Late by only a few years..

Image Courtesy: www.collider.com
Another of those awesome posters

This post is long overdue and I apologise. It slipped my mind a couple of times and I tried to avoid it the other times, because the Ledger post had way too many whining about how I'd blasphemed against the greatest actor that ever lived.

But anyway, here I am again..
The Dark Knight- easily the grittiest superhero comic book movie I've seen. That and all the other used and abused adjectives people use to describe this movie. Tight direction, a few decent performances, high adrenalin action, visually delicious and an above average script to go, its small wonder every single movie goer has lapped up this celluloid offering from the Nolan brothers.

In a quick run up, here's the dirt- Bale brings disgrace to the Batsuit. I may go as far as to even brand him the comic relief in a movie, that would have been tagged as 'dark' had it not been for him.
Gyllenhall, didn't impress like she usually does, and the sadist within me rejoiced when she blew up, disappointed however, that it couldnt be Bale instead.

Aaron Eckhart shines in the movie, and was killed off way before he could show off his acting powress or even kill himself offscreen, what with the extended shooting hours.

Freeman fit just perfect, like he does into any role he is handed. Caine on the other hand ought to.. well.. just retire already!

Ledger, I admit was better than I expected, but fell short of the hype I'd ranted on about earlier. His Joker shines in a movie that has no other decent performances to boast off, save for Eckhart's.

So there we have it. Overhyped beyond belief, this movie once again goes to prove how people will mindlessly follow anything that is even remotely popular. Kudos however to the excellent marketing on this one; Not to mention the movie posters, each one better than the one before it.

All said and done, I did enjoy this movie, though a summer movie that runs on for about 150 minutes is simply asking for it.

Curiosity killed the cat, procastination shot it in the head to make sure it was dead.

I'll post something soon.
I promise!

When boredom hits new heights.. literally...

Image Courtesy: www.imajsteeldoors.com

We decided to test the limits of boredom, on the not so hot and sticky afternoon of October the 30th. With 3 hours to kill, having done our assignments weeks before the deadline, we set out on a little adventure that would have done the pot smoking creators of Dora the Explorer proud.

Never having really understood the architectural intricacies of our wonderful wonderful university *stab*, we decided to check out the brand new concrete addition to our campus- the building that houses the engineering department of our college. Yes, engineering... as if my university wasn't Indian enough already.

So we climbed the floors.. examining each one and cribbing about how our block wasn't half as impressive. One of the two males from my 'Team Adventure' , Zaheen, true to his six year old self, stole a saw from the engineering workshop and then proceeded to almost put my eye out with it. The rest of the group consists of perfectly sane people- Aneesha, who thinks any time is photo time; the high heels donning Disha, with her bathmophobia; Keegan, my Mensa pothead who spent the entire time looking for a good spot to smoke up, and ofcourse, Zaheen- Curious George, wide eyed, fidgety and all of six years old.

After about an hour of reliving childhood days on the jungle gym by squeezing in and out of the tangle of pipes and ladders on the roof; We managed to lock ourselves outside on the roof of the building... We then proceeded to momentarily panic before calling up our friends to leave their classes and come rescue us.
We'd just about decided on sending signals in the air using the fire extinguisher and decided on eating Keegan first, if we were stuck there forever.
My overactive imagination had by then given birth to a whole new generation that had sprung up as a result of horny media kids mating, a culture that accepted dokha smoking as a privilege allowed to a select few, a people who worshiped the fire-extinguisher as a benevolent but dormant God who occasionally awoke to hiss out the last few remnants of what was once used to put out fire; The 'mediakidsstuckontheengineeringblockrooftop' tribe who lived in the belief that the last puff would mark the end of the world..

Back to reality now,
My favorite moment of the day, Jerry coming to 'rescue' us, waving a specific finger high up in the air.

Life Lessons learnt:
- Assignments are meant to be completed minutes before their deadlines.
- Fire exits don't always open both ways.
- I now have a perfect venue for a post-graduation day kegger.

Blessy.

PS: Click here to see what Disha has to say about our adrenalin pumping adventure.

New Blog

Blogger's gotten to me again. I want to start a new blog. My third one.
I dont know why, as I'm already struggling to update the two that I do own.
But I still want another one. And I'll get around to doing it when im on my weekly caffeine high. Till then, I'm going to allow sloth take over.
The new one is going to be a movie review blog. I hope I do a good job of it.
Will keep you updated.
:D
cheers!

