Sunday, May 18, 2008

Movies I have watched!! -Part One

Hey there !!

I m such a lazy guy that inspite of having stuff to post here, didnt. Anyway, no regrets! & here i go!!

As INTPs like to do it I generally keep track of what movies i have watched. So here it goes.

Lets talk about the top 10 first!! First of all, its a little tough to say which is better than other?! Another trouble is what I am going after when i rate the movie?
Rather it is not only a question for me but anyone. I mean, what should be taken into account? The unbiased quality of the movie or the personal choices of the person who's rating it? They can be pretty conflicting. In fact, in case of Indian movies, especially Bollywood movies, this can bring startling, rather frustrating results. Most movies which work at the box office have little or mostly no artistic value. But i'll leave bollywood-bashing for another post & time.
As far as my choice goes, the movies which have won Academy Awards, AFI; have a tremendous rating at IMDb are the top-notch movies. Exceptions, as always, exist!


THE TOP 10 movies:


1. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
4. The Godfather II (1974)
5. American Beauty (1999)
6. Fight Club (1999)
7. The Godfather (1972)
8. The Departed (2006)
9. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
10. Taxi Driver (1976)

Will try to write about each of these movies



SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

Genre: War
Direction: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Ed Burns, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel.

Probably the best war movie ever made! Spielberg deservedly won Oscar for it. Very meticulous. The first 30 minutes about Battle at Normandy beach are so intense that it could put the real happenings in shade. I dont think apart from Spielberg, who has a penchant for making grand, great memorable movies, any other contemporary director could do it.
All that for the form. The content is equally good,to say the least.Based loosely on real story of Nilland Brothers, the movie is about a fictional search for a paratrooper who is the only surviving son out of four. The hunt is carried out by small troop led by Capt John Miller. Played by redoubtable Tom Hanks, who garnered another of his numerous nominations, his role is of an ex-teacher who joined the military despite knowing the consequences while he himself questions the meaning of war.Sample this, a conversation between Miller & Pvt Reiben who is disenchanted with war

Captain Miller: I'm a schoolteacher. I teach English composition... in this little town called Adley, Pennsylvania. The last eleven years, I've been at Thomas Alva Edison High School. I was a coach of the baseball team in the springtime. Back home, I tell people what I do for a living and they think well, now that figures. But over here, it's a big, a big mystery. So, I guess I've changed some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is even going to recognize me, whenever it is that I get back to her. And how I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today. Ah, Ryan. I don't know anything about Ryan. I don't care. The man means nothing to me. It's just a name. But if... You know if going to Rumelle and finding him so that he can go home. If that earns me the right to get back to my wife, then that's my mission.

[to Private Reiben]
Captain Miller: You want to leave? You want to go off and fight the war? All right. All right. I won't stop you. I'll even put in the paperwork. I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel.
The supporting cast features many talented actors like Ed Burns, Tom Sizemore & Matt Damon [he'd just received an Oscar nomination previous year for Good Will Hunting] & notably Barry Pepper as Sgt/ Jackson, a sharp-shooter who is equally good at quoting Holy Bible. Before almost every shot, he recites a verse; it inspires & terrifies at the same time.
I rate this movie very highly. The cast, the cinematography, the direction are near perfect. Yes there is lot of bloodshed but it fairly gives an idea of what could have happened in reality. Though the movie is about war but actually its more an anti-war movie. All the characters question their role, the war, even their mission of finding one man while almost sacrificing lives in process.

All the people who think about joining an army must watch this movie. Machismo apart, it has little to offer as far anything goes. Its the politician who gain something (?) the people who actually give away their lives have, sadly, nothing to do with it.

Memorable Quotes

See this too:
"War Pigs"


The complete list :)


1. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
4. The Godfather II (1974)
5. American Beauty (1999)
6. Fight Club (1999)
7. The Godfather (1972)
8. The Departed (2006)
9. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
10. Taxi Driver (1976)

11. Forrest Gump (1994)
12. Platoon (1986)
13. The Matrix (1999)
14. Crash (2005)
15. The Usual Suspects (1995)
16. American History X (1998)
17. Snatch (2000)
18. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
19. Schindler’s List (1993)
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
21. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
22. Finding Nemo (2003)
23. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
24. LA Confidential (1997)
25. Terminator 2: The Judgment Day (1991).

