Frankly, I wasn't too thrilled by it. Hanks & Tautou lack the needed chemistry for the lead couple. The romantic angle was totally left out. Quite frankly, I thought the actor best suited for the role was Russell Crowe. Langdon is depicted as a pretty athletic yet brainy chap and Crowe quite clearly fits the character better if you go by his physique & his prior experience playing such characters. Did Ron Howard just tire of Crowe after 'A Beautiful Mind' & 'Cinderalla Man' ?? We'll never know. The best part arguably, was the final scene of the movie & I don't mean it in a sarcastic way. Robert Langdon's (poignantly enacted) realisation of the location of Mary Magdalene's sarcophagus at the picturesque Louvre museum, accompanied by the truly amazing "Chevaliers de Sangreal" by Hans Zimmer in the background is cinematographically majestic indeed. The crescendo of the composition fits in perfectly with the unraveling of Sauniere's verse:
The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits.
Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies.
The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates.
She rests atlast beneathe the starry skies.
The Louvre was undoubtedly high on my "Places to visit when in Paris" list, and now it just may have displaced Eiffel Tower as #1. And of course, Chevaliers de Sangreal has gone straight to my iPod.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
Innocent until proven guilty...
I am not a face reader. Believe me, I have made my share of mistakes when it comes to reading people, some of them very gross....mistakes not people.
In an unprecedented move, the Duke University Lacrosse captain who was indicted today gave a stirring speech to the media, proclaiming his innocence. While, it wasn't quite poignant, it did have an air of innocence to it. I don't know if twenty three year old sportsmen can give that amazing a performance if indeed the whole thing was staged but his actions do speak louder than his words. His complete cooperation with the Durham PD from day one, his voluntary polygraph test, the DNA tests which failed to prove his involvement - all point to one of two things - either the rape did not happen OR the police simply got the wrong guys.
Three lives (four including the unidentified victim, if she is indeed a victim) are going to be invariably altered over the course of this trial. Whether this was justified or not, only time will tell.
In an unprecedented move, the Duke University Lacrosse captain who was indicted today gave a stirring speech to the media, proclaiming his innocence. While, it wasn't quite poignant, it did have an air of innocence to it. I don't know if twenty three year old sportsmen can give that amazing a performance if indeed the whole thing was staged but his actions do speak louder than his words. His complete cooperation with the Durham PD from day one, his voluntary polygraph test, the DNA tests which failed to prove his involvement - all point to one of two things - either the rape did not happen OR the police simply got the wrong guys.
Three lives (four including the unidentified victim, if she is indeed a victim) are going to be invariably altered over the course of this trial. Whether this was justified or not, only time will tell.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Wednesday at the Ball Park
So, I went to my first baseball game last wednesday. Loads of fun from some pretty nice seats in the house. I think I will go to some more of these, no matter how much the Rockies suck.
Friendship
When we say "I have a lot of friends", what exactly is it that we mean?? How do we define the term "friend" ? Is it that generic a term to be used so liberally?
A friend is someone who always has atleast some time for you, who is patient enough to listen to the most trivial of things you'd have to say. Proximity is, so not an indicator or cause of friendship. And I guess neither is the frequency of conversations. Some of my best friends are the ones I don't speak to all that often & yet when I do, the experience is as fulfilling as if we were speaking every single day. A friend is someone whom you can uninhibitedly talk to, without the fear of being judged. And most importantly, friendship like trust & respect has to be mutual.
We spend our entire life making acquaintances and tragically, so little time finding friends among them.
A friend is someone who always has atleast some time for you, who is patient enough to listen to the most trivial of things you'd have to say. Proximity is, so not an indicator or cause of friendship. And I guess neither is the frequency of conversations. Some of my best friends are the ones I don't speak to all that often & yet when I do, the experience is as fulfilling as if we were speaking every single day. A friend is someone whom you can uninhibitedly talk to, without the fear of being judged. And most importantly, friendship like trust & respect has to be mutual.
We spend our entire life making acquaintances and tragically, so little time finding friends among them.
Monday, March 20, 2006
It's a St. Patrick's Day miracle.