One World One Dream... part 2

India won her first ever cluster of medals this year at the Olympics. This ought to be the final push that the Indian Government needs to finally invest a lot more into the much needed building up of the terribly backward sports infrastructure; One that poses a crippling setback to the performance of Indian sportspersons at international sporting events.

Abhinav Bindra
10m Air Rifle event
(Gold)
Image Courtesy: www.topnews.in

.

Sushil Kumar......
Men's 66kg freestyle Wrestling
(Bronze)
Image Courtesy: www.cricket.zeenews.com


....

. Vijendra Kumar....
.Boxing- Middleweight.
(Bronze) ..
.Image Courtesy: www.tribuneindia.com.

Keep these faces in mind people. Here come the countless endorsements.

One World One Dream... my rather dated rant on the Olympics

Image Courtesy: www.olympicgames.lt

The 2008 Beijing Olympics opening and the closing ceremony were the two most beautiful spectacles my television screen has ever offered me. I sat through the entire opening ceremony. Twice. Though I admit to having dozed off for a while when the never ending list of countries paraded in.
Its amazing how six colorful rings have so much power. How a sporting event manages to draw people from all over and bring them closer. How countries like Iraq and North Korea, that are rather twitchy by nature, were welcomed just like all the others; How all the world set aside their differences to come together at one place to compete in the spirit of the Olympics.



The closing ceremony was equally brilliant if not better than the opening ceremony. The Chinese Government have left no stone unturned in their attempt to assure that these will linger in the minds of viewers for a very long time.
Call it a desperate attempt to be accepted by the West, but they sure have done a good job of it.
One can not help but wonder if the mind boggling expenditure figures, could have been put to better use rather than being spent on a highly extravagant excuse to flaunt their country's progress to the rest of the world.



The ceremonies themselves were without a doubt, awe-inspiring. The careful mix of both technology and tradition is what made this one a cut above the previous Olympic ceremonies. London has quite a lot to live up to. It's preview of what to expect from it in 2010 was rather pathetic, as it only went to show how much London depends on star power to endorse itself.

The land where flat packs rule...

Image Courtesy: www.ikea.com

What is it that makes this store is so endlessly fascinating? I crib every time my folks tag me along to Ikea and yet I sulk when they say its time to go home. How on earth does a home products retail store prove to be so bewitching?
Just what is it about that place that makes it so...dare I say it?.. magical!..
Everything about this store, from its ceiling high shelves filled with brown cardboard boxes and their ability to flat pack just about anything, and how the staff are almost always so damn nice; from their bright yellow carry bags, to the surprisingly efficient trolleys, to the food that is insanely good for a home products store, all of their weird furniture and almost every conceivable home accessory, right down to their catalogues that make you drool after every interior design combination shown inside.
I met the cherry pitter for the first time at Ikea, and I must say we took rather well to each other.
I want everything... from the colorful throws, to the endless line of wicker furniture. I want it all.. I love this place. I love how you can identify the building from miles away thanks to its bright color, I love how you can just dump your kids in a ball pen and shop till you drop. I love how nobody frowns when u pick up things and bounce them about,or feel them up, even stretch them out if needed; and how almost everything runs on a principle of self assembly. I love how everything has a wonderfully exotic and imaginative name, each one that stubbornly refuses to be pronounced. All of this adds to the magic that is Ikea.
Who needs adventure when you have good old Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd to liven up your days? When a place like this gets me excited to the point of exhaustion, I say its time to put up my feet and raise a toast...
*Clink* Here's to ageing prematurely.
You can have all the excitement. All I need is my champagne glass and my comfy new armchair from, you guessed it, Ikea!

Image Courtesy: http://www.canvasli.com

All's not well in Celebland..

Just when the world had grown at ease with DeGeneres and De Rossi, and had grown accustomed to Lohan's wild partying and her constant and rather useless trips to rehab; From the land of celebs comes a combination of the two, in the form of Lohan's current squeeze: Samantha Ronson.
Gossip mags call her a gold digging little *censored* who is no good for Lindsay whatsoever. Sound familiar? The photos of the two are all over the place. They remind me of a not too distant Doherty and Kate Moss scenario.