26. Babel (2006).
27. Blood Diamond (2006)
28. Cast Away (2000).
29. Munich (2005)
30. Collateral (2004).
31. Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
32. Babe (1995)
33. A Bug’s Life (1998).
34. School of Rock (2003).
35. Scent of a Woman (1992).
36. Leon (1994).
37. Casino (1994).
38. Die Hard (1988).
39. Monsters, Inc. (2001).
40. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).
41. Enemy at the Gates (2001).
42. First Blood (1982).
43. Liar Liar (1997).
44. Ice Age (2002).
45. The Terminator (1984)
46. Speed (1994).
47. Shrek (2001).
48. The Incredibles (2004).
49. Toy Story (1995).
50. The Godfather III (1990).

51. The Fugitive (1993).
52. A Beautiful Mind (2001).
53. American Gangster (2007)
54. The Pianist (2002).
55. Rocky (1976).
56. Final Destination (2000).
57. The Untouchables (1987).
58. Good Will Hunting (1998).
59. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
60. The Lost World (1997).
61. Men in Black (1997).
62. Kinsey (2004)
63. Die Hard 3 (1995).
64. Chicken Run (2000).
65. Toy Story 2 (1999).
66. Spiderman (2002).
67. Pay It Forward (2000)
68. The Day after Tomorrow (2004).
69. Jurassic Park (1993).
70. Jaws (1975).

71. Ocean’s Twelve (2004).
72. Jerry Maguire (1996).
73. Shrek 2 (2004).
74. The Bucket List (2007)
75. The Game (1997)
76. Brave Heart (1995).
77. Training Day (2001).
78. When Harry Met Sally (1989).
79. The Mask (1994).
80. Twelve Monkeys (1995).
81. Mission: Impossible (1996).
82. Anger Management (2003)
83. Shark Tale (2005).
84. Die Hard 2 (1990).
85. Philadelphia (1993).
86. Ronin (1998).
87. The King & I (1956).
88. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
89. The Da Vinci Code (2006).
90. The Matrix: Reloaded (2002).
91. Small Soldiers (1998).
92. Dunston Checks In (1997).
93. Bruce Almighty (2003).
94. Miss Congeniality (1998).
95. Speed 2 (1997).
96. KPax (2001).
97. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! (1989).
98. Home Alone (1989).
99. The Italian Job (2003).
100. The Gods Must Be Crazy (1981).
101. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2001).

102. Gladiator (2000).
103. Godzilla (1998).
104. Dumb & Dumber (1994).
105. Meet the Fockers (2005).
106. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2001).
107. Mouse Hunt (1996)
108. Baby’s Day Out (1997).
109. Flubber (199).
110. Mission: Impossible 3 (2006).
111. Home Alone 3 (1997).
112. Meet the Parents (2000)
113. Madagascar (2005).
114. Rambo 3 (1988).
115. True Lies (1994).
116. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (2002).
117. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).
118. The Sum of All Fears (2002).
119. Ace Ventura: The Pet Detective (1994).
120. Malibu’s Most Wanted (2002)
121. Terminator 3: Rise of the machines (2003).
122. Final Destination 2 (2003).
123. American Pie 2 (2001).
124. American Pie (1999).
125. Independence Day (1997).
126. Escape from Alcatraz (1979).
127. Jurassic Park 3 (2002).
128. Titanic (1997).
129. The Mummy (1999).
130. There’s something about Mary (1998).
131. Night in the Museum (2006).
132. Swordfish (2001).
133. What Women Want (2000).
134. Jumanji (1997).
135. I Am Legend (2007)
136. American Wedding (2003).
137. War of the Worlds (2005).
138. Hellboy (2004).
139. Jingle All the Way (1998).
140. Commando (1985).
141. Anaconda (1997).
142. FaceOff (1997).
143. The Money Pit (1986).
144. Rush Hour (1997).
145. Men in Black 2 (2002).
146. Mr Bean’s Holiday (2007).
147. Chain Reaction(1998)
148. Assassins (1995).
149. Euro Trip (2004).
150. Basic Instinct (1992).
151. Ghost Rider (2007).


Few movies' rank might be surprisingly low such as Gladiator as though i found Crowe pretty cool, i have little tolerance for all those heavy-costume & set-oriented movies set in history as old as this.Will write more about it. Gotta dash for dinner. :)

& Yes Ghost Rider was the crappiest movie i ever watched. B-grade?? Z-grade!! Also I cant understand Basic Instinct was worth the trouble & the money. Yes its great to watch sassy Sharon Stone's sexy thighs but thats the only thing this movie it offers. Sad it worked at Box Office because of this.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

You know Last.fm?

