matter)
I do hope that atleast one of you reads this! :)
Edit: I know Arjun has read it so I am :D. Have a good trip my friend. Be safe and I shall see ya...... ONLINE for AA baby! Yeah! :)
Guava!
January 9, 2009
CAT Chronicles II
Well good day to you folks. This morning as i was going to get ready for work, i realised the date was 9th January. It is doomsday. My head began thinking of the verbal abuses i would be receiving over the next few weeks and months. I had to still find out how much i had screwed up so i went to look for my admit card. After a few minutes of searching, during which caramel (my dog) kept looking at me funny, i found it and cursed my luck. At first I assumed that why torture myself now. Lemme check the scores in the privacy of my cubicle at work.
On second thoughts, "Why embarass yourself at work?" Check your scores now and dont have to tell anyone.
What happened next well, lets just say, I came to work and can't really go home for a long long time.
email me for more details :)
Just kidding. How do I feel? Check out the video!
I am in the top 3% of people who gave the CAT!
Thanks!! :)
Peace out! Please pray that i get into a good college and call this series to a close :)
On second thoughts, "Why embarass yourself at work?" Check your scores now and dont have to tell anyone.
What happened next well, lets just say, I came to work and can't really go home for a long long time.
email me for more details :)
Just kidding. How do I feel? Check out the video!
I am in the top 3% of people who gave the CAT!
Thanks!! :)
Peace out! Please pray that i get into a good college and call this series to a close :)
January 6, 2009
Time for a change!
Lets start out with the usual HAPPY NEW YEAR! In case you did not receive my "Greetings" email, i would like to take this opportunity to apologise.
I hope to take this blog in a different direction from hereon. No more posting other authors articles. I shall try and stay indegenous from now onwards. I will probably have to take leads from others and gather information from wiki or imdb but i shall consciously try and keep that to a minimum.
India has been screaming "be the change" off late. While we can't all be activists, i shall do as i see fit to bring about change wherever i can. Polls show that indians are choosing the Unnamed and unknown soldier as the Indian of the year. Well personally, the indian soldier has always been and will always be the indian of the year.
I am terribly happy to see Omar Abdullah take over as CM in J&K. Its a step in the right path. Yesterday I saw the press conference held by the Foreign Secy Shiv Shankar Menon. If only all diplomats were as well spoken and learned as him, i think we would be so much better off. Following SSM we had Pranab Mukherjee giving a statement. The difference in delivery was massive. With all due respect to Mr. Mukherjee, I think compared to SSM he sucked big time!
Things are changing. I think we are moving in the right direction. Sure we have roadblocks like the recession, corruption, pakistan and what not standing in the way but there is still a hope.
Jai Hind!
I hope to take this blog in a different direction from hereon. No more posting other authors articles. I shall try and stay indegenous from now onwards. I will probably have to take leads from others and gather information from wiki or imdb but i shall consciously try and keep that to a minimum.
India has been screaming "be the change" off late. While we can't all be activists, i shall do as i see fit to bring about change wherever i can. Polls show that indians are choosing the Unnamed and unknown soldier as the Indian of the year. Well personally, the indian soldier has always been and will always be the indian of the year.
I am terribly happy to see Omar Abdullah take over as CM in J&K. Its a step in the right path. Yesterday I saw the press conference held by the Foreign Secy Shiv Shankar Menon. If only all diplomats were as well spoken and learned as him, i think we would be so much better off. Following SSM we had Pranab Mukherjee giving a statement. The difference in delivery was massive. With all due respect to Mr. Mukherjee, I think compared to SSM he sucked big time!
Things are changing. I think we are moving in the right direction. Sure we have roadblocks like the recession, corruption, pakistan and what not standing in the way but there is still a hope.
Jai Hind!
December 19, 2008
Stellar Scenes Part I
This past week I was surfing channels on the idiot box when i thought of this post. Like quite a few of my posts i hope to make this part of a series. I am going to list out a few scenes from famous/infamous movies or tv shows which i can watch over and over and over again.
