Duh!

8*3 is not 18. I should get some sleep :-) And maybe, pay more attention to Golbguru's advise!

signing off,

Now I Know (Part 1)

... why they call it a 'howling wind'. The tall and seemingly sturdy trees outside my house, otherwise so comforting, were swaying so hard that at one time we feared one of them might fall on our apartment complex crushing us in our sleeps. But luckily that scenario never happened and I am glad to report that all of our walls are still standing.

But same could not be said about the power. PSE which is a primary electricity provider in the Greater Puget Sound cut off power to more than 700,000 households in the region, making King County one of the worst hit counties in WA state. Include all other people in rest of WA and OR states, the number quickly rose to over a million. While many of them, including me now have power restored, sitting in the couch with their hot lunch, some unfortunate ones may not get their power until after Christmas!

This was also the first time we lit our fireplaces at the apartment here. Some of us didn't know how to operate it and filled their houses with smokes triggering the fire-alarms and inviting as many as 4 fire-trucks in the apartment! But in general it was a exciting experience as we gathered around the fire, had cold snacks, played cards and some other silly games. And it also meant I did not access internet for more than 48 hrs straight which may be a record for last two-three years.

PS: This post started out on that windy Thursday night, but couldn't be published before because of the reasons obvious.

signing off,

So Long Frank!

Frank Barone has left us. May his soul rest in peace. I hope he finds his recliner, tv, remote and a sandwich or lasagna set up for him over there.

signing off,

The Happiest Place on Earth

Now it is a norm that there is a rain (or a storm, snow or a developing tornedo) wherever I go. Seattle in Sep 05 (Duh!), LA in Oct 05, Philly and DC in Jan 06, Raliegh NC in Sep 06 and now Anaheim CA in Nov 06. And now we are having this Arctic blast in WA state, one of the worst patches in recent Northwest history, causing heavy snow storms and temperatures in teens in Federal Way! What is the deal with this North American weather and me?

Meanwhile, with your indulgence, here are few snaps of me posing with the celebrities I met during this Thanksgiving weekend. Check them out -

signing off,

DeFense DeFense

Recognize anyone? :-)

signing off,

Finally!!

The prolonged wait is over and now I am a proud owner of this beauty -

Oops, I meant this -

signing off,

Few Random Thoughts

It was misspelled by the author, miscommunicated by the narrator and quite naturally, misunderstood by the entire audience, barring one. She fully grasped what exactly he had meant to say, not through the words she heard, but through her senses. Grabbing her bag and offering apologies to other patrons, she slid across the aisle as quietly and quickly as she could and walked out of the auditorium. She tried calling his mobile, but there was no available network. "F%*k!" she swore so loudly that few uninterested souls around, who had come out of the play for various reasons, suddenly shot their glances at her. "Definitely not used to hear a girl say that," she thought, whispered a "Pardon me" and started walking more briskly. The entire lobby was watery because of the heavy rais the city was being lashed with. She did not even heed when she almost slipped once, but ran out of the entrance calling out for a cab.

signing off,

Dor

Now, if you have not watched the movie Dor yet please do so whenever you get the chance. Nagesh Kukunoor amazes again :)

(Now spoiler ahead - do not read if you haven't watched it)

A pop quiz in memory of Shreyas Talpade:

Why did Zeenat (Gul Panag) give Meera (Ayesha Takia) a hand and pulled her in the moving train?

Ans:

Because when Meera gave her maafi-namaa through the window, a glance told her that that Meera had not signed it.

signing off,

My Favorites

This blog is now officially a huge fan of two very funny gentlemen named Jo(h)n Stewart (refer Geraldo Rivera episode :-)) and Stephen Colbert. I don't deny that I am sad that I missed out Seinfeld in early nineties and Daily Show in late nineties and early this decade (Aah, I was not in USA at that time, I guess :-)). But now I own Seinfeld seasons 1-6 and have kind of by-hearted it. And thanks to some really good fellows out there on comedycentral.com, I can find a lot of current episodes posted on it. And again in spirit of sharing videos, youtube.com has a lot of past episode snippets on the show as well.

