My not-so-great experience @ Tribeca Film Festival

I was *overwhelmed* by the number of people who had turned up at the Tribeca Film Festival last Saturday. I thought it would be one more of those festivals where I could walk in to watch any movie I wanted, with loads of empty seats in a theater that should have been packed, for an indie movie as delightful as some of the ones I have watched lately. Wanted to watch this one called Power of Nightmares, about Islamic fundamentalism, but so did 500 others - sold out! Then moved to the line for Devil's Miner - 15 mins later sold out! Then stood in line for Rikers High - 30 mins later....yes, sold out!

Looked around for the shortest line and waited for this one called "13 Lakes" (bad move, driven by impatience and chilly winds!). 15 mins later....got in this time! The movie was about that - 13 Lakes - this dude had traveled all around US, camera in hand, and filmed 13 Lakes. Hmm..this I knew before walking in, but I was disgusted by what I saw. No characters, no audio, no background music even, just the sound of gurgling water.. He didn't even move the camera around the lake to give us a "view", it was placed in the SAME place for 10 mins, focusing on water, sound of gurgling water.. Supposed to have a meditative, visually captivating effect - my a$$! I gave him his time, 6 lakes - that's all I could take. I have a fascination for still water, but it was still too much for me, had to get out of there before I lost my fascination!

The next Apprentice

This is the ONLY reality show I have ever followed (yes and the papal elections recently :)). I thought the first one was very entertaining, the last one was alright at best, but hardly watched any of the 3rd season. Down to the last 4 and maybe I will now..if all else fails me the next 3 Thurs nights, I have the Apprentice to look forward to..

So, we have 2 women, a white guy, and a black guy in the last four - this is dead easy - we know already that Trump is going to hire the white guy. I say call the winner right away and move on to the next season, which is supposed to have Donald Trump AND Martha Stewart together (that’s right!) - spending time in jail did more good for Martha Stewart's image and stock value than all the time spent on her afternoon TV shows..

Magic Malik

Magic Malik Orchestra was the name of the French band, whose concert I saw at the Knitting Factory. The lead performer in the band, Magic Malik was your absolute radical (even by French standards!). In a finger-showing gesture to convention, he had hair on his head only along where most people would have a parting - can you imagine - just a line of hair sticking up in an otherwise bald head..? His music seemed to defy convention further (it may have fallen in the ballpark of jazz, but had very little structure about it), but it was superb!

Malik primarily played the flute, but he also took jabs at the other instruments on stage. The saxophone added a great sound to the ensemble. The percussionists were superb - the drummer and this other, guest percussionist who seemed to almost be playing a speaker or a stool - still don’t know what instrument he was playing. The band would pick up a very simple tune, improvise over and over on it, build up to a frenzy, and then slow down again.

Hate to admit, but to throroughly enjoy certain kinds of music, its necessary to be somewhat intoxicated. Couple of glasses of wine down, the music seemed to do some very good things to me :) - during some of the slow, soothing pieces, just had to close my eyes to have visions of people/places/events from my past that the music brought with it..(trust me it was ONLY wine! :))

The band left back to France the same evening, don’t know if anyone reading this would ever get a chance to listen to them, but if you ever do, go for it! (*after* a couple of drinks mind you :))

Drinking my way to good health

..and spirits (needless to say..) - was able to get rid of an annoying cold (at the outset of Spring) by drinking beer...lots of it! No am not gonna get into the medical uses of beer..

Brewtopia - Craft's Beer Festival last weekend was an evening very well spent - breweries from all over showing off their stuff. I had subjected myself to Pavlovian experiments by beer-starving myself for 3 weeks straight and then letting myself loose at the beer fest (yes, there was some salivating involved). Tasting glass in hand, the beer connoiseur in me was in fine form from 6pm to 10pm - through 25-30 glasses of fine beer! Favorites? Best beer of the night was this one called Mojo (India Pale Ale) - had a slight citrus flavor about it that I absolutely loved! Another non-beer drink was honey-wine - that's right - aka 'nectar of the Gods' - made not from grapes, but by fermenting honey - I thought it was awesome (but again, beyond a point that evening most things were AWESOME) - check out LIMeadery.

