Reverie Part II

You know it’s NOT your day when…

1. 1. When, of the 4000 odd songs in your playlist, the mp3 player plays ‘Backstreet Boys’. And your friends walk in!
2. When the dhobi misplaces your favourite pair of jeans, the only one that fits! And that jeans has your Rs 200 worth food coupons!
3. When the person, whose monitor you were using, wants it back.
4. When your mouse doesn’t work. And you keep getting headshots after headshots in counter-strike.
5. When you play some horrible football with the ball hardly ever going to the place it is supposed to.
6. When, while playing Scotland Yard, you can go anywhere you feel like, and you chose a path that leads to nowhere! And before you even know it, you are deservedly caught. Horrible!

You know it IS Your day when…

1. When you pass the football in no-man’s land and hope the player gets to it. And the player gets to it! And has a shot at goal as well!
2. It rains! And you have the whole road for yourself. :)
3. When your Di reads the blog and says its not bad!
4. When you get hold of Gulaal soundtarck. And it is as amazing as you thought it would be!
5. When your fan gets fixed, making the Rajasthani summer a bit more bearable. Not to mention the rain!
6. When you win your team a couple of rounds in counter-strike and are not too far off the leader.
7. When you set the new 2 new high scores on your friend’s mobile phone game. And in the process almost double the previous one!
8. “Wish you were here”, the song by Pink Floyd, being played on the mp3 player, which is set in shuffle mode, when writing this blog entry.

But you still have this nagging feeling. Everything is not what it seems. And all this will lead to nowhere. Does it ruin the day? Should it? Perhaps. But there is hope still. And that is never a bad thing. And the day is still good!

A happy weekend to all.

Cheers

Jais

6 Things You Can Learn From Dev D

Was generally wasting time on the internet when I came across this. It was a movie review of Dev D. And it ended with the 6 things one can learn from Dev D (http://thenewsdose.com/2009/02/06/dev-d-movie-review/).

“6 Things You Can Learn From Dev.D

1. A very little communication gap is enough to kill a relationship

2. Never let your ego come in between your relationship.

3. Don’t drink, smoke and never do drugs.

4. Learn to move on and never let go the new girl because of a previous girl who is someone with else now.
5. Learn to manage your money.

6. And the most important, never call your dad with his name, say “Papa” or “Dad”

Wonder how many of us have thought about some of these things. Doesn’t take a Dev D to teach us some of them I guess, but to put them across in a blog is altogether a different issue.

If nothing else, that was an interesting way to end a review.

Jais

Recent Releases – A Reflection (Part I)

As Murphy would say, one’s interest in his/ her Blog is directly proportional to the length of the piece. This ‘piece’, in my case, becomes the so called review that I write from time to time.

One of the problems of writing movie reviews is unwanted urge to write reviews for all the movies that you have seen, recently or not. And sadly, I’ve seen too many.

Anyway, an opinion on couple of new releases I have seen recently.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ( 2008 )

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The movie is directed by David Fincher, based upon a short story of the same name by  F. Scott Fitzgerald, and stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton amongst others.

The story has been publicized a lot in the media. It’s basically the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards.

The movie is intriguing to say the least. At its core the movie is essentially a story of love, loss and sacrifices . However, it deals with so many emotions, so many situations and circumstances, that makes the movie an experience. The acting is uniformly excellent. Brad Pitt delivers his one of his best performances. Cate Blanchett  is equally amazing. So is everybody else.

The direction and Cinematography is amazing. David Fincher has an eye for detail (which was evident in Zodiac) and the movie relives the era. However, I don’t remember anything about the background score.

However, the length is one major issue. I wouldn’t blame the pacing but at 2hrs 45 minutes, the movie is tad too long, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

The curious case is a fascinating tale of human relations with a twist.  Satisfying experience if you have three hours to spare.

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Pride and Glory ( 2008 )

Pride & Glory

It drama directed by Gavin O’Connor and stars Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich.

The crime drama is centered around a police family. However, this family faces a stern moral test when Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) investigates a case revealing police corruption scandal involving his brother and brother-in-law. Loyalty? or the truth?

The acting is uniformly good. Edward Norton, Colin Ferrel, Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich are believable in their respective roles. It is the direction, the uneven pace and the stupid climax that doesn’t let the movie achieve what it could have. However, that does not mean the plot or the story had anything new or interesting to offer. This is the typical formulaic and derivative cop corruption story where one believes in the truth and the other in money. And sadly, the acting, however good, cannot elevate this movie from its pedestrian end product.