So if you are politically inclined and like humor, I'd heartily recommend you to not miss The Daily Show (TDS) on Comedy Central station every Monday through Thursday at 10c/11p. And if you like Daily Show, you will most definitely appreciate its spin-off - hosted by one of the funniest alumni of TDS, Stephen Colbert - The Colbert Report, that follows TDS on the same channel. If you want to start off, check out Indecision 2000 and Indecision 2004 on youtube - those were the special shows dedicated to analyze 2000 and 2004 elections. Pure genius!

But please don't watch any of these during the office hours, even if you have a little free time off during your lunch break. Or you will be looked upon as that-crazy-guy-who-is-always-laughing. Consider yourself warned.

signing off,

Lage Raho Munnabhai!

After that poor excuse for a movie sequel called Phir Hera Pheri, I was really not ready for this. But Lage Raho Munnabhai far exceeded my expectations being such a well executed movie. You never are bored for more than three minutes at a time during the whole time. It does not let you to even think of getting bored when Circuit and Munna are raining cats, dogs, frogs, bulls, professors, doctors and builders everywhere. And this with the messages lauding non-violence and truth - very subtly put in many of the sequence. Don't miss the way the teacher handles the government babu who is out there just to be bribed. Or the guy who says sorry to other tenant at whose door he tends to spit a lot. Or Jimmy Sheregil's moment with Parikshit Sahni. Or the way Boman Irani breaks down at the end. It does go a little over the top for a brief period, but luckily Hirani brings it back to close with panache.

I also liked it for the stand it takes on astrology and numerology. I am not the best advocate you will find to promote such things. So I really laughed out loud as if Lucky Singh uttered my own sentiments when he ridiculed multiple Ks and birthtime shtuff. Really, a cleverly written script can bring such joys to one's lone evenings.

One cannot say anything other than, "Lage raho Hirani, Sanjubaba, Arshad and Vinod Chopra!"

signing off,

Bizarre, Bizarre World

Mummy, can I send "her" a Valentine'’s Day card?

No babboo, they don't want you to get spoiled by the Western Culture.

Mummy, can I write about how I won today's race on my blog?

No babboo, they don't want you to write anything which might be used by the anti-national elements.

Mummy, can I climb on the top of our society's "dahi-handi"?

No babboo, they don't want you to fall down and hurt yourself.

Mummy, can I watch Seinfeld?

No babboo, they don't want you to watch adult serials on English channel. You can watch DD1.

Mummy, what in the frigging world is the frigging problem with them?

Watch your tongue babboo, they don't want you to speak like that.

signing off,

Bad Analogy?

I said, Bill Gates is very much like our very own Karan Johar. Everyone knows their product is the worst. Despite that, everyone seems to have a first hand/eye experience to tell so.

"Man, don't use/see it."

"Boss, I have to. How would I know?"

signing off,

Comic

My recent comment (and subsequent criticisms on it) set me into thinking why did I make that comment in the first place - "Sometimes things are so bad, that it is actually fun watching them. It is like reading Chacha Chowdhary comics." (the comment was made in response to why did I enjoy watching movie Insaniyat, a post in itself) :-)