Another one of my could've-been-run-in-with-the-law. It was Friday night & we were heading back home after watching V for Vendetta (a good movie, although I did sleep through some part of it). I am going at my usual 75-80mph on the empty stretches of US36 when suddenly a Jeep Grand Cherokee overtakes me from the right. I'm thinking "Gee, that guy must be in a hurry."
Not even 10 seconds have passed & therez another guy tailgating me. Now, I'm beginning to think, "Is even 80, too slow for this time of the night?". I usually don't allow such wannabe speedfreaks to intimidate me into allowing them to pass. So, I step on the gas, watch the speedometer needle move upto 85 & then God knows what overcame me. In a split second, I just moved into the right lane and let the tailgater go ahead.
And exactly about 5 seconds later, my tailgater turns on his RED-n-BLUE lights and brings the Jeep in & books him. It's an undercover cop.
Whew, that was a close one !!!
Not even 10 seconds have passed & therez another guy tailgating me. Now, I'm beginning to think, "Is even 80, too slow for this time of the night?". I usually don't allow such wannabe speedfreaks to intimidate me into allowing them to pass. So, I step on the gas, watch the speedometer needle move upto 85 & then God knows what overcame me. In a split second, I just moved into the right lane and let the tailgater go ahead.
And exactly about 5 seconds later, my tailgater turns on his RED-n-BLUE lights and brings the Jeep in & books him. It's an undercover cop.
Whew, that was a close one !!!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Ominous signs
Orkut and through it my friends, rate me at 80% sexy yet only 60% trusty.
I guess the question then is:
Are you what people *think* you are ?? OR
Are you what you *know* you are??
Aaah....the vagaries of public perception.
I guess the question then is:
Are you what people *think* you are ?? OR
Are you what you *know* you are??
Aaah....the vagaries of public perception.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Religious rant - II
This guy just doesn't let go.
The only reason I dont allow anonymous comments or comments without registration is because of all the advertising spam that I receive on my blog. So, if you really do want to opine, 2 mins of your time with a fake email address is enough to register with blogspot. Justifying the obvious lack of thought as is evident from your current post, with some trivial excuse, is totally lame.
I wasn't justifying the act of distributing trishuls as the right thing to do. But all your rants were singularly anti-Hindu(even though they were not against me personally as you claim) with not a single word against the atrocities of any other religion. That is something I found to be quite hypocritical. If there indeed are other writings about those, would you be kind enough to point them out to me so that I can have a better insight into your *ideology* ?
If you still dont understand the meaning of hypocrisy, then you dont know the meaning of the word liberal as well. To be a liberal you kind of have to refrain from any *extreme* opinions about anything, which you obviously dont do. So, when you say you are a liberal and you have extreme views on matters, you are actually being a hypocrite. I hope I am making myself clear enough because if this doesnt get through then I dont think anything else will. And pray what exactly did you find hypocritical in my post?? Just calling me a hypocrite doesnt make me one. You actually have to prove it like I did.
Contrary to what you might believe, I am not a fundamentalist. Hell, I wouldnt do my morning prayers everyday even when my father beat the crap out of me. But I am indeed proud of my heritage and culture and I obviously dont appreciate it when its maligned without any purpose, thought or justification by people like you.
The only reason I dont allow anonymous comments or comments without registration is because of all the advertising spam that I receive on my blog. So, if you really do want to opine, 2 mins of your time with a fake email address is enough to register with blogspot. Justifying the obvious lack of thought as is evident from your current post, with some trivial excuse, is totally lame.
I wasn't justifying the act of distributing trishuls as the right thing to do. But all your rants were singularly anti-Hindu(even though they were not against me personally as you claim) with not a single word against the atrocities of any other religion. That is something I found to be quite hypocritical. If there indeed are other writings about those, would you be kind enough to point them out to me so that I can have a better insight into your *ideology* ?
If you still dont understand the meaning of hypocrisy, then you dont know the meaning of the word liberal as well. To be a liberal you kind of have to refrain from any *extreme* opinions about anything, which you obviously dont do. So, when you say you are a liberal and you have extreme views on matters, you are actually being a hypocrite. I hope I am making myself clear enough because if this doesnt get through then I dont think anything else will. And pray what exactly did you find hypocritical in my post?? Just calling me a hypocrite doesnt make me one. You actually have to prove it like I did.
