The Price is Right


Well, for any of you out there fool enough to regularly check on my stupid blog, apologies are in order. I was busy with the stupid MBA entrances...CAT and what not. I still am actually. But the big one i.e. CAT is out of the way (before you ask, it sucked bigtime. I blew it.) so I decided to take some time out to do some long overdue blogging.

Remember that showpiece that uve always had but dont quite like and dont quite remember how you got it? Or those plain biscuits that you hate so much but have had more times than you care to acknowledge? Yes useless consumer goods abound in all our homes. And not because they are useless to others but guilty pleasures to some. In a rare freak happening, these goods actually happen to be something universally hated (who knew wed all finally agree on something). But they exist because you need something to give.

Its the thought that counts. That tagline cant be applied to gifts anymore. Remember the expression A penny for your thoughts? Well, the thought behind the gift is worth far lesser. Its the price tag that counts. And these pricey and weird and completely useless showpieces are the perfect gift. Because of the price tag.

A bunch of friends get together and scramble some money together. Each of them contributes a small amount. But the collective amount comes out to be huge. They then proceed to buy one gargantuan gift for a mutual friend that they are just aquaintainces with. So no one really puts much thought into the gift brought. Now small amounts of money contributed may give rise to a large amount. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the thought. Shallow and vague thoughts behind the gift when seen as a collective dont give rise to one deep thought. The result - one fabulously expensive but equally useless gift. And thus the saga of the useless items continue. Read up boys and girls, for this just might be one of the most important economic lessons you might learn...yeah right.

Emotional Rollercoaster


People keep forgetting what they want to exhibit. As far as showcasing talent goes, they have nothing to show for themselves. But they do create a messy tearjerking half hour replete with all the cliches and corniness of a soap opera. They come becuase they feel they have something that the world needs to see. They feel they need an outlet for their expressions. what we do get instead is a gamut of fake emotions, dollops of made up drama and cliched ministrations with corny dialogues.

They have nothing to show for themselves. But if the world sees them, it statiates their ego. And gives them a sense of satisfaction that they figure somewhere in the scheme of things. As for emotions, thats for our enjoyment. And we do enjoy it. Well, of course not me personally. Give me a good comedy...hell, even a crappy comedy or over the top actioner anyday. Its not just stupid, its bad advertising...a field that i personally hold interest in. Dont worry, I'm not gonna rattle of jingles. But to get back to the point, why sell yourself short. Oh, thats right, cuz you have nothing better to do. What I dont understand is, when the contestants of Roadies, Splitsvilla are older, married and with children, how will they be able to look back and not want
to jump off the roof.

Being the centre of attraction stems from some deep sense of insufficiency. They think it to be some great defining moment of their life, so that they can live off its residual glory for the rest of their lives. Some people praise a certain quality and they get above themselves. The rest is Misery.

The problem also lies with talent exploration. There is no proper career guidance and career counselling and people have a hard time exploiting their instincts. Oh well, off to Hong Kong and Thailand....next up...hopefully, a photo blog.

Inherently at a Loss/Book Review: The Inheritance of Loss and other such books



Inheritance of Loss. A great book. Great reviews, prestigious awards, the whole hog. When it comes to movies people like their occaisonal tragedies, but when it comes to literature, they are a sucker for tragedies. I have concluded that unlike me, they dont look to reading for an escape from a hectic life, like we do with movies, TV and music. They probably think of it as an improving habit (which, most actually do). And people seem to think that tragedy being more sobering, less frivolous shows more knowledge and maturity. Inspite of all these arguments, my point is The Inheritance of Loss sucks. Bigtime.

These novels like Inheritance of Loss, The Namesake show glimpses of their authors as Salman Rushdie Wannabees. What is striking about the novels of Salman Rushdie is that he has an abundance of thoughts and analyses of the human nature that he wishes to share. And instead of writing them as a collection of Essays and thoughts or blogs that will never see the light of day, he weaves them together in the form of a loose storyline. The point of difference here
is, Rushdie comes up with better stories, his thoughts are more profound, his analysis more thoughtprovoking. Also whats missing from the books of these wannabees is the often in your face, often striking, often biting, often subtle sense of humour.

Call me an idiot or a philistine but to me these authors are people who have something to say but not very important. What could've been achieved by blogging they chose to string together in the form of a flimsy story and then somehow got noticed. Another common point, call it a coincidence, among these wannabes is, they are usually female. And as such are simply unable to present an unbiased point of view. They somehow manage to inculcate the eternal female struggle or championing of the female cause..Puh..leaze...Gimme a Break.

In Brightest Day, Or Darkest Night / Movie Review: The Dark Knight



Someone once said, Superman is how America sees itself, Batman is how the world sees America. But i disagree. Batman is good but misunderstood. Dark but good. America, well.....nuff said. Kudos to Christopher Nolan for this amazing sequel. This is the fourth Nolan movie I've seen after Batman Begins, The Prestige and Memento. He has seemlessly blended a good taut storyline, a superhero feel, a dark gritty atmosphere and an undertone about America's ruthless destructive tendencies and invasion of privacy.

The dark knight gets grimmer as a new playe, the Joker enters the fray. As he tests limits and patience, the dark knight must not only fight him, but build his own boundaries, deciding whats wrong and wats not. Working with Lieutenant Jim Gordon, he has put most of the mafia behind bars. They are joined by Harvey Dent, the newest hero of Gotham City.

The film enthralls for its entire two hours plus duration. The film works on all levels, as a drama, as an action movie, as a superhero caper. Nolan captures the true spirit of the dark and disturbed character that is The Batman. Unlike the previous Batman movies barring Batman Begins, there is proper focus on his psyche and what drives him, no messing with comic book continuity and no hamming guest actors as villains.

The mindless havoc wreaked by joker, his madness methodical but without logic, the fall of Harvey Dent is very well inculpated. As far as acting credits go, Christian Bale is undoubtedly the best Batman ever, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are perfect as his two trusted supporters. Gary Oldman is top notch. As for Heath Ledger's Joker, all I can say is we have lost an extremely talented artist just coming into his own. This was one hell of a swansong. One of the best on screen villains in recent times.

The background score is seamlessly blended though it was conspicuously missing in some parts, notably the tunnel chase sequence featuring a truck, a SWAT van and the Batmobile. But then maybe I'm just pointing this out because I have to show some flaws. For this is a movie that comes as close to perfection as a movie can.

Then there was a take on the contemporary world situation and politics, reflected in Harvey Dent's good character turned radically bad by disillusionment. Goes to show fanaticism can take root on either side. There was Joker's character uncompromisingly hell bent on destruction just for the sake of it. And then there was the scene where Batman taps into the cellphones of the entire Gotham population in a bid to locate Joker, opposed by his aide and technical expert Lucius Fox.

All in all an amazing movie clocking in at over two hours, every minute of which is enjoyable.