Scene 1
Of course i will have to start with the Movie which gave me my username. THE MATRIX. Now this movie i remember watching around 3 times at the Rex theatre in bangalore. and multimillion times at home on the tv and computer. The entire movie for me is stellar scene after scene after scene. I will list out only 1 in this post and its the one which i remember seeing 2 nites ago.
The training sequence of Neo where he's learning various styles of combat. He opens his eyes and says to Morpheus. "I know kung-fu!" This is followed by the first indication that Neo is the one! That fight sequence was awesome. I can watch it any time. The morning after, i came to work and on my white board i quoted Morpheus "Don't think you are. Know you are!!" Mindblasting! :D
Scene 2
I think this is one of those feel good scenes which have you humming the song at the end. STEPMOM. While the movie has julia roberts, the scene only has Susan Sarandon and her kids. Its the scene when they sing "Ain't no mountain high enough". Very spontaneous, spunky and fun. It brings a smile to my face. The son is very cute as is the girl and they bring about a sense of joy in this scene which is uplifting to anybody's mood.
Scene 3
As we are all aware recently 2 stellar actors came together for the second time and this time unlike the first they had way more screen time together than the first outing. People expected fireworks but were instead treated to a damp squib. The actors of course are Al Pacino & Robert de Niro and the movie righteous kill (Previous outing was "Heat"). I watched the movie and called for Al Pacino to quit acting because of his dismal peformance this past few years. Of course a few years back I would never say such a thing. He's awesome but i would rather remember him for his brilliant performance as Lt. Col Frank Slade in SCENT OF A WOMAN. The scene i most recall at this moment is of course, the Tango! Hooaah! It was the best dancing scene i had ever seen. Its engraved in my mind and i dont think anyone can top that. Gabrielle Anwar (Super hot!!) was excellent. Al though stole the show with this movie. Memorable performance to say the least! :D
That's all for now folks. Hopefully i should get in another post before the new year. Am travelling to pune today! Take Care you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, you family, friends, neighbours and other random people you know. :D
Oh and party at 59PC starts 2000hrs on 31st. Please RSVP via email/phone.
Cheers!
Scene 1
Of course i will have to start with the Movie which gave me my username. THE MATRIX. Now this movie i remember watching around 3 times at the Rex theatre in bangalore. and multimillion times at home on the tv and computer. The entire movie for me is stellar scene after scene after scene. I will list out only 1 in this post and its the one which i remember seeing 2 nites ago.
The training sequence of Neo where he's learning various styles of combat. He opens his eyes and says to Morpheus. "I know kung-fu!" This is followed by the first indication that Neo is the one! That fight sequence was awesome. I can watch it any time. The morning after, i came to work and on my white board i quoted Morpheus "Don't think you are. Know you are!!" Mindblasting! :D
Scene 2
I think this is one of those feel good scenes which have you humming the song at the end. STEPMOM. While the movie has julia roberts, the scene only has Susan Sarandon and her kids. Its the scene when they sing "Ain't no mountain high enough". Very spontaneous, spunky and fun. It brings a smile to my face. The son is very cute as is the girl and they bring about a sense of joy in this scene which is uplifting to anybody's mood.
Scene 3
As we are all aware recently 2 stellar actors came together for the second time and this time unlike the first they had way more screen time together than the first outing. People expected fireworks but were instead treated to a damp squib. The actors of course are Al Pacino & Robert de Niro and the movie righteous kill (Previous outing was "Heat"). I watched the movie and called for Al Pacino to quit acting because of his dismal peformance this past few years. Of course a few years back I would never say such a thing. He's awesome but i would rather remember him for his brilliant performance as Lt. Col Frank Slade in SCENT OF A WOMAN. The scene i most recall at this moment is of course, the Tango! Hooaah! It was the best dancing scene i had ever seen. Its engraved in my mind and i dont think anyone can top that. Gabrielle Anwar (Super hot!!) was excellent. Al though stole the show with this movie. Memorable performance to say the least! :D
That's all for now folks. Hopefully i should get in another post before the new year. Am travelling to pune today! Take Care you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, you family, friends, neighbours and other random people you know. :D
Oh and party at 59PC starts 2000hrs on 31st. Please RSVP via email/phone.
