Saw Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I am a huge Indy fan. So I loved it. Each time the theme music played, I got goose bumps. But if you are not an Indy fan, dont bother watching it.
Best thing about the movie is that Speilberg and Lucas did not try to make Ford look any younger than he actually is. The character itself is shown to have aged. Indy is still funny as ever. Ford might be old, but he's definitely still HOT! Cate Blanchett was simply awesome as the Russian baddie.
On the flip side, the story line was not strong enough to sustain a 2 hr movie. Maybe its years of hype that made me feel so. I was expecting something out of this world. But not literally! Jones is an archeologist - a glorified "grave digger". Archeology is supposed to be a study of past human life and culture... aliens and spaceship doesn't fit into the picture at all!! Yet another let down was Shia LaBeouf - he's not really there. He was trying too hard to be cool and funny and Jones-Jr-esque. But he really fell short.
Anyway, if Lucas wants to make a few more sequels, they can always start with Henry Jones III. But Indy will always be Harrison Ford!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Bolly Blogs
The latest Bollywood trend - blogging! Heading the bandwagon is Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. There is also the IntentBlog (started by Mallika Chopra, Gotham Chopra, Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur) - the blog that uses media to engage a community and has contributions from Bollywood celebrities (SRK, Rahul Bose, Anupam Kher...). Other contributors at IntentBlog include a self help guru, spandex-clad Hollywood star, one half of Eurythmics, and even Guru Pitka.
For me, blogging is just a means to vent. I blog when I feel like it. There are no obligations or targets. There are some months that have multiple blog posts. And then there are months where there is none. This is something I do for myself. If there are people who read it, it is just incidental. Instead of keeping a journal, I just choose to write it online and open for public. If someone sets a target for me that I have to post at least once a day or week or month, I am sure I'll stop blogging. The moment you attach targets & expectations, it becomes a routine and maybe even a chore.
So why do celebrities blog? I refuse to believe that they do it for the same reasons as I do. Thanks to the paparazzi, their lives are already under public scrutiny. I dont think any of them need more of this.
Big B has his blog at www.bigadda.com. This site is owned by Anil Ambani's Reliance BIG Entertainment. It is a social networking site. In a world of orkut and myspace and facebook, it takes a lot of effort to launch yet another social networking site. So how do you drive traffic to the site? Ambani is fishing and Big B is the bait. This is just my opinion. Big B might actually have felt an urge to blog. But hey, doesn't my theory sound more plausible?
So why is Aamir blogging? I haven't found any conspiracies there yet.
For me, blogging is just a means to vent. I blog when I feel like it. There are no obligations or targets. There are some months that have multiple blog posts. And then there are months where there is none. This is something I do for myself. If there are people who read it, it is just incidental. Instead of keeping a journal, I just choose to write it online and open for public. If someone sets a target for me that I have to post at least once a day or week or month, I am sure I'll stop blogging. The moment you attach targets & expectations, it becomes a routine and maybe even a chore.
So why do celebrities blog? I refuse to believe that they do it for the same reasons as I do. Thanks to the paparazzi, their lives are already under public scrutiny. I dont think any of them need more of this.
Big B has his blog at www.bigadda.com. This site is owned by Anil Ambani's Reliance BIG Entertainment. It is a social networking site. In a world of orkut and myspace and facebook, it takes a lot of effort to launch yet another social networking site. So how do you drive traffic to the site? Ambani is fishing and Big B is the bait. This is just my opinion. Big B might actually have felt an urge to blog. But hey, doesn't my theory sound more plausible?
So why is Aamir blogging? I haven't found any conspiracies there yet.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Seattle Groper!
I've been back in Seattle for more than a year now. A few months after I got here, in the news, I remember seeing a report about some sexual assault. It was about a man who groped an Asian woman and ran off when she screamed. And I thought... What's the big deal? I've witnessed and even been the victim of similar incidents in India. And that is one of the biggest reasons why I hate being in my home town. I never get a sense of confidence when I am there. But then I digress from the main topic - the groper.
Since the first news report, I kept hearing multiple reports of similar nature. It was becoming a pattern. It was happening in Rainier Valley and on Beacon Hill in Seattle. It always happens near the Metro bus stops. And the targets were always Asian women. The age group of the victims ranged from 13 - 50! According to the news report, the attacker is a black male around 40 yrs old. He's 5 feet 10 inches tall with shaving bumps on the left side of his face. And yesterday there was a similar report - and apparently this is the 23rd attack.
Now the news just appalls me.
1. This is presented as the headline news. I understand that this is a big issue but I wouldn't call it headline news or breaking story that warrants a 10 minute coverage! Especially when it puts focus on our inability to do anything about it.
2. This is not just sexual assaults. It is a very racist act too. And he even attacks teenagers. So he is a pervert, racist and a pedophile! 23 attacks and still no arrests!! After almost 10 months of attacks, we are still just warning people!
3. The media seems to be more active than the cops. They know the localities where attacks happen. Even in the locality, they can narrow it down to Metro bus stops. They have some description of the guy. And he is actively assaulting Asian teenagers and women. If he has such a predictable pattern, how difficult can if be to catch him (if they want to)?