Time for a little game of Spot the difference between the following pictures =)

nbvklmnbvckjh

Speaking of similarities, Ronson and Doherty seem to be perfect for each other, why you can barely tell them apart!
And No! Lindsay dearest, this is not your cue to move on to Moss next. The world run out of hunky Greek heirs and the fellow spoilt celeb brats you used to go for?


Images Courtesy: http://www.connietalk.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Ledger mania

Image Courtesy: http://www.moviepulp.be

Another superhero movie. Don't they just make the perfect summer releases? But this one seems to be the most awaited of them all, not to mention the most successful release in recent film history. With due respect to Heath Ledger, I wonder if this movie could have possibly gained the same hype, had it not been for his untimely death. Every one who has seen the movie, does nothing but to sing praises of Ledger's acting. Being one of the more serious actors of the industry, its not like I expected him to mess up this role. But I've seen almost every preview, every poster and the reviews he is getting sound a little too exaggerated. Weepy movie watchers, emotionally charged co-actors hail him the Joker ever. Most of this over-appreciation has to stem from his death.
To praise his acting is one thing, to brand him the best Joker ever is just....

Nicholson's Joker was everything the Joker was supposed to be, and so much more! A supervillian with the power to instill a mixed sense of humor and fear, a pairing that is the first of its kind; and Nicholson outdid himself in what was one of his rare displays of acting talent. The comedy element came as a relief in the otherwise too dark movie, without going over the top. Moviegoers argue that Ledger played his part to perfection. But what people refuse to see is that his character was always written up as dark and intimidating, and play that well, he did. But its a pretty easy part to play. Imagine any other actor with a single serious bone in him, reprising Ledger's role. See how easy it is?!..
The gossip rags are abuzz with news of Ledger being up for a posthumous Oscar. The odds of him winning it are plenty. If not for best actor, then I assure you he will bag "special awards" at the various award ceremonies. Another news making its rounds on the grapevine is that of Terry Gillian accusing Warner Bros of 'shamelessly capitalizing in on Ledger's death'; and of course, their denial of the same.
Had it been Nicholson who kicked the bucket instead of Ledger, the latter would have been subject to a volley of comparisons, each one concluding that Nicholson was the better Joker. Today a man needs to die to prove his worth. Not having seen the movie yet, I will gladly eat my words should Ledger live up to the all the ballyhoo.
Here's a video currently making its rounds on the web:

In all fairness..

The world of television programming is peppered.. to sneezing point, with advertisements of just about every product imaginable.
I'm still reeling with disgust at having seen an ad for a fairness cream. It actually made me turn of the television in revulsion. If you knew me, you'd know how difficult it is to get me to turn off the TV.
The ad had a young and UNsucessful woman, finding success at her feet as soon as she begins to use a particular fairness cream. Not only does the glop take away her previously dark skin, it also allows her to overcome every obstacle she couldn't earlier. Fair skin supposedly gives the women confidence in themselves, which leads them to try new avenues and in the end, succeed in everything. Relationships, careers, material possessions....All by the power of fair skin..?
DISGUSTING! What sort of message does this send out to dark/not so fair skinned women world wide..? Not just women, isn't this an indirect message to men to choose fair skinned women over others..? Even men are not spared from the clutches of the fairness cream. Move over 'tall, dark and handsome'; here comes metrosexuality.

The very root of racial differences is the supposed superiority of fair skinned over the non.
"Skin color has nothing to do with how beautiful, or successful a person is." While accepted by most. There are some who find the above statement very hard to digest. Who is to tell whether such thoughts are not the seeds sown by exposure to such propaganda..? South Asia is the prime market for these corporations,where sales of skin lightening products are sky high. This can be attributed to a pre-established cultural belief of the characteristically darker skinned people of the region who equate fairness with high caste status, good looks and high eligibility for marriage.

I am aware that they are a profit oriented industry with little else to lose. But I wonder if these people are aware of the effects of such adverts? Cashing in on the South East Asian mentality where fair skin rules the roost is not very commendable and to top that they do it while hiding beneath the cover of such cosmetics being a matter of 'personal choice'.