Cheers!
December 12, 2008
Proud Son!
While the apple has fallen far from the tree, there is no doubt in my mind that "My daddy strongest, smartest, coolest, awesomest" Its time to SUIT UP! This is gonna be LEGEN..... wait for it!!! DAIRY!!!
While i pretty much told everyone about this earlier, as of today my dad is Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon. (he was Maj. Gen. Prakash Menon, for the uninitiated)
For security reasons, i shall not divulge anymore.
With this good news though, there is a bit of sad news. 59 PC will be taken away by January :(
I need to give 59PC a proper sendoff!
Watch this space for more details.
While i pretty much told everyone about this earlier, as of today my dad is Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon. (he was Maj. Gen. Prakash Menon, for the uninitiated)
For security reasons, i shall not divulge anymore.
With this good news though, there is a bit of sad news. 59 PC will be taken away by January :(
I need to give 59PC a proper sendoff!
Watch this space for more details.
November 18, 2008
Recount
When i first heard about "Recount" I didnt read the review. I just looked at the picture and found out who all were there in it. I was intrigued why stellar actors like Kevin Spacey, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern and Dennis Leary were acting in a TV movie. Okay fine, Dennis Leary is no stellar actor, i love his song "a$$hole" though. I also learnt that this was made for HBO. I knew instantly that this must be watched because a network which has shows like "Entourage" and "Californication", only produces pure gold. Remember Band of Brothers? Hell yea!
I am sure most of us have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 by Micheal Moore, in which he dissed Dubya big time. In all the accusations, he mentioned about impropreity of the elections. Well, this movie potrays the drama that unfolded post election. I, for one, knew that there was some drama but the extent of which i was unaware of.
Brilliantly made by Jay Roach, its a bit of a departure from his sort of movies. Jay Roach made AWESOME movies like Austin Powers, all 3 of em. He made Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. So this is a slight change.
The actors, all of em, superbly fit in their roles as Republican and Democratic Campaigners. Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson have major parts which they have pulled off with awesome ease. Dennis Leary is good. Yup he is. John Hurt was cool as cucumber in his small role. Laura Dern plays Secretary of State Katherine Harris and I think she's done a brilliant job. I just researched a lil and found out that All these 4 were nominated for Emmy Awards. Recount also won the Emmy for Best Directing and Best Made for TV Movie as well as Best Editing. Truly deserving! :D
I won't talk about the story here mainly because anything i say will give away the drama. What amazed me was how in gods name Dubya made president inspite of this. At the end of the movie, they showed actual news footage from that time and the resemblance of the actors with the real people is uncanny to say the least. Also the news footage shows that the movie is a potrayal of all that unfolded in that time.
I would recommend this movie to one and all. It's funny in parts. The anguish towards the end is heartfelt. It shows how even a powerful nation like America is not perfect. Far from it. The image of America (in my head) took a nose dive last nite! Although, every time i go to the google or apple website, its hard not to admire products that have come from there!
If i had to rate this movie. I would give it **** on *****.
I am sure most of us have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 by Micheal Moore, in which he dissed Dubya big time. In all the accusations, he mentioned about impropreity of the elections. Well, this movie potrays the drama that unfolded post election. I, for one, knew that there was some drama but the extent of which i was unaware of.
Brilliantly made by Jay Roach, its a bit of a departure from his sort of movies. Jay Roach made AWESOME movies like Austin Powers, all 3 of em. He made Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. So this is a slight change.