Hi everybody (whoever is reading it);)

Hope you all know about 'Last.fm', the song-artist-bookmarking site.

Here is my profile:-

You can get to know what songs/artists I am listening to now. 'Now' means not just now, but today, yesterday, the whole trailing week & so on. Pretty interesting for any music buff & esp his equally music-crazy pals just to keep tab of what all are listening.


More about it:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last.fm

Song of the Day:::: "Five Minutes Alone" PANTERA

Quote of the Day::: "This is the worst day of my life. Again!!!"

CRASH:Cracks in the Melting Pot

Well i had reviewed 2005 Best Picture Oscar Winning Movie CRASH some 2 years back... Just when i saw it after all the oscar buzz.


CRACKS IN THE MELTING POT


Just yesterday night I watched the movie Crash. Yes, the same movie which won Best Picture Academy Award this year. And to be frank it won deservedly. Especially when Hollywood has had its share of going through a tough time & through what they say “most maverick year in movie-making” ever. Let’s see how it does.

Crash, set in contemporary USA, is a story of people from different ethnic & economic backgrounds intertwined in such a way that all of them have to wage battles against the inner demons of prejudices & occasional pangs of guilt.

STORY

The movie starts off with an investigation about a crash by black Officer Graham[DON CHEADLE]. Then the movie goes back to a day before & the ‘real’ story starts. The first incident is when Los Angeles District Attorney Rick [Brendan Fraser] & wife Jean
[Sandra Bullock] are carjacked by two petty black goons Anthony [Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges] & Peter. Later we come to know while Anthony is extremely paranoid about whites’ anti-black sentiments, Peter is nonchalant about it.
The incident forces opportunisic Rick to further his ambitions, & adds fuel to Jean’s already fuming racist fires. She doubts Daniel the Hispanic locksmith & insists that locks be changed next morning & calls him “a gang-banger just out of prison”,
not to forget her apathy towards her Hispanic maid Maria. Daniel, the Hispanic locksmith, is actually a devoted family man who dotes on his daughter & has just moved to new house after their window was shot(probably in a racist attack).
Synchronously, a Persian grocery shop-owner Farhad has a spat with a gun shopkeeper when latter takes a dig at Farhad’s inability to speak smooth English & calls him ‘Osama’. The real motive behind Farhad’s purchasing gun is his family’s safety after his wife was attacked in what could be a possibly racist attack.
Then, Cameron [Terence Howard], a studio producer along with his wife Christine [Thandie Newton] are stopped by ‘eventually-racist’ cop Officer Ryan. Christine is sexually harassed by Ryan & is hurt more when she finds that her husband doesn’t protest the indecent act.Ryan’s partner Officer Hanson [Ryan Phillipe] is disgusted by his partner’s deed &
requests the superiors to change this, only to find that racism is more unabashed at top than he could imagine.
The mishap gradually starts taking toll on Cameron & Christine's relationship. Officer Ryan is contemptuous towards blacks as he holds them guilty of ruining his father’s business & life. To make matters worse, he lets go with racist remarks against a black insurance executive. In parallel, we have honest, unbiased Officer Graham who is persuaded by fellow Officer Flanagan to drop the case against a possibly corrupt cop who is black. Flanagan does so by talking about affirmative action to blacks as evident through their dialogue: “you're the closest to all of this; you tell us what needs to be done!” Meanwhile Farhad’s shop is mobbed by racists & he holds Daniel responsible. (While Daniel had suggested that doors be
changed not just lock) He takes the gun & by mistake shoots Daniel’s daughter. At first everybody at the scene is devastated, only to find later that gun was loaded with blanks not bullets (a thought conceived by his daughter Dory to pre-empt
any mishap) Anthony & Peter try to carjack, this time Cameron, but Cameron overcomes his “impotence” to fight off these goons. While he encounters Officer Hanson again who saves him from a very-possible shoot out by cops. (with an obvious thought of redemption for his mistake of turning-other-cheek act of Ofc. Ryan)

In a Dramatic development Ryan than saves life of Christine, the very black woman that he fondled, who almost is near death after her car turns over & gasoline catches fire. Peter who ran away from the site of carjacking is killed inadvertently by Officer Hanson, who picks him up in the valley hours after their failed carjacking and mistakenly shoots him after assuming he is drawing a gun, when in reality he was reaching into his pocket to show the cop a statuette of St. Christopher. At the end of the film, following an accident in her home, Jean realizes that the person who is nicest and most helpful to her is Maria, her Hispanic maid. Not her upper-crust friend of 10 years like Catherine who was “busy taking a massage”.