Contrary to what you might believe, I am not a fundamentalist. Hell, I wouldnt do my morning prayers everyday even when my father beat the crap out of me. But I am indeed proud of my heritage and culture and I obviously dont appreciate it when its maligned without any purpose, thought or justification by people like you.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony
Another snowy day in Colorado, a different kinda driving experience. I still am not quite used to driving in the snow one day and in bright sunshine the next. Both need different driving styles, as I have realised now. And I haven't quite managed to switch modes on the fly.
So, after it snowed overnight to leave a thick coat on the morning roads, I was perfunctorily driving down the road to Boulder when I saw the light turn yellow at a distance. I just hit the brakes without so much as a modicum of thought. (Caffeine deficiency in the morning does cloud my judgement at times.) As expected, the rear end of the car gave away and I ended up taking a right turn that I don't usually take. Thankfully, there were no cars around. No harm done.
But this was just the 'cause'...the 'effect' was yet to come.
While driving back home, I was still on the busy streets of Boulder when it was deja vu all over again. The lights turned yellow just when I was at that uncertain stretch, not knowing whether to go or stop. The morning's event flashed through my mind and I realised that if I hit the brakes, I was sure to skid and hit the cars in the neighboring lane before coming to a halt (All this thinking in a matter of a second...caffeine helps, you see! ) But if I speeded up instead, I would break the red surely and yet pass the intersection before the other cars had begun to even move.
So, being the good samaritan that I am (thinking of damage to *other* cars before mine), I hit the gas and just as I crossed the light..... FLASH, FLASH, FLASH. The paparazzi were on to me.
As luck would have it, the intersection had a Photo-Light.
So, after it snowed overnight to leave a thick coat on the morning roads, I was perfunctorily driving down the road to Boulder when I saw the light turn yellow at a distance. I just hit the brakes without so much as a modicum of thought. (Caffeine deficiency in the morning does cloud my judgement at times.) As expected, the rear end of the car gave away and I ended up taking a right turn that I don't usually take. Thankfully, there were no cars around. No harm done.
But this was just the 'cause'...the 'effect' was yet to come.
While driving back home, I was still on the busy streets of Boulder when it was deja vu all over again. The lights turned yellow just when I was at that uncertain stretch, not knowing whether to go or stop. The morning's event flashed through my mind and I realised that if I hit the brakes, I was sure to skid and hit the cars in the neighboring lane before coming to a halt (All this thinking in a matter of a second...caffeine helps, you see! ) But if I speeded up instead, I would break the red surely and yet pass the intersection before the other cars had begun to even move.
So, being the good samaritan that I am (thinking of damage to *other* cars before mine), I hit the gas and just as I crossed the light..... FLASH, FLASH, FLASH. The paparazzi were on to me.
As luck would have it, the intersection had a Photo-Light.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Born on the 2nd of August
Some people I share my birthday with:
Kevin Smith (YAY!!)
Lamar Hunt (without him we wouldn't have had the NFL)
Peter O'Toole (need I say more?)
Wes Craven
and last but not the least...
Sara Foster (of "The Big Bounce" fame, she's one cute hottie)
Kevin Smith (YAY!!)
Lamar Hunt (without him we wouldn't have had the NFL)
Peter O'Toole (need I say more?)
Wes Craven
and last but not the least...
Sara Foster (of "The Big Bounce" fame, she's one cute hottie)
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Match Point
I believe in the law of averages - you have to -. Life is full of nice little surprises that almost make you feel guilty. But then, life can also be so incredibly unfair that the only thing you have left is a belief that something's eventually gonna go your way. *Hope* is the ultimate equalizer.
I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing both the feelings - all in a day's work.
On my longish 35 mile drive to work everyday, I have seen countless number of people being pulled over for speeding on one particular section of the freeway. One day it would be my time too, I always thought. The empty road on a routine bright'n'sunny day (Yes, we have more than 300 of those every year) literally begs, screams for SPEED. 50 - doesn't do justice to either the road or the automobile. But this is not where the incident occured, infact, far from it.
Now, normally I am a very safe driver (other than speeding on empty roads of course) with a clean record. So, what happened was ... something of an anomaly. I was getting late for an appointment at 7 in the evening. Naturally , I was stepping on the gas, without realizing that I was going through a school-zone.
I got pulled over promptly.