The climax was abrupt, meaningless and simply absurd. But I did like the background score and the inventive use of songs towards the ending, which had nothing else going for it. Also, certain side stories were there which did not add to the narration or the story.

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That should do for the time being i suppose. Will write a few words about Milk and Frost/Nixon later sometime. Both worth watching though. Anyway, that’s for later… if I am so inclined.

Cheers

Jais

Reverie

Fact: The most visited link in this blog is “About Me“, which doesn’t have anything about me.

What does that tell you about the blog?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas dear interested readers. Wish you have a peaceful New Year as well.

Jais

“Secret of Success”… As Meredith Grey puts it.

Meredith Grey is a fictional character portrayed by actress Ellen Pompeo in Grey’s Anatomy, a very popular TV series i believe. I haven’t been able to stand anything other than Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. However, my attention was diverted this quote by somebody who knows I cant stand sitcoms.

And for all the crapping that these sitcoms usually do, this character spoke some sense. Its something all of us know (even if some of us don’t really do anything about it).

Here’s the quote in question.

“A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you’re making a mistake you can’t undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can’t pretend we hadn’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.”

Last time i tried writing something, i ended up screwing some chap’s well written blog on the same topic which came to the same conclusion. And then i realised If i write something trying to make sense of all this and make it sound fundoo, I will end up writing gibberish as I always do.

Enjoy the quote.

Cheersh

Jais

Jam tomorrow

Jam tomorrow

Meaning:

Some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize.

Origin:

This derives from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (1871), in which the White Queen offers Alice ‘jam to-morrow’:

‘I’m sure I’ll take you with pleasure!’ the Queen said. ‘Twopence a week, and jam every other day.’
Alice couldn’t help laughing, as she said, ‘I don’t want you to hire ME – and I don’t care for jam.’
‘It’s very good jam,’ said the Queen.
‘Well, I don’t want any TO-DAY, at any rate.’
‘You couldn’t have it if you DID want it,’ the Queen said. ‘The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.’
‘It MUST come sometimes to “jam to-day,”‘ Alice objected.
‘No, it can’t,’ said the Queen. ‘It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.’
‘I don’t understand you,’ said Alice. ‘It’s dreadfully confusing!’

The phrase caught on quickly and jam tomorrow became a synonym for a ‘pie in the sky’ promise of good things in the future with a few years of the book’s publication.

( Courtesy: http://www.phrases.org.uk )

I understand.

Cheers

Jais

Commitments to myself? Screw it!

I happened to view this blog by chance. Couple of days back. Found it interesting. I could totally relate to it (minus the last paragraph). Please note that i have nothing against the author. absolutely nothing. just that i think there are other smaller things that matter. The blog in question:

http://ronnie8in.rediffiland.com/blogs/2008/11/18/Commitments-to-myself-Screw-it-up.html

Sometimes I wonder why i haven’t become the person of my dreams. Is it what i never got a change? If was completely honest with myself … Often i see so many dreams. I want to live with so much enthusiasm, often I see myself a hero, lover, sometimes i am a loquacious speaker, sometimes I am cogent; sometimes I am sophisticated, sometimes I am a prankster. There are so many things in the world that I want to be, yet I didn’t become any of them. Why haven’t I lived upto my own standards? Why am I not the man of my dreams?

I looked inwards for the answers. I discovered how I have sabotaged myself for umpteen years by shying away from the moment. Our destiny is not shaped by a few decisions that we ought to make in a few critical situations that appears in our lives (although it might seem so), but by those countless small decisions that we make each and every day. Our decision of what to focus on, our decision to respond to an unpleasant situation, our decision of whether we are willing to take a risk or not. Yes, everyday we have at least one chance of subjecting ourselves to risk.

Have you ever seen an interesting stranger whom you would so much like to talk to, but you never accost him or her out of your fear of rejection. Have you ever let go an opportunity to take part in group discussion or public speaking because of stage fear. Have you ever wanted to stand for something but decided not to fearing that people will make fun of you.

I don’t know about you but I have done it over and over, day in and day out. But today I make a commitment to myself that I will never shy away from the moment. I will never fear rejection.I’d rather like to have more real problems then imaginary ones. I’ll try hard to put myself in a challenging situation. I wont care about critics I wont care ending up looking like a fool. I will be energetic, enthusiastic, zealous,CRAZY!

I’ll screw it up, I just wont care.

Just a thought…

Have i let go of an opportunity to take part in a group discussion or public speaking because of stage fear? Yes. Have I wanted to stand up for something but deciding not to fearing people might make fun of me? yes. And i also have done it day in and day out, over and over. Does it make those decisions wrong? Should i regret not making those decisions?