I am sure it will invite the wrath of the die hard fans of Chacha Chaudhary and co. And invite it did. Pran, who is "heartthrob of millions of Indians", has apparently very large following. Growing up, his creations like Mr Chaudhary, Sabu, Rocket, Chachee, Raka, Paploo, Taploo and few other chappies were constant companions of our lives, too. As we read more of it though, the subtle fun (?) in these comics started becoming more apparent. Such as few state-of-the-artly crappy artwork including Chacha's fully-visible-moustache even in the side view, cubic houses with small black rectangles for doors/windows, patches of twigs, flowers, leaves etc lying in the corner to give appearance of greenery, hurriedly scribbled text (which, in some cases, even used to go out of the speech balloon). For Hindi versions, you could have stopped here. But for those who got their hands on the English ones, they could have easily fainted at the language usage, which was extremely funny. (And this, according to this wiki article, was probably intentionally done so as to make Indian children understand easily) I guess this only made it difficult. I crave to meet the genius translator who came up with such sentences. But I need not go far, for their next generation is still in the existence, who instead of writing dialogues in the comic books, write badly formatted emails. Moreover, the characters in the story, apart from Chacha Chaudhary / Sabu / Chachee / Rocket, could well be explained in a single word - buffoon. They existed on the barren lands just to get outsmarted by Chacha or to get thumped by Saboo. I wonder if Chacha really needed "the brain that is faster than the computer" to outsmart those lads. The mystery might be explained if one discovers the computer Pran had in mind when he wrote this masterpiece.

Maybe I am going too far. Maybe comic books are not supposed to be dissected by grown-ups like this. (I first wrote, grown-ups like me, then realized that was a oxymoron) Maybe Pran who had degree in Fine Arts, did not draw these things, but delegated it to a junior draftsman who was sulking, like our present day IT professional, because of less remuneration. Maybe the English translator kept dictionary in front of him/her and literally translated each word as it came. And maybe that was the best we had. Sigh!

But one look at the Calvin and Hobbes, my faith in comics is restored. So let me go back and read the adventures of the Spaceman Spiff. It is a myth, at least for me, that you don't enjoy comics after a certain age.

signing off,

Update: Read this blog to get few more insights on Chacha Chaudhary (with full stories!)

http://www.vishalpatel.com/features/chacha01/chacha01pg01.htm

Home Alone - IV

I am back to being alone at home for more than ten consecutive days for the fourth time. I am sure, I can beat Macaulay Culkin at least now.

I kinda like being alone. It is boring as hell, but it has its advantages. Mostly you can get up whenever you want to get in bathroom could have been the reason. But since we have two bath, I gotta come up with something else. Wait, wait. I can watch any channel on TV. Mostly it is TBS and that is what I watch when my roomie is here anyways. Yeah, I know, I can cook whatever I want. Man, this cannot be the reason - cooking takes almost all of my free minutes when I do it alone.

Damn, I hate being alone at home.

But I find solace in fact that this is much better than the two times I was alone in Bangalore for about two months each time. At least now I have the idiot box and my latest and probably most coveted DVD collection - Seinfeld. As it turns out now, I am not alone. I am with Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. :-)

signing off,

The Wizards

There was a comment from the commentator on ESPN which was showing now legendary France vs Brazil quarter final just few minutes before close of second half. "How many wizards are out there tonight?" he exclaimed. He was indeed referring to Zidane, Henry, Vieira and co. Considering the other side had lineup like Ronaldinho, Roberto Carols, Ronaldo, Cafu, Kaka and co, the comment could have looked overambitious on any other day. But not today sir.

It was like witnessing other aging wizard of our age - Tendulkar - marshalling the team for world cup victory not so far from today. Magic moments indeed. Hail Zidane! Hail France!

signing off,

वरण भात

ब~याच (maybe सगळ्याच) अमराठी लोकांना नुसता वरण भात म्हणजे काय चीज आहे हे कळत नाही. मी त्यांना समजावून थकलोय, seriously. तरी मी, जो थोडासा माझ्यात मराठी नावाचा बाणा उरला आहे, त्याला स्मरून जमेल तसं त्याला market करत असतो, जिथं जिथं chance मिळेल तिथे. पण त्यामुळेच की काय, "एवढंच? च्यायला! आळशी आहेस नुसता!" किंवा "फोडणी नाही दिली तर कसली ती आमटी??" किंवा "आता तुला कळलं असेलच की तू असला कडक्या का आहेस ते" असले टोमणे (of course, हिंदी किंवा इतर भाषेत) मला नवीन नाहीत.