The actors, all of em, superbly fit in their roles as Republican and Democratic Campaigners. Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson have major parts which they have pulled off with awesome ease. Dennis Leary is good. Yup he is. John Hurt was cool as cucumber in his small role. Laura Dern plays Secretary of State Katherine Harris and I think she's done a brilliant job. I just researched a lil and found out that All these 4 were nominated for Emmy Awards. Recount also won the Emmy for Best Directing and Best Made for TV Movie as well as Best Editing. Truly deserving! :D
I won't talk about the story here mainly because anything i say will give away the drama. What amazed me was how in gods name Dubya made president inspite of this. At the end of the movie, they showed actual news footage from that time and the resemblance of the actors with the real people is uncanny to say the least. Also the news footage shows that the movie is a potrayal of all that unfolded in that time.
I would recommend this movie to one and all. It's funny in parts. The anguish towards the end is heartfelt. It shows how even a powerful nation like America is not perfect. Far from it. The image of America (in my head) took a nose dive last nite! Although, every time i go to the google or apple website, its hard not to admire products that have come from there!
If i had to rate this movie. I would give it **** on *****.
November 17, 2008
Happy Budday
I thought i should wish MADZY & PREETO A very very happy birthday! :)
Have a Blast. I am still reeling from yesterday! Preeto :)
Cheers
p.s Scooby is so cute!
Have a Blast. I am still reeling from yesterday! Preeto :)
Cheers
p.s Scooby is so cute!
CAT Chronicles
It's not often that one decides to poke fun at himself publicly! So, i would request that whoever reads this, please be gentle!
My tryst with CAT began a long time ago when i was in the second year of college. Those days (wow, seems fricking long ago) the IIMania was in its prime. Everybody was talking about it and how difficult the CAT is. CAT btw stands for Common Admission Test. Its the entrance exam held by the IIM's for their Management Courses, read MBA. A ton of other institutes also accept the scores for their own courses. So its the exam to take get into a good college. Those days, I had study material from Career Forum to help me prepare. Those books were rarely used and ended up collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom. I did read a few of the books for my parents sake and because i did make a vain attempt to prepare towards the end.
I gave the exam and while i knew that Quant, my achilles heel was gonna pull me down, Language, my crowning glory would help cover up the embarrassment of the low score. Now the scoring for cat is awesome. Its relative, so even if you screwed up, you hope and pray that others screwed up worse! So for example, If i get a 90th percentile, it means my score is better than 90% of the people who have written CAT. Its a nice feeling when you see a 90+ on the score card. Over the years i have gone from strength to strength (dats right) I have scored as high as a 95percentile. But as luck would have it, the interviews and GD's sucked and hence i am still giving it another shot.
This was my 6th Attempt at CAT. That's right 6th Attempt. I was there when they reduced the number of questions and had 2 marks questions. I was there when the paper leaked and for the first time in history the infallible CAT was rescheduled. I was even offered the paper the evening before the exam. I remember the conversation i had with my dad that evening where i was actually contemplating the buy and he told me something in the vein of "Somebody gonna get hurt real bad. Somebody" I remember cursing my luck that day only to learn the next day after the CAT that its been cancelled. I guess sometimes daddy and mommy do get it right!
Anyway, so i have seen it evolve and get tougher every year. More candidates sign up and the competition is cut-throat. But as with most of my attempts at CAT, i was ill-prepared for this one. Heck, I had prayed that they reject my application. :P Anyhoo, i was assigned a center in Mayur Vihar. That's trans-yamuna. That means its f@#$%&g far. That also means, i have never been there before. The prev nite, i spent time going over the map and decided on a route. I left arnd and hour and a half before reporting time thinking I will be there well in time. Boy, was i wrong! I got lost a coupla times and as with Delhiites and their directions, nobody will admit they don't know, all of them will say "Go Straight!" Luckily that area was one market after another and while it was a gamble to stop and ask for directions as you end up blocking traffic, I finally found a cycle rickshaw fellow (god bless him) who told me exactly where to go!