I have wanted to be a singer, an actor, a cricketer, footballer, poet, writer (i even started this blog!), artist. But i am not. I am me. and i don’t regret it. I keep shying away from ‘moments’. But i don’t regret them. I do not regret not doing anything so long as i did what i thought was right without the benefit of hindsight bias (there are very few situations where i actually regret not doing something, even with the benefit of hindsight bias). However, what i do regret is screaming at somebody, getting pissed or angry, saying something which i shouldn’t have or hurting somebody when there was another way out. I know every action (or inaction) will shape my destiny. And i know i won’t regret it.

I know that didnt make sense. but what the heck! this is my blog!

And now i should get back to studies considering i have an exam tomorrow. Is this a decision that will shape my destiny? Do i make myself butt of peoples’ jokes by studying or not studying? Should I care about critics? Do i take the risk?

Screw it! Am off to sleep.

Cheers

Jais

Kashmiriiiiiiiiiii

Hello world! my 5 post in don’t know how many days or hours. i can see the excitement waning. But this is exam time. and i don’t feel like studying… anythings possible. this stupid blog might just survive!

Read somewhere that blogging is when you don’t have to say anything but you say it anyway. that’s true. i don’t have to say anything as of now. And i seriously doubt i ever will.

However, the present dilemma is whether to go out for food to Kashmiri. Amazing non-veg. not that i am a hardcore non-veggie. i prefer the position of being a non-veg who prefers veg. i doubt such a position exists. What to do what to do…

chalo, will fill this stupid blog with nothing later on. now its time to contemplate.

Cheers

Jai

Update!

Well, i did indeed go to Kashmiri yesterday. A dhaba near the railway station. and what amazing non-veg food. the chicken was awesome. The Kima fry was mindboggingly amazing. A bit on the spicier side, but i do find everything a bit spicy. Dahi (Curd) was the best; delicious, rich, creamy and uniformly thick.  One can go there just for the cud!

We have this policy of no compromise on food. And that’s the thing with kashmiri, there’s never any question of compromise. The place changes the definition of hogging. I was so full by the end of it that i couldn’t have an ice cream. (actually, i did… but that was a BIG mistake. shouldn’t have had it.) Overall, amazing non-veg food. worth every penny. Came to about 100 Rs per head. Not bad for the kind of hogging we do.

Cheers

Jais

I dig Music…

I dig music… i honestly do. Oh well, i want to anyway.

Have put my winamp on shuffle mode for the past couple of days with all the English tracks on (which would also explain the tracks which were considered for the name of this stupid blog). And the results are interesting…

Up Around The Bend by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chichina from the soundtrack of Motorcycle Diaries, Beatles – You Like Me Too Much, Simple Twist of Fate by Bob Dylan, Beatles – I saw her standing there! (devine…), Ryan Adams – Starlite Diner, Baby Blue by Badfinger from the soundtrack of Departed, The Guns Of Brixton by The Clash, Bruce Springsteen – Better Days… Skipped quite a few tracks in between.

The thing is, i hadn’t heard most of the tracks in a long long time. Baring Beatles and departed soundtrack rest all are as good as new. at least listening experience wise. to me at least… and they are good. really really good!

Lets discover some music.

Cheers

Jais

PS: the quote “i dig music” is ‘borrowed’ from the movie “almost famous”. Amazing movie. Amazing soundtrack.

Could have…?

Dear Interested readers. This is my third post in 12 hours! wonder how long this blog craze will last. Knowing me, i will delete it within the next 24 to 48 hours. Or might probably take it as a challenge and keep for a while longer. 72 hours perhaps. Decisions decisions!

Saw this as the gtalk status of a first year. Probably hes the only first year i know… anyway, it was as follows:

“The saddest summary of lyf contains three descriptions: ‘COULD HAVE’ , ‘MIGHT HAVE’ and ‘SHOULD HAVE’.”

Would i have liked it any other way? Probably. Can i do anything about anything that ‘could have’, ‘might have’ or ‘should have’? Nope. That puts an end to the debate, doesn’t it? Sometimes its easy to deal in absolutes.

However, coming back, definitely an interesting status. but in the end doesn’t really matter. As Gandalf put it in lord of the rigs: fellowship of the rings, “all you have to decide is what to do with the time given to us’ (or something to that effect).

And considering the time that has been given to me, I wouldn’t want it to be any other way…

Or would I? Hmm…

Cheers

Jais