पण, imagine this. कोणतेतरी मस्त तांदूळ (बासमती सोडून), गुरगुट्टया का काय म्हणतात तसे शिजवलेले. तूरडाळ, थोडीशी हळद घालून तीन शिट्टया देउन, थोडंसं मीठ मिसळून आणि अगदी हलक्या हाताने रवीने घूसळून एकसारखी केलेली. एक ताजं लिंबू. आणि तूप, preferably, घरीच लोणी कढवून (आईने - तुम्ही किंवा बाबांनी नाही) केलेलं. साजूक, रवाळ - त्याला तुम्ही काहीही म्हणा. हे सगळे ingredients एकत्र करा, जेवढं तुम्हाला आवडतं तितकं लिंबू पिळा, हातानेच (चमच्याने किंवा forkने नाही) मिसळा. आणि खा. (Duh! अजून काय?)

आहाहा!! ती चव मी कितीही चांगलं लिहून तुम्हाला कळणार नाही, unless तुम्ही मराठी आहात आणि तुमचे preferences सारखं burger, pizza, Chinese वगैरे खाउन आंग्लाळलेले (अबब! कसला शब्द आहे हा!) नसले तर.

signing off,

The Number of the Beast

Don't presume by the title that I am too been taken over by all this 666 phenomena. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in the numerology stuff either. But again, this song is awesome. Check it out on youtube.com.

signing off,

Let There Be Light

The lamp that lighteth the corner, enlightenth the whole room.

signing off,

Zaroor Suniye Saahab

"There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote." - Amjad Ali Khan. Source http://www.sarod.com.

You know, before today, I had never listened to Amjad Ali Khan Saheb bar a few minutes here and there - like in one of my all time classic comedy movies - Chashm-E-Baddoor. Remember when our man Siddharth (Farooque Shaikh) goes the shopping spree after getting the money order, and is going through the assorted LPs and requests to the unidentified shopowner "Zara ye sunaiyega, Amjad Ali Khan Saheb". And he obliges, "Zaroor suniye saahab". Then Siddharth continues shopping and the music continues to play in background. I like that situation in that movie, as so many other situations, very much. More so for the music. So I always tried to listen to his work. But so stuck I am between Pancham and Pink Floyd, it has really never worked out.

And after so many years, it was today when I listened to one of his CD 'Moksha'. And I am glad I did, even though I didn't understand any technicality like the raaga name. I even recommended it to my team-mate here and he recognized it as 'the music they usually play in the restaurants'. He is American, you see. :-) Btw, he liked it too. We then had some discussion on Indian music. Yeah, I am aware that I don't know much about it, but at least I knew more than him. :-) That was one "cross-cultural-exchange" objective I scored.

Btw, a question to my three readers (including me). Does anyone have that song I mentioned? I'd be happy to listen to it once again.

signing off,

Integrity? Hmm.

Let's say you go to 7-11, purchase some snickers worth of $7.99 and give a $10 bill. The store assistant gives you $1.01 back. I can bet a quarter that you are prompt in making him realize he owes you a dollar more. But what if he gives you $3.01 back? Do you keep it or do you give the extra dollar back? Does your hand falter even for a moment before giving it back? Or does it falter while slipping that extra dollar in your wallet?

Integrity, as my friend used to say, is something like wearing a helmet while you are riding a bike. If you are just on the way to the neighborhood bakery for a quick snack which is at most quarter of a mile away, you usually dismiss wearing helmet, as, "What the heck", you think, "you will not be gone that far."

But, how far it does have to be before you wear your helmet?

signing off,

Ode to the Queen

Check this out! Found on youtube.com -

I am reminded of my last post on her. You are missed lady. Very much.

signing off,

Love at First Sight

Buying clothes, is like love at first sight. You go to the shop. Look at all available options. You keep on rejecting the lot because a color does not match your taste, a size does not fit you, or you already have this pattern in the same color and you name the reason. You are a tad disappointed when your friends keep on getting the stuff they like and when even it fits them.