OSCAR WILD & THE MOVIE

Poignant dramas commenting upon social mindsets have always been Academy’s
‘Brokeback’ lost because probably giving this award to a story of unconventional love would have been too far a bold step in the wake of growing rage against these minority-by-sexual-orientation. But the powerful movie did deserve an award & Ang Lee was luckier. Geo-political subjects as in Munich, Syriana & Good night & good Luck were not essentially American thus may have lost out.What sets Crash apart is the way the story blooms gradually only giving it different hues [no pun intended] every half an hour or so. Even had it been a story not dealing with racism, the way
the characters’ lives have collided is arresting enough to make it a gem. All the lead characters when meet for first time develop sense of animus which as time would have it evaporates & leaves a bond of relationship. Movie rarely gets predictable & I think that is the USP of the movie. And yes, not to forget some sporadic
comic scenes dotted throughout the movie. Like when Cameron & Anthony fight over whose car it Or when Farhad shoots Daniel’s daughter leaving everyone including himself devastated, only to find later that he unknowingly shot blanks not bullets. Or repartee of Anthony & Peter over society’s perception of blacks.
These various acts of bathos & black humor provide much needed relief in an otherwise tense movie.

America has often been called ‘The Melting Pot’ as men & women of different races & color have had crossed Atlantic ocean to realize their much-touted ‘The Great American Dream’. But with passage of time & esp post-9/11, there have been
increasingly visible cracks in the melting pot.


THOUGHT FOR FOOD

The characters may look stereotyped, but throughout the movie this is challenged. Officer Ryan is a white bigot at first who saves the very lady he humiliated because she was black. Cameron, whose submission towards law & order which
borders on cowardice irritates his wife, later in the movie, lets his devil come out & takes law in his hands. Officer Hanson who is more compassionate towards blacks than any other character in the movie inadvertently kills a black man. Another significant change is visible in Sandra’s viewpoint. But her husband Rick’s stance towards racism & affirmative action is very ambiguous akin to a typical wily politico.In all, the movie very well touches the issues it intends to & does not end in happy. But what is most impressive is that every audience when leaves the theater is provoked to think his or her own prejudices towards people of different races they encounter. The movie leaves you challenge your established
thoughts about racism, there’s no doubt about it.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Things I REALLY Hate

On a more serious note, there are things that i feel repulsed at.
One of them are those god-bashers. I cant stand people who hate God unreasonably. Now! First of all reason CAN NOT explain God. Rather God cant be explained. God cant be explained. God can be felt. God is about faith.
And thats the problem with these smartasses:they think their heads full of lard cant stand something thats "unreasonable", "blind", "illogical" faith. This is unacceptable. Okay time for clarifications:

1. Atheists are not unacceptable. You dont want to go to temple, dont want to bow your head, no problem. Sadly i have come across a couple of maggot-heads who curse God. They use the filthiest language, heresy, blasphemy! A stupid friend gave a vicious outpouring against God. From that time, i harbor contempt for that poor soul.

2."I am no bible-thumping, sermon-preaching guy who attends Mass every sunday!". I am a Hindu. To me that translates as " I am no Gita-quoting guy who works in a temple."
By the way, I am a priest by caste/birth. But that association ended very soon. Ended because if i dont follow the rules that should be followed by priests/Brahmins, then I have no right to be 'revered' as one.Casteism in India is a touchy issue & it has been complicated further by short-sighted, blood-sucking politicians. I'd like to say one thing about it: being born in a warrior/priest/workers caste dont really make you one. You become. Its 'conditioning' rather than 'inherent'.Many people in my country from different castes have voluntarily, happily gone on to choose their profession.And i am proud of those who braved the dogmatic,opposing forces that came in their way. I really want more such things to happen so that this caste-based discrimination (also ) is totally done away with. Sadly in our country, even after 60 years of independence, caste-based politics still rears its ugly head everywhere.

I digressed a little (or more?) but the point i was driving home about is God shouldnt be attacked. The concept, the belief of God is too gigantic, too irrefutable to be challenged. Problem i think lies with 'institutionalized religion.' Thats such a big topic that demands separate blog posts.

All said & done,i wont be quoting from sacred texts to make you 'think' & believe in God. You be okay with whatever you think. Just dont open your potty-mouth against Him.