I reached just in time for and rushed in. I found myself wondering what's gonna happen this time as i walked up the stairs. Upon finding my assigned room, i realised that it was a 2nd standard classroom. Cursing my luck, i squeezed into the desk to realised that this was gonna be one long exam. I couldn't move my legs an inch and within 5 mins i was beginning to get restless. In my restlessness and this happens quite a bit with me, this thought creeped into my mind out of the blue. Have you locked the car? I had left my phone and ipod in the dashboard so i was even more worried. As i tried to dismiss the thought, the test procedure started. Using that to take my mind off the car, i filled up the answer sheet with the personal details and what not. I happened to glance over and the dude sitting in the next row was acting shady. To my amazement, he was trying to cheat. I wanted to laugh and tell him, dude its the cat. Unless you have the fricking answer key, nothing will help. He had written some shit on his left arm, which he was writing on his desk and then rubbing off his arm. Thank god for that idiot coz i completely forgot abt the car till the exam ended. I was paralysed for a lil bit as my legs dint like the treatment.
The exam as i perceived it, was quite easy. I regret not having prepped quant enough. That said, i dont know if it wouldve helped anyway. :P
I shall let yall know what my score is. If not too embarassing of course! :)
In case any of you require any help with CAT please feel free to contact Career Launcher coz I ain't going down as a CAT advisor! :)
Oh and BTW, the car was locked and the my phone/ipod were safe! What a relief!
My tryst with CAT began a long time ago when i was in the second year of college. Those days (wow, seems fricking long ago) the IIMania was in its prime. Everybody was talking about it and how difficult the CAT is. CAT btw stands for Common Admission Test. Its the entrance exam held by the IIM's for their Management Courses, read MBA. A ton of other institutes also accept the scores for their own courses. So its the exam to take get into a good college. Those days, I had study material from Career Forum to help me prepare. Those books were rarely used and ended up collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom. I did read a few of the books for my parents sake and because i did make a vain attempt to prepare towards the end.
I gave the exam and while i knew that Quant, my achilles heel was gonna pull me down, Language, my crowning glory would help cover up the embarrassment of the low score. Now the scoring for cat is awesome. Its relative, so even if you screwed up, you hope and pray that others screwed up worse! So for example, If i get a 90th percentile, it means my score is better than 90% of the people who have written CAT. Its a nice feeling when you see a 90+ on the score card. Over the years i have gone from strength to strength (dats right) I have scored as high as a 95percentile. But as luck would have it, the interviews and GD's sucked and hence i am still giving it another shot.
This was my 6th Attempt at CAT. That's right 6th Attempt. I was there when they reduced the number of questions and had 2 marks questions. I was there when the paper leaked and for the first time in history the infallible CAT was rescheduled. I was even offered the paper the evening before the exam. I remember the conversation i had with my dad that evening where i was actually contemplating the buy and he told me something in the vein of "Somebody gonna get hurt real bad. Somebody" I remember cursing my luck that day only to learn the next day after the CAT that its been cancelled. I guess sometimes daddy and mommy do get it right!
Anyway, so i have seen it evolve and get tougher every year. More candidates sign up and the competition is cut-throat. But as with most of my attempts at CAT, i was ill-prepared for this one. Heck, I had prayed that they reject my application. :P Anyhoo, i was assigned a center in Mayur Vihar. That's trans-yamuna. That means its f@#$%&g far. That also means, i have never been there before. The prev nite, i spent time going over the map and decided on a route. I left arnd and hour and a half before reporting time thinking I will be there well in time. Boy, was i wrong! I got lost a coupla times and as with Delhiites and their directions, nobody will admit they don't know, all of them will say "Go Straight!" Luckily that area was one market after another and while it was a gamble to stop and ask for directions as you end up blocking traffic, I finally found a cycle rickshaw fellow (god bless him) who told me exactly where to go!