But then there it is, lying on the last aisle, the lone shirt/trouser catches your glimpse. First you dismiss it thinking it is too good to be true (to avoid further heartbreak). But then you gather courage and try it on. And when it fits you just perfect, you cannot help but grin. Your acquaintances confirm the blush on your cheeks too.

It is then you know you are in love. Again.

signing off,

The Nevada Song

I am listening to the remixed version of the song "Ye Wada Raha" performed by Vaishali Samant (rememberd more for it's video featuring three scantily clad women in pink (*drools for a moment before typing anything further) during the good old days when the music videos had not fully lost their sanctity). My boss is kinda curious to know what the heck do I listen to all day. So he demands to hand over the earphones.

For few moments he tries hard to make out anything of those hindi words. Then he exclaims suddenly, "Ooh, ooh! (He likes to say this a lot. Other favorite being yada yada yada) I think I just recognized one word. Do you know Nevada is also a state in US?"

I am perplexed. "Nevada?!"

Then it dawns on me - the chorus is, "Ye wada, ye wada, ye wada ..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw, the second most difficult thing to do when you are at client's place would be to attend the vendor meeting. Each one of your team-mates is blasting the vendors for not meeting targets. You think you can be little more demanding too. But then you realize you yourself are a vendor for the client. :-) So suddenly you find yourself sympathizing with the vendor for these unreliastic targets you are asking them. It's a delicate act, I recommend you to at least experience it sometime.

The most difficult thing has to be wake up and reach office at 8:00. In all these months I am here, I must have come to office at 8 not more than four times, three incidents out of which were during my first week in US, when I was under a strong jet-lag. In my next appraisal, I am definitely getting at least a Needs Improvement on timeliness.

signing off,

अनुभव

काही लोक मला म्हणाले, की मी बराच समजदार झालोय.

मी म्हणालो, Naturally. Seattleमधे आल्यापासून मी बरेच पावसाळे बघितले आहेत.

Now I will admit that no one has told me this, but I just created that joke. Which proves my second point!

signing off,

Of Purrs and Bah!s

The author of this blog is a huge fan of humor. And if it is sarcastic, it adds to the fun. Sadism works too, only if it ain't directed to him.

So it does not take more than four engineers to figure out that he is also a fan of Scott Adams. Yes, that Scott Adams. And naturally he recommends you following titles for must read/must see (in that order) -

• Dilbert the Complete Collection (DVD)
• The Dilbert Principle
• It's Not Funny If I Have to Explain It
• Dilbert Blog

Heck, go and read anything you place your paws on.

signing off,

Rollo Tomassi

Doesn't he give you a creep? He commits a crime, and then he escapes because he has all the right connections. Btw, many are benefited because he escapes and no one is really happy to see Rollo punished. Not Sid, not Patchett nor anyone else. Well, except maybe Jack or Ed or Bud. And not that they are taintless fellows themselves. They have had their own interests in doing so. The only people who really affected are those guys in Night Owl who just got shot because they were at wrong place at wrong time.

And that is how sounds the story of late Ms Jessica Lall. Let her soul rest in peace. I am rather dejected by the sound of submission of her sister's comments. Now should she join IAS? Police force? Politics? Whatever she does, Rollo goes on and on.

signing off,

Beauty and the Beast

signing off,

तो ना? अगदी झंप्या आहे!

मला नाही वाटत, आपण gossip करताना जास्त डोक्याला टेन्शन देतो. "तो ना? अगदी झंप्या आहे!", "ती ना? कसल्याच उपयोगाची नाहीये." आपण सगळेच असं कधीतरी म्हणलो असू, कोणाला तरी, कोणाबद्दल तरी. (the actual adjectives people are most likely to use are replaced for PG-13 ratings) आणि mostly, त्या बोलण्याला "खरं" म्हणणं म्हणजे, थोडंसं, "अतिशयोक्ती अलंकाराचे एक उदाहरण द्या", या प्रश्नाला अजून एक उत्तर देण्यापैकीच असतं. मग, असं तद्दन खोटं बोलताना आपण असा विचार का नाही करत, की याचे repercussions काय होतील?