Since the first news report, I kept hearing multiple reports of similar nature. It was becoming a pattern. It was happening in Rainier Valley and on Beacon Hill in Seattle. It always happens near the Metro bus stops. And the targets were always Asian women. The age group of the victims ranged from 13 - 50! According to the news report, the attacker is a black male around 40 yrs old. He's 5 feet 10 inches tall with shaving bumps on the left side of his face. And yesterday there was a similar report - and apparently this is the 23rd attack.
Now the news just appalls me.
1. This is presented as the headline news. I understand that this is a big issue but I wouldn't call it headline news or breaking story that warrants a 10 minute coverage! Especially when it puts focus on our inability to do anything about it.
2. This is not just sexual assaults. It is a very racist act too. And he even attacks teenagers. So he is a pervert, racist and a pedophile! 23 attacks and still no arrests!! After almost 10 months of attacks, we are still just warning people!
3. The media seems to be more active than the cops. They know the localities where attacks happen. Even in the locality, they can narrow it down to Metro bus stops. They have some description of the guy. And he is actively assaulting Asian teenagers and women. If he has such a predictable pattern, how difficult can if be to catch him (if they want to)?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
New Toy
I gifted myself a new iPod Touch on my birthday. 5 days since I got it... And I am totally loving it. I have loaded it up with songs for all my moods :) And I've some of my favorite photos, wallpapers, et al loaded. Decided not to sync up contacts & calendar since my cell phone already has it. Now I dont have to keep a bunch of CDs in the car. Love the touch screen. Love the way it goes to wide screen mode when I turn it hortizontally. It hooks up with WiFi networks. And the battery life is just awesome!
OK... so nothing is perfect. There are somethings I just hate about it.
Automatic sync of music: I have a bunch of my music on an external hard drive and I dont keep it hooked up to my laptop. I loaded it once to the iPod. The next time I auto-synced it, it started wiping all the music from the iPod out since the hard drive was not hooked up. So now I have to manually sync it. Painful!! But I am a very patient person :) [yeah, right!]
No games: What the f***. Even the cheapest cell phones have atleast 2 games. With all the funky features, the least Apple could do is add some games. I can play games from the browser but what if I dont have a WiFi network around? And even worse, I can't install any games on my own unless I hack it. I dont see the logic behind it. Apple is not gaining anything from this. Its not like they sell their own set of games that people can buy!
No bluetooth or even IR: With all the bluetooth enabled headphones available now, its weird that Apple does not have bluetooth in their iPod. There are bluetooth adapters available that can be plugged into the iPod. The iPhones are bluetooth enabled. So why not add it to the iPods too. Is it to promote iPhone sales??
Now, the obvious question: Why did I buy an iPod instead of iPhone? Three reasons:
(1) NO ONE makes better cellphones than Nokia
(2) I hate having a 2 year contract with AT&T on the cellphone plan
(3) Unlocked iPhones without the AT&T contracts are more expensive and not supported much by Apple
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
21st Century Superstitions
Most of us grew up hearing about superstitions from our parents or grand parents.
NYTimes had a recent article on appeasing Gods with Insurance. The article was about people buying traveller's insurance. They believe that not buying it is tempting fate. If their flight doesn't crash or their luggage doesn't get lost, they consider it money well spent. If you ask me, there is nothing logical here. Haing or not having an insurance doesn't change the probability of a mishap. Its almost like Murphy's laws.
I have heard people say that their iPod/mobile phone/camera broke down right after the warranty period. The marketing industry knows this. So they sell extended warranty. When someone offers you extended warranty and you refuse, and if the appliance breaks down after your warranty is over, it reaffirms the belief. These beliefs are not restricted to people who believe in God or people who are religious. Even atheists and people who believe in logical reasoning beyond everything still succumb to such notions.
According to the NYT article, the logical explanation for such illogical beliefs is "Because calamities are so vivid and easily brought to mind, we tend to overestimate their probability when we intuitively judge what will happen if we tempt fate."
I consider myself a fairly logical person who like to see the facts before I believe in something. But I still try to get up on my right side from bed in the morning. My parents used to tell me that if I woke up on my left, it will leave me grumpy all day!!
- Breaking mirror brings bad luck
- Spilling salt causes arguments
- A black cat crossing you is bad luck
- Horse shoes are lucky
- 13 is an unlucky number
NYTimes had a recent article on appeasing Gods with Insurance. The article was about people buying traveller's insurance. They believe that not buying it is tempting fate. If their flight doesn't crash or their luggage doesn't get lost, they consider it money well spent. If you ask me, there is nothing logical here. Haing or not having an insurance doesn't change the probability of a mishap. Its almost like Murphy's laws.
I have heard people say that their iPod/mobile phone/camera broke down right after the warranty period. The marketing industry knows this. So they sell extended warranty. When someone offers you extended warranty and you refuse, and if the appliance breaks down after your warranty is over, it reaffirms the belief. These beliefs are not restricted to people who believe in God or people who are religious. Even atheists and people who believe in logical reasoning beyond everything still succumb to such notions.
According to the NYT article, the logical explanation for such illogical beliefs is "Because calamities are so vivid and easily brought to mind, we tend to overestimate their probability when we intuitively judge what will happen if we tempt fate."
I consider myself a fairly logical person who like to see the facts before I believe in something. But I still try to get up on my right side from bed in the morning. My parents used to tell me that if I woke up on my left, it will leave me grumpy all day!!
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