Image Courtesy: www.indiantelevision.com

45 seconds of a fairness cream ad. That's 45 seconds of luring gullible customers into buying these products, 45 whole seconds of driving home the carelessly veiled message of the 'superiority' of fairer skin; not to mention the constant repetition of the same ads. These figures may be slightly dated, but with the advent of fairness creams for men, I can safely assume the 45 second segment has only increased further.
Click here for more figures of fairness creams TV advertising.

I find it difficult to believe that in a world like ours, with rising literacy rates and increasing global integration, one is still exposed to and influenced by such propaganda. Rather pitiful actually. And don't even get me started on the effectiveness of these products.
Tut tut cosmetics industry!... more on that later!


Here's a rather comprehensive article I found while surfing:
http://www.mcphate.com/clips/fairness.htm


On a lighter note, thanks to Muaz, my knight in shining armor when it comes to all my computer related problems, for helping me with this seemingly simple photoshop effect.

I hate...

I write because I need to. I write for the sheer joy of having overcome the crippling writer's block that I face every time I look at a blank page. But once I do manage to squeeze the words out; I hate how the words almost always sound way better when they're in my head rather than out on the final draft. I hate how I want to talk about so many important things but still end up talking about myself. I hate that my posts are so irregularly spaced , simply because I can never stop obsessing on a draft I'm working on; and how I can never get myself to hit the Publish Post button unless I'm completely satisfied with the post, which I never am.

'Write to express, not to impress' they say, but even that proves difficult most of the time. I'm handicapped with an irrational fear of being judged by people reading my words. I hate how most people have it easy, how they can write up absolutely anything without any of the drama that ensues whenever I sit down to write. And I hate how this post makes me seem like a whiny, disorganized, attention seeking negativist; the desperate call for appreciation this post seems to send out to any unfortunate soul reading my blog.

Image Courtesy: www.forensic-computing.nhs.uk

The old lady and her scripts.

I read movie scripts.

Yes I do. Scripts, also known to some as screenplays or even transcripts though they're not really the same.

Why? Movies are a wonderful invention. Don't get me wrong; I love all of them film makers and their constant look-at-what-i-made-mommy creations.

But scripts help satisfy my craving for literature as well, with ample visuals thrown in, some rather graphic, thanks to my overactive imagination. I stumbled into the world of scripts four years ago, and Ive been hooked on ever since. I've come across some extremely well written pieces. More often than not, movies fail to live up to the visual imagery that theirs scripts build up. There have been instances where I do not watch a well written movie for fear of being disappointed after the marvel that was its script.

More often than not people forget to credit the scriptwriters, when appreciating a well made movie. One needs to remember that it is the script that provides a base for the movie to build up on... a launch pad of sorts.. the neglected cornerstone even.

Once you begin to look at the scripts that way, then the WGA (Writers Guild of America)'s boycott of the Golden Globes this January begins to look a lot less unreasonable.

I've tried to persuade my friends to read scripts, tried to lure them over to the dark side,with promises of never missing out on a great movie
line ever again. I want others to experience the imagery that seems to jump right out of the page and throw itself at them, the words that
explode into a train of visuals within moments of being read.
The following is an excerpt from the script of Minority Report(2002). Taken from: www.dailyscript.com, the place i go to for all my script needs.

               DARKNESS

               And then, slowly emerging from the mists of darkness, a pale,

               beautifully proportioned FACE.

               The oval face is female, a woman of indeterminate age, her

               features as fragile as porcelain.  Her eyes are closed in

               sleep, or in death ... or in something in between.

               Now TWO MORE FACES emerge out of the darkness.  They are

               male, and they float into position on either side of the

               female.  They are just as ethereally beautiful, just as pale,

               and like the female their eyes are closed.

              The ghostly lips of the female begin to twitch.  Her features,

               which have been expressionless, suddenly contort, mask-like,

               into the face of a woman in fear. Her eyes open.

I rest my case.                                                                                      

who's up for a full dose of hypocrisy?

What's perfection anyways..? I don't think anybody has a definite answer to that one.. Though it differs from person to person, in the end it is nothing but an an illusion, yet we work so hard 2 get to that place. A place, that we've convinced ourselves to believe, exists. It gives us direction in life, something to chase after, something to look forward to; it gives meaning to those long and endless days of hard work. The monotony, the sweat.. all of it.