It was almost like three strikes in one shot...driver with a middle-eastern look (due to my goatee), driving at 40mph in a 20mph zone & the most glaring of all...not having the current insurance papers in my car (I had very conveniently forgotten to put in an updated copy after I renewed my policy in November). "I'm in for big, this time", I thought to myself.
So the cop came around, took a long, hard look at me and asked for my drivers license. After my record checked out to be okay, he came back and spoke in a very sinister tone, "Sir, I caught you at 40 in a school zone. You should thank your stars that the school's done for the day. Else you would have been in serious trouble now. In this case, I'm going to let you off with just a warning."
I couldn't believe what I had heard. Putting on the most apologetic of faces, I regurgitated the same old cliche, the one I had practised tons of times for this very moment, "I'm extremely sorry officer. I assure you, it won't happen again." Me getting caught...I meant :P
A wise man once said 'Sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good'. While, I've been on the bad side of that statement more than a few times, this was the first time I was on the 'good'. Atleast, I couldn't put it down to anything other than luck.
I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing both the feelings - all in a day's work.
On my longish 35 mile drive to work everyday, I have seen countless number of people being pulled over for speeding on one particular section of the freeway. One day it would be my time too, I always thought. The empty road on a routine bright'n'sunny day (Yes, we have more than 300 of those every year) literally begs, screams for SPEED. 50 - doesn't do justice to either the road or the automobile. But this is not where the incident occured, infact, far from it.
Now, normally I am a very safe driver (other than speeding on empty roads of course) with a clean record. So, what happened was ... something of an anomaly. I was getting late for an appointment at 7 in the evening. Naturally , I was stepping on the gas, without realizing that I was going through a school-zone.
I got pulled over promptly.
It was almost like three strikes in one shot...driver with a middle-eastern look (due to my goatee), driving at 40mph in a 20mph zone & the most glaring of all...not having the current insurance papers in my car (I had very conveniently forgotten to put in an updated copy after I renewed my policy in November). "I'm in for big, this time", I thought to myself.
So the cop came around, took a long, hard look at me and asked for my drivers license. After my record checked out to be okay, he came back and spoke in a very sinister tone, "Sir, I caught you at 40 in a school zone. You should thank your stars that the school's done for the day. Else you would have been in serious trouble now. In this case, I'm going to let you off with just a warning."
I couldn't believe what I had heard. Putting on the most apologetic of faces, I regurgitated the same old cliche, the one I had practised tons of times for this very moment, "I'm extremely sorry officer. I assure you, it won't happen again." Me getting caught...I meant :P
A wise man once said 'Sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good'. While, I've been on the bad side of that statement more than a few times, this was the first time I was on the 'good'. Atleast, I couldn't put it down to anything other than luck.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Things to do before I'm 30
Being the introspection phase that I'm in these days, I thought it was high time I set a few goals in life with regards to where I want to be, what I want out of life itself. But that seemed a far fetched idea to me...you know... a little too far in the distant future kinda thing. So, the giant step turned into a baby one. Four and a half years is a quite modest target to be planning for the future. Heck, even the Indian govt. doesn't think beyond a five year period, who am I to do so then?
5. Become the uber fitness freak.
4. Become a savant, a connoisseur of the French, Italian & Thai cuisines and not just the gourmand. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I guess it shouldn't be too different for a woman either. After all, they have a palate & they get hungry too.
3. Make that two week long trip to Alaska. All my life, the one place I had always wanted to go was Europe, to see all the magnificient architectural beauty. But living in Colorado has made me appreciate 'au naturale' more. So, while Europe is definately on the cards, priority #1 is Alaska.
2. Scale all of the 53 14ers in Colorado. That's 5 summers. Average of 11 peaks a summer. Pretty doable if #5 is accomplished.
1. Umm..what do I put in here?? This seems too important to put something in randomly & set it in stone pretty much. Need to put a lil' more thought into this one...more on this later...so far so good though.
5. Become the uber fitness freak.
4. Become a savant, a connoisseur of the French, Italian & Thai cuisines and not just the gourmand. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I guess it shouldn't be too different for a woman either. After all, they have a palate & they get hungry too.
3. Make that two week long trip to Alaska. All my life, the one place I had always wanted to go was Europe, to see all the magnificient architectural beauty. But living in Colorado has made me appreciate 'au naturale' more. So, while Europe is definately on the cards, priority #1 is Alaska.