Sycophants Rather i'd spell it as "sicko-phants" Its that sick really.Bootlicking your way to the top is no way, dude. You kiss many things in between. Over-polite, servile behavior makes me kinda bash that guy to pulp. No! That would, actually be killing a spineless man! Stop fawning, you c**ksucking lackey!
"you can act like a man!!" Remember how Don Vito shook the hell out of Johnny Fontaine; its like that.


Blabbermouths! You are given two ears & a mouth. Use them in that proportion. Too much yapping to me seems like you are still just one generation after apes. Keep quiet!.Peace out!

Poor language.Hindi or English, not knowing grammar, taking pride in it & keep on talking/pontificating is quite a treat to listen to. Really. I have come across people (hey dont think i meet low-lifes but then) who have spoken like this
P (name of a person)will came now only.
<---------------------silence due to shock-------------------------------------->
He wanted to say 'P has come just now', though he spiced up a little by using all three tenses in one sentence.
I follow whatever this dude speaks now, out of morbid curiosity. He takes language to new low levels everyday.

Worse are those people who know a little & then start speaking pompous, pontificating, pretentious language.Smart alecks!There is no better & effective language than simple language. KISS! Keep It Short & Simple. At least simple, if you cant be like 'Silent Cal'[US president Calvin Coolidge was famous for his laconic witty replies].
NOW when i say this, i dont mean at all that I am a grammar god. I make mistakes (and i hate myself for that). But what constitutes a healthy attitude is to learn & rectify: by listening, reading & most importantly keeping quiet !
There are two parts of wisdom.One: having a great deal to say. Two: not saying it.


All this said & done, I am not a very stiff about these things. After all, it takes all sort of people to make the world. Also to mess up.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Things i hate

Second post! All this week i kept thinking what to post on blog. had a lot of ideas & just wrote'em in a file so that i could write it all. Though now i wont write what i planned :)

Why DeepThoughtYouAll?
Basically its just a play on 'Deep Throat'. Now whats that? All fellas who follow history & x-rated movies with equal elan wont find it difficult. ;).

Deep Throat was a pseudonym given to a person [whose identity was kept under wraps for quite long time ; it was W Mark Felt, FBI Director] who leaked information about President Nixon's administration's involvement in Watergate scandal. I m sure you are more interested in reading the other reference, you perv!.
More famous use of this term refers to vocal-chord development of a lovely lady called Linda Lovelace. She sought help from a gentleman called Harry Reems. Strange it didnt enter her head before, if you know what I mean ;). Any way, at the end of the movie, we are all greeted with a biblical message of 'Deep Throat You All!'. That's how.

Dislikes
Ya last week i left it at my dislikes. They outnumber my 'likes' like 4 to 1.

So many things piss me off!

Bollywood, IPL, Shakira, Lotus Notes, Waiting for buses, Guys who think wearing a garish, fake Ferrari or Lamborghini or Nike Tshirt with fake shades & faded paints & treating their 160cc bikes like Hayabusa bikes from Dhoom, Dhoom, Abhishek Bachhan, Amitabh Bachhan [yes! sadly! after making a re-entry in 1997, believe me, he has done only 3 roles which fit him perfectly: Black, Sarkar & Virudh, rest all is utter crap. I mean doing things like Sexy Sam or a legshaking, over-affectionate, cheesy grandpa/dad in most of his movies or worse, appearing in every other fuckin adverts really pisses me off. Like what he gonna sell next?? diapers?? Mala-D? That bad it is! Most of his adverts are so cliched now. Not to forget his unnecessary involvements with creepy scoundrel politicians of Uttar Pradesh, Raj Thackeray's favorite holiday spot:)], girls who like K--serials/shahid kapoor/every other cute looking faggo/falguni pathak songs/shaan/"chochweet" expressions/corny jokes/weddings & everything related with it/makeups/teddybears/(last one not applicable in Sudan), poor internet speed, bad english
[i hates it very much;)], people who are not aware of whats going on around/those who dont follow news at all, breaking news of aajtak & its other clone news channels, most of the channels, terribly-biased electronic media, people who keep their dandiya/Saawariya ringtones aloud, overhyped-oversmart-unsophisticated-sloggers like Shahid Afridi, Facebook & its so many fuckin clones & those pesky social networking-sites' invites as if i like my friends so much that i like to gawk at their lardhead faces every time i come on internet, boybands-girlbands, most of the radio-stations which feature a loud, blabbermouth bitches jockeying shittiest of songs; those funky-bhangra-electronica-jive songs that crop up like fuckin weed (not that weed) & poisoning our morning with every fuckin piece -of-shit gossip from bolly-fuckin-wood & all rotten contests with brain-damage-inducing-movietickets as prizes [wait! i NEVER listen to radio but maybe gym people think that could scare away fat cells in our bodies. Talk about boot camp!:| ], girls who think sporting a tee & jeans with a long, snaky plait would make them look cool & guys who will have schoolboy-haircut & wear Guevara t shirt & cargos, Saturdays in office, guys who listen to Slayer/Sabbath & then say that Titanic & songs from Jab We Met & that orgiastic- six-some lolly-gagging series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is their "faayvrate" just to impress girls nearby::WHAT are you showing off, assmunchs?, kareena kapoor, ALL of kapoor clan, clans & dynasties ruling every fucking where in our country, Nehru-Gandhi Party Unlimited Inc (aka Congress), Times of India, too many hyperlinks on a wikipage, item songs, Rakhi Sawant/Malaika Arora/all other golddigging gals, Oracle JDeveloper, machine coffee(closest one can get to (insertyourfavoriteanimal's)piss),over-zealous family planning ads emphasizing 'it' so much that will make you rather wanna have 'it' out there on streets, too much use of sms lingo: i mean 'wat da fuc is wrng wid dis mofos?', metro-sexuals...