Then there are moments when we wake up and reality hits us... the illusion disappears.. as we're left direction less, the compass stops working, the ship goes wherever the current takes it..

I try to be perfect
but nothing was worth it,
I don't believe it makes me real.
I thought it'd be easy
but no one believes me
I meant all the things i said.

If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know.
Just to see if it would show,
that I'm trying to let you know
that I'm better off on my own.

This place is so empty
my thoughts are so tempting.
I don't know how it got so bad.
sometimes it's so crazy
that nothing can save me
but it's the only thing that I have.

- Sum 41 (Pieces)

We give up so much to try and achieve perfection. So much that we overlook the little joys in life. We isolate ourselves, pushing people away afraid that they may become slow us down. Perfection.. success... all at what cost?
Slow down! Take a minute! Stroll through life rather than run past it. Stop and smell the roses. Take it in, life in all its fullness. The futile chase after perfection can wait...

Note to self: read your own posts once in a while..

Why I hate people in general part-1

Every now and then I come across people who care or pretend to care about me enough to try and understand the complicated (you have been warned) person that I am. As touching as this 'bonding' experience tries to be it only serves to alienate me from the human population even further..

Acceptance is something I've always sought to receive. But I've reached a point in my life where i just don't care anymore. The point where I've woken up and taken a good hard look at the people who hold my "approval form" in their hands. The judging panel that shuns and alienates people who are even slightly different from the crowd at large. People all around are so self absorbed, I'm amazed at how they manage to get along with others who're probably self obsessed too anyways..

Wanna know what else is cool? Its amazing how everything that falls from my mouth manages to sound like a sob story when it should have the entirely opposite effect. Sympathy is the last thing I'm looking for..
Geeez!

damn them humans..

So this is where I am right now- in this very uncomfortable claustrophobic situation better defined as an ''excuse me-super crowded-squished-sorry-i-stepped-on-your-toe-sorry-i- elbowed-your-nose'' kinda situation that I'm desperate to get out of.. its not even a situation...
its more of an observation, a realization...
The complexity of the human race is overwhelmingly awesome.. like in AWESOME! long and stretched out.. not the word people use to fake pleasure/approval.
Most days I’m just amazed at how every person I meet manages to lower the stupidity bar by a hundredfold. But then there are days when people I interact with have me staring after them in awe.
The whole spectrum, from the super intelligent to the ones you can barely term 'civilized' ; the whole co-existence thing is awesome. Understatement of the year, I know!
Co-existence..ha! its more like patience to bear with the rest, personally I just want to blow up everyone in sight..
Our hopefully *praying hard* dormant inbuilt potential- (the true true potential) to build up and destroy things in a blink of an eye terrifies me. Quite a creature there, Man, rather intimidating.

No these aren't the memoirs of a cat/dog or any other animal who observe humans because they're fun to watch. So before I get to the part where I whine about how my masters don’t love me and feed me enough... I’m signing out..

And heyy! *defensive* This started with a full 20 minute stare at the screen.. and then just noncohesive rambling which is the purpose of my blog anyway.

PS: for the highly inquisitive, the 20 minute stare came after a 15 minute stare trying to remember my password.
Blogging sure is hard work.
And a definite cause for blindness.
Heres to losing my sight super soon.

peace..

quick! do wat u do best! get judgemental!

I come in peace! No, you don't have to take me to your leader or anything even slightly 50's-alien-movie-ish.. Just read up... though I cannot guarantee that you can still claim to be sane at the end of it all.. But then again, who is? So dig in...

Lets see now,
Introduction I'm a ## year old female living in Dubai. That should do for now, too much information and you tend to get too judgmental.

Why a blog...? Well.. I need to keep expressing myself on a full time basis, and if the medium chosen for expression is one that is so public and yet so nonrestrictive, then whoopee! *evil grin*.
I've started this blog to whine; whine about every thing life throws in my path.

I've had a hell of a time choosing a good name for this thing, kept me awake for nights at end... now that I've made it through that, I miss the other names too, so I decided to going to name every entry.. or atleast... every title worthy entry. Then I realised that blogspot already offers that option, then I realized that this entire sentence is a waste of space and that it sounded way better when in my head, then i finally settled with the realization that I don't give a rat's ass.. so there!

Happy reading...
Blashlee