The place was packed initially with the white frat-boy crowd (never losing a single chance to let out a scream YAAAAAY, in an overt, albeit unwarranted, show of masculinity), but it thinned down after 8pm (considering the first glass broke in the hall at 7pm, not everyone can drink for 4 hours straight like yours truly - modesy be damned!), the live music was quite good, the women only got better as the evening progressed - good times..

Movie Reviews

Watched quite a few of them in the last week. Here goes:

Sin City - in one word, *perverse*! We all have that perverse streak in us, but takes one sick, freakish, brilliant mind to bring it out on the screen in such a stylish way. As you watch the movie, you think ahead, and think that something disgusting just might happen, and then something worse than you can imagine happens! Not many movies have left me transfixed in my seat even after the credits are half-way through, wondering what the hell that was - this did it. Highly recommended watching, but be warned about what you are getting into...

Sideways - Ironical that I *finally* saw it in the theaters a day before it released on DVD - expecting to be the only stupid soul spending 6$ more than I needed to, to watch it a day before it released on DVD, but was a packed theater. One word (again) - "delightful". I don’t know if anyone else noticed the background score, but I loved it - soft, relaxing, apt! Had a few cheesy moments (think Virginia Madsen talking about how she likes to think about the rain and the sun shining on the grapes before the wine is made), but on the whole, a *beautiful* movie. If you waited as long as I did to see it, wait no more - catch it on DVD for sure!

Melinda & Melinda - my first Woody Allen movie (yeah, really!) - loved it! Its awesome how he straight-shoots philosophy at you, so matter-of-factly, in normal conversation between the characters. Laugh-out-loud funny at times, but subtle humor straight through. And those dream, palatial apartments in NYC - where are they?! One word? - hmm.."revealing" - opened me up to the wonderful world of Woody Allen movies - looking forward to watching more.

Maria, Full of Grace - Catalina Sandino Moreno looked stunning at the Oscars in a white gown (well, I didn’t know her name then) and her acting in this one is awesome too. But the Spanish movie is slow in parts and as much as the acting was brilliant (and, she looked spectacular), it wouldn’t rate it too highly in my books. But yes, the female lead has acted very well and looks simply superb! (did I say that before?)

New blogs on the left

Been following these blogs for the last few weeks and am convinced enough about their content to link them from mine.
Shadow Warrior = Rajeev Srinivasan, a rediff.com writer
Dave Barry = Miami Herald writer = usually tends to be a bunch of funny links (not all of which are suitable for viewing at work)
Newyork intern = this blog has really impressed me with its humorous content.

Enjoy..

The Da Vinci Code

So the Church *finally* came out to call The Da Vindi Code blasphemy (as Maureen Dowd said in her nytimes op-ed, its relatively soon, considering it took them a few centuries to change their stance on Galileo)!

I tend to be quite skeptical about books/movies/music that become a rage only because everyone else has read/seen/heard it and is uncool to not be part of the wave. But, this was a good read, a good page-turner. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but what was I expecting anyway?

There is the oft-repeated phrase, "history is written by winners". While some of the stuff in the novel may have some legitimacy about it, to go all the way to claim that a sangreal exists would be going a bit too far, I would think. Its interesting that the bible was written decades after the events actually happened - so, its what those saints WANTED to tell everyone else. Is the bible a bestseller at best (did quite well didn't it?), and no religious text? What about the other religious texts then? But then is religion anything more than faith in something meant to comfort & strengthen (debatable in itself..)?

I liked how the ideas in the novel seem truer, the farther back in history & time the writer goes..as in, the Mary Magdalene stories seem most plausible to me, the more recent stories in the novel abt all those sects seem on shaky ground. This also a noble attempt to redefine the position of the woman in christianity (which is what Maureen Dowd would harp about - was a great fan of her stinging humor, but of late she is increasingly just serving up the op-ed version of sex-in-the-city).

Greatest credit to the guy for his superb research. Look forward to the movie..
Dan Brown's FAQ - very interesting

Whoa!

Check this out
Some people DO have too much time on their hands..

Walking to the Rhythm

Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen at the Annual Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony - "its *embarassing* how much we expect of music, and the amazing thing is that it comes through sometimes!" Not been too much of a Boss fan really, but he spoke real well, inducting U2 into the Hall of Fame this year - U2 performed brilliantly of course (Btw, would anyone be willing to sell me U2 tickets for this summer in the NY/NJ area? Please!! Worth a shot...).