(to be contd.)



Quote for the week: "i wanna get organazized."



Sunday, March 23, 2008

My First Time

My First Time.
Suggestively it might be titled, but its actually my second-time-first-post on blog.

I had started a blog called Nirvana sometime back. Like most of my new 'ventures', it didnt last long.

Hope this one doesnt meet the same fate.

I hope to post something new every sunday. Something includes a new article, few hyper interesting links, a funny one-liner/joke (something that i made or just came across) etc.

Hey Wow! Good there is no 'About Yourself' section. Its getting more & more difficult by the day to write something in it. I am still on a self-exploration journey. :). And even if i make a try, as if that matters!

Okay! Likes:

Cricket (-Crazy): abso-fucking-lutely crazy. I have devoured Cricinfo so much i might add it to my resume as a software i have worked on. Square-cuts, Wrong'uns, Reverse-swinging Yorkers, Michelles, 'Dizzzy' Gilespie, 'FIGJAM' KP, Sachin, The Princes of Kolkata & Trinidad, Wasim & Waqar, Why Steve Waugh's Double at Kingston was Greatest Innings of 90s, BCCI-bashing, Harold Pinter & Mick Jagger's cricket-love & so on. Wait & watch this space if you really care.

Metal (-Head): started with Linkin Park & Limp Bizkit. Axl & Slash, James & Kirk, Ozzy & Tony came next. Changed me forever. Let there Be Rock. Heavy-fucking-'Metchul'.

Eminem is a great artist too! I like his lyrical vigor, the aggression.

Movie (-Buff): The Most Beautiful Art to Express an Idea, an emotion, whatever.
Last Watched 'Snatch'. Like all men [except Karan Johar & likes] I liked Snatch too ;) .
A scene:
Rosebud: Where?
Avi: London.
Rosebud: London?
Avi: London.
Gemologist: London?
Avi: [Irritated] Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary-fucking-Poppins... LONDON.
Dont expect kind words for Bollywood though. I am their worst fuckin nightmare!

Books (-worm): Shoulda replaced it with reading. Have read the paper i was eating poha on.

Internet(-surfing): Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee, Vint Cerf, Bill Gates, Sabeer Bhatia we have a virtual world out there.

Trivia: www is Hebrew for 666, The Number of the Beast [The One For You & Me;)]


Wordplay: Hope you have got a faint idea already. Love puns, Spoonerisms, Bushisms, Sarcasm, Irony, Satire (okay last three are literary devices rather than just wordplay).


Philosophy : Its kinda fashionable to write it nowadays. But i think therefore i am. Or is it the other way round? Have read some Plato & Nietsche. An amateurish 'crush' set in. Hope something better comes up.

Understanding People: "Psycho-profiling" No, it doesnt mean "Clarice's job at FBI Academy". Decoding, demystifying people is a great art.

Food & Drink: Why most desirable things on earth are fattening or liver-harming?

"Passion" : Again, not that Passion bike. Passion in true sense of word.
Something that made Bill Clinton believe in Surf-Excel Ad "daag acche hai" [stains are good] Trigger my Passion!.


Dislikes
(Next sunday)

Was this a good start on my first time?! Most of the people generally 'mess it up' in their first time. Did I too? Did You too? Ask Bono.



Quote for the week:
"we are born naked, wet & crying. Then things get worse"---Anon.