I reached just in time for and rushed in. I found myself wondering what's gonna happen this time as i walked up the stairs. Upon finding my assigned room, i realised that it was a 2nd standard classroom. Cursing my luck, i squeezed into the desk to realised that this was gonna be one long exam. I couldn't move my legs an inch and within 5 mins i was beginning to get restless. In my restlessness and this happens quite a bit with me, this thought creeped into my mind out of the blue. Have you locked the car? I had left my phone and ipod in the dashboard so i was even more worried. As i tried to dismiss the thought, the test procedure started. Using that to take my mind off the car, i filled up the answer sheet with the personal details and what not. I happened to glance over and the dude sitting in the next row was acting shady. To my amazement, he was trying to cheat. I wanted to laugh and tell him, dude its the cat. Unless you have the fricking answer key, nothing will help. He had written some shit on his left arm, which he was writing on his desk and then rubbing off his arm. Thank god for that idiot coz i completely forgot abt the car till the exam ended. I was paralysed for a lil bit as my legs dint like the treatment.
The exam as i perceived it, was quite easy. I regret not having prepped quant enough. That said, i dont know if it wouldve helped anyway. :P
I shall let yall know what my score is. If not too embarassing of course! :)
In case any of you require any help with CAT please feel free to contact Career Launcher coz I ain't going down as a CAT advisor! :)
Oh and BTW, the car was locked and the my phone/ipod were safe! What a relief!
November 5, 2008
Music I Recommend. Dated November 2008
While there are a ton of things to post about in my life, i thought this would be appreciated.... This is a list of stuff i am listening to these days.... Comments please.
First up is my obsession at the moment :) Some of you might have already been bombarded by me to listen to this. Its killer! Especially since i can play the main riff on zhe guitar :) Muhahahahhaha! :D
This one is called "Let it Die" by the Foo Fighters! Dave Grohl is one talented mofo...
The next one is called "I will possess your heart" by Death Cab For A Cutie. Weird band name i know. Cool song!! I have included two versions. The unextended intro version and the extended intro version. Love both!!
You gotta spend some time, Love!
You gotta spend some time with me,
and i know that you'll find love,
I will possess your heart!
Nice lyrics! :)
Next up is "Addicted" by Saving Abel. I like the lyrics. The video has a slightly modified version of the lyrics. I couldnt get an embeddable version so its just the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3MK8dLyvc
What i listen to first upon entry in my car is this next one! Won't name it... This dudes a fricking genius!! If anyone can get their hands on the DVD please please let me know! I have searched without success for a version online! :(
This song hasnt left my favorites list since i heard it some time back. Also the OST for "Life, Love and All That!" :) "Love Hurts" by Incubus. These guys are incredibly talented! Brandon Boyd has one of the best voices on the planet. Check out their Morning View Sessions on youtube! If you call me, you will hear the sweet sound of Incubus before hearing me sexy voice :D
This shall be a continuing series so look out!
FYI comments are mandatory. You dont need to signup to comment people! :D Jeez what a sellout I am huh?
First up is my obsession at the moment :) Some of you might have already been bombarded by me to listen to this. Its killer! Especially since i can play the main riff on zhe guitar :) Muhahahahhaha! :D
This one is called "Let it Die" by the Foo Fighters! Dave Grohl is one talented mofo...
The next one is called "I will possess your heart" by Death Cab For A Cutie. Weird band name i know. Cool song!! I have included two versions. The unextended intro version and the extended intro version. Love both!!
You gotta spend some time, Love!
You gotta spend some time with me,
and i know that you'll find love,
I will possess your heart!
Nice lyrics! :)
Next up is "Addicted" by Saving Abel. I like the lyrics. The video has a slightly modified version of the lyrics. I couldnt get an embeddable version so its just the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3MK8dLyvc
What i listen to first upon entry in my car is this next one! Won't name it... This dudes a fricking genius!! If anyone can get their hands on the DVD please please let me know! I have searched without success for a version online! :(
This song hasnt left my favorites list since i heard it some time back. Also the OST for "Life, Love and All That!" :) "Love Hurts" by Incubus. These guys are incredibly talented! Brandon Boyd has one of the best voices on the planet. Check out their Morning View Sessions on youtube! If you call me, you will hear the sweet sound of Incubus before hearing me sexy voice :D
This shall be a continuing series so look out!
FYI comments are mandatory. You dont need to signup to comment people! :D Jeez what a sellout I am huh?
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