2. Scale all of the 53 14ers in Colorado. That's 5 summers. Average of 11 peaks a summer. Pretty doable if #5 is accomplished.
1. Umm..what do I put in here?? This seems too important to put something in randomly & set it in stone pretty much. Need to put a lil' more thought into this one...more on this later...so far so good though.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Driving Miss Crazy
I had the first (of many, I'm sure) scary driving experiences in the winter snow of Colorado. Snow does funny things to cars. A dry snow feels like you're driving on the beach, a wet snow gives you the creeps & dont even get me started about ICE. Let's just say that if you don't use your brakes just the right way, they kinda lose their purpose.
First thing in the morning today, I drove Miss Crazy out of my complex & following my usual habit of braking hard right near the intersection, I stared in disbelief as she didnt even slow down an inch and kept skidding along, right onto the road. Scary moment. Thankfully none of her girlfriends were out on that road yet.
About an hour and a half later, two blocks away from my office, I see a RED, I see the car in front of me slow down. I tell Miss Crazy to do that too. Twenty meters from the light, I see that car starting to wobble, so we brace ourselves. Braking slowly and steadily I feel that we'll stop before hitting that guy. But suddenly, she kinda speeds up & I realise, we have hit the same icy patch on the road that guy did. And then begins the twist and turn of the steering wheel (Sorry sweetheart, I promise...Never again!) to avoid colliding with everyone. And just as her front wheels clear the ice, her ass just gives away and we make the shortest U everrrrr. Now, I'm facing the cars follwing me, holding my breath for god knows how long. But those people are smart. After seeing my antics, my follower stops his car just short of the icy patch, waits for the traffic in the neighboring lane to clear up and smoothly sails by. I'm left speechless.
Moral of the story: Whenever it snows this bad, leave Miss Crazy home!
First thing in the morning today, I drove Miss Crazy out of my complex & following my usual habit of braking hard right near the intersection, I stared in disbelief as she didnt even slow down an inch and kept skidding along, right onto the road. Scary moment. Thankfully none of her girlfriends were out on that road yet.
About an hour and a half later, two blocks away from my office, I see a RED, I see the car in front of me slow down. I tell Miss Crazy to do that too. Twenty meters from the light, I see that car starting to wobble, so we brace ourselves. Braking slowly and steadily I feel that we'll stop before hitting that guy. But suddenly, she kinda speeds up & I realise, we have hit the same icy patch on the road that guy did. And then begins the twist and turn of the steering wheel (Sorry sweetheart, I promise...Never again!) to avoid colliding with everyone. And just as her front wheels clear the ice, her ass just gives away and we make the shortest U everrrrr. Now, I'm facing the cars follwing me, holding my breath for god knows how long. But those people are smart. After seeing my antics, my follower stops his car just short of the icy patch, waits for the traffic in the neighboring lane to clear up and smoothly sails by. I'm left speechless.
Moral of the story: Whenever it snows this bad, leave Miss Crazy home!
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Patriot Reign : OVER
What were they thinking?? Did they think, they could just march into Denver and kick our asses?? Expect us to just allow them to walk all over us, just because they were the "oh!! we're so good" champs?? All week long we heard every single media analyst ( Shannon Sharpe doesn't count) undermine the Broncos, pick the Pats to win this one...without so much as a modicum of intelligence, pragmatism. No NFL game is ever won purely on reputation and this one was no different. You are what you are. That is why the Pats even made it to the playoffs by winning a mediocre(only better than the hapless NFC North) AFC East at 10-6 while at the same time the Chiefs at 10-6 didnt even make the playoffs. And then they beat the worst 12-4 team to EVER make the playoffs. And collected bragging rights nonetheless!!! WTF...Jacksonville's no Denver...Jeez..they dont even know the concept of "Stopping the run" and for that matter..neither do the Pats. Please dont quote stats on this one before looking at the teams that they played when they supposedly "stopped" the run. And please...to those who choose to crib about the missed calls in this one...I have only two words for you...TUCK RULE...the biggest hypocrisy in the history of the "patriot reign". So, all you New Englanders...settle down in your chairs with your clam chowder and get set for a long winter while we turn up the heat here in Denver.
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