"मूँह खोलनेसे पेहले" एक क्षण थांबणं, "जर अशी माझ्याबद्दल कोणी बकबक केली, तर मला कसं वाटेल?", असं स्वतःला विचारणं, खरंच, एवढं कठीण आहे काय?

signing off,

Move On

"Before we start the meeting, let's wish Nikhil a very happy birthday.", said my team member.

"So finally have you turned eighteen?", chirped another.

Damn. I don't look so kiddish, do I? As it is, I am concerned about moving into the late twenties starting today. Actually it should have been just another year added to the age column. Why has it got me in so much thinking, then? I've been trying to figure that out since January. And these guys. Gaaah!

But yeah. If last year was twenty five and generous, this year has to be 'twenty six and anxious' or 'twenty six and already too old' or 'twenty six and ..' Yeah, yeah. I know.

signing off,

Visiting Oxford

Having already been to two of the major cities in the US, namely Seattle (Hear, hear!) and Los Angeles, I have at least something to answer the question - "Where did I go in the US?" if my assignment were to get over in last year. Anywhere I go to next is like a bonus for me. And when that bonus happens to be Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York over a three day weekend in mid-Jan, I could not have asked for more. And add a chance to meet your friends after nearly 4 years, make it my most memorable weekend in the US so far.

At this point, I can write a long post to explain the trip. But I resist that. For my readers, here is curtailed version of my visit (all sentences converted from first person past tense to something which contemporary English language may not completely identify with) --

Leave for Seattle airport on Friday the 13th. Now the day lives upto it's reputation and my flight gets delayed by an hour and half. My heart is racing fast as I have a connecting flight to catch in Chicago. Meanwhile, get some gifts for my friends (yeah, I can sometime show some sense in life. But not always, I remember I had not carried anything for Rji). Watch five kids just laughing, running, playing all over the terminal. Get into the flight at around 12:00. Sleep very awkwardly in flight. Arrive in the windy city at about 5:00 AM local time and find that I did not make any mistake in carrying the thickest jackets I have. (Btw, I was looking like an idiot in that jacket at Seattle airport where temperature on that night was in mid forties) Switch to Philly flight, and complete remaining sleep.

Wake up at around 9 AM local time only to find the clouds all over airport. (for a moment I wonder whether I came back to Seattle) Curse those clouds and come out. Find AB waiting near baggage claim. He has changed quite a bit since I last saw his photos. Meet AJ in his car waiting outside. He is quite the same, except the weight. Go to their house. Freshen up, talk, eat, talk, drink, talk. Meet N. Leave for Washington. Phenomenon is also on the way to DC. Talk with Mittal on phone. Reach DC and find yourself in a windy chilly and rainy evening. A walk of three-four blocks proves that we cannot venture outdoors anymore and we take shelter in the Air and Space Museum. After hour and half in there and quick bite, set out towards Capitol, Washington Monument and White House in that order. Because of some confusion in one ways, by the time we are through with all three, it is already dinner time. So move to an Indian restaurant in George Town, have dinner and start return journey to Philly. Btw, phenomenon has not made to DC because of a broken car.

After reaching Philly, plan for next day's possible NY visit. Because of very bad weather observed in DC and similar prediction for rest of the weekend, there is a clear division of opinions on the continuation of the original plans. So meanwhile, decide to play a cool card game called Take It Easy. Seattle, as usual, loses to Philly being so outnumbered by 0.5 to 3. Sleep at around 4.

Wake up late next morning. Get ready and have a good lunch prepared by NE. Continue discussions on general topics. Later in afternoon, decide suddenly to go to NY despite bad weather. Book the hotel, pack the bags and off we go. After around two hours of relentless drive on NJTP, locating the hotel, dumping the bags and getting ready for the "16^oF, Strong winds SW, and intermittent rains" night and parking the car in one the "$20 for 24 hours" garages, march towards the Times Square. A little walk, again, proves that we can no longer do any outdoor adventures, and go for a pizza in a nearby restaurant. Decide to go for some movie and go to a screening of Munich in the nearby theater. It is a good movie. After the movie, have a coffee at Starbucks while discussing over the history. The coffee brings us some courage. So go out on to take photographs of empty streets and buildings. After we are satisfied, go to a subway station and reach the hotel at around 4.

Wake up at 9 next morning. Get ready by 11. Have breakfast in Starbucks. Decide that I cannot catch the 6 o'clock flight from Philly in the evening and try to reschedule it. After a couple of calls, reschedule it successfully for next day morning. Set out for Statue of Liberty. Wander for around 3 hrs there. Purchase some mementos and have a little lunch at cafeteria. Then start return journey towards Manhattan island. Visit "the Bull" near Wall Street. Go to the Empire State Building. Get awed by the NY city from up above. Go to the Rockefeller Tower. Enjoy little skating (watching skaters, not doing it). Again have a coffee at Starbucks (Let me admit it, I am addicted to Starbucks coffee. It's quite like Idlipur's coffee) nearby and catch a subway back to parking lot. Get the car, circle around few more roads to get glimpse of UN building and leave NY city. Get a ticket on NJTP for speeding.

Catch the flight back to Seattle early next morning from Philly airport. Lose checked-in luggage at Sea-Tac. Find it after half an hour. Miss your roommate who has come to receive you and take a cab instead to home. Reach office at 1:00.

So this was it. My brief summary of what I did on the long weekend in January. And now you know why it has taken me such a long time to write this post.

PS - The title should be evident to those who know my friends AB and AJ. For others, it is a derived nick name for these two fine gentlemen.

PS2 - And btw, I am quite sad that the Seahawks lost to the Steelars. They had so many chances to win it. But alas!

signing off,

Ratings

Well well well well well.

I'm not in total agreement to accept someone who has rated Style (2) at 1/5, Devdas (2) at 1.5/5, Dil Chahta Hai (4.5) at 2/5, Asoka (1.5) at 2.5/5, Lagaan (4.5) at 3/5, Garam Masala (2.5) and Rok Sako to Rok Lo (1.5) at 3/5, Kaal (1.5) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2) at 4/5 and Veer Zaara (3) at 5/5. (Ratings in bracket mine) For the records, I don't agree with even James Berardinelli for some of his reviews. But this guy is too much for me. His ratings just don't match with mine, barring a few obvious.

Ok, let's assume that, this Mr Adarsh is just looking at the possible box office returns.

Naaaay! I'd not bet on his ratings, even if someone bribes me with a box of Snickers.

Btw, this issue came up - whether we should accept his ratings of 2.5/5 for Rang De Basanti. I guess, I should watch movie myself and make the decision on how good/bad the movie really is. I have not yet watched it, but Mr Adarsh is not going to hold me from it.

Now that would be a real shocker for my friend dis, who knows me as the one who rejected watching movies like One Dollar Curry because of very bad reviews. But dear dis, we all have our prejudices.

signing off,

Socha Na Tha

Have you watched a mushy love story recently which despite threatening to be made into another KJ movie having all such required ingredients, leaves you a satisfaction of watching a well made movie with especially good dialogues and hummable music? If no, then I'd recommend you to watch Socha Na Tha. And no, I am not being sarcastic. Though inexplicable at moments, it gives you a nice close-to-life account of the situation, though some might argue that such situation in itself is quite an unreality.

And btw, I'd recommend you even Tarzan the Wonder Car, being such an ardent admirer of Ayesha Takia. :-) Man that lady is damn cute!

It's a weird coincidence that I watched a movie on similar theme just last week. The Family Stone is based on the guy with a long time girlfriend who eventually does not end up marrying her. Am I trying to hint something? Well, heck no!

signing off,