When I asked a friend why he hadn't joined the ear-phones bandwagon and gotten himself a mp3 /cd player, he said it would take too much out of the day-to-day experience of life. Hmm..

Its just something else to be able to listen to a song whenever you want to (as opposed to have it stuck in your head and haunt you!) - I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last 3-4 months of having an mp3 player. You have to make the judgement call on when *not* to listen to it (3am Sunday morning, me - a) sleepy b) tired c) drunk d) all of the above. R subway is having its PMS, acts all moody, and decides to go express all of a sudden, am plugged on to my music, haven't heard the announcement, end up closer to Coney Island than I would've liked - not fun!) and make sure it doesn't take too much out of your day-to-day experience of life, but some moments are accentutated and enhanced to surreal levels thanks to music-on-demand.

Bright morning, "Beautiful Day" playing as I walk in to work; after an amazing workout session, the most soothing tune in my ears as I walk to the subway; coding, debugging, in the "zone" and some Oriental Trance keeping me as focussed as can be...had to acknowledge those moments that I have begin to take for granted now.

If you're as crazy about music as I am, get yourself one of those mp3 players (if you also are anti-monopoly like I am, stay away from those white cords and the Ipod, there actually ARE other choices out there - am quite happy with my iRiver). So next time you see me walking to a Rhythm almost, you know its because of a Bob Marley song playing on my player.

Last song I was listening to: Rare 24-min jamming between Carlos Santana & Eric Clapton

The World's Largest Democracy

Narendra Modi's (Chief Minister, Gujarat, India) denial of a diplomatic visa to the US on the grounds that he mis-managed the state during the terrible riots in 2002 between the Hindus and the Muslims has sparked enormous debate and controversy. Here is my humble take on it -

I watched this documentary called Final Solution sometime back - it was a collection of interviews with the survivors of the riots. The filmmaker made a very strong point in the first hour and then beat his point over and over again for the next hour - by then the point was definitely taken! :) I liked the saying they ended the documentary with - "An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world will be blind", by Mahatma Gandhi. This documentary paints a very negative image of Narendra Modi, which I guess is the opinion shared by the majority. His whole Gaurav Yatra thing was utter crap! In my opinion, he was responsible for instigating, encouraging, and turning a blind eye on the violence against the Muslims by the Hindus.

That said, he is still the leader of a state, a democratically elected leader of India, the world's largest democracy. India, to me, represents, democracy-in-progress - I don’t think we have it all sorted out yet and it may be a while before we have it down, but we're heading in the right direction. One must understand that its extremely challenging to uphold the true virtues of democracy in a country like India, with a billion people. But we're doing a fairly decent job of it right now and I only see things getting better hereon (am a very optimistic Congress supporter).

So, was it right for the US to deny him a visa when he was only suspected, and not accused of any wrong-doings? On paper, clearly no. But from a moral standpoint, I am going to go ahead and say, yes! He would have come here, held rallies in NJ, spoken utter trash, and instigated the Hindu gujaratis here also. That man exacerbates his position with his oratory "skills" - shit like, "the last time a gujarati was thrown out a train, it led to the freedom struggle and India's independence (the gujarati in question being Mahatma Gandhi), this time wonder what the Americans shunning a gujarati is going to do" - the audaucity to even put himself on the same sentence as Gandhi..

Enough said - good call on putting that man in place, someone had to, and our governments' hands were tied by "democracy".

Corporate Conversations

..in an elevator!
Whatever you are talking about with anyone else, you have to stop when you come in to the elevator, because what you are talking might not be suitable for 'public consumption'.

At this stage you can either look up at the floor numbers as they go up/down, the lighting, the ceiling, the floor; or if you're feeling terribly brave you make eye contact and smile. Now, this could be someone you remotely know, are acquainted with - yes, now you have to say something!

Its one of 2 things you can talk about - the weather (always a safe bet) or the day of the week. The latter makes for exciting conversation (by elevator standards) - you can talk about the wkend on Monday, say "I can't believe its only Tuesday/Wednesday" on..you guessed right, Tuesday or Wednesday; on Thursday, you can't go wrong with "feels like a Friday", and of course, "so glad its Friday" or TGIF (for the younger and hipper) on…yes Friday.

I wonder what a few years in corporate America will do to me..

Cafe Wha?

Can't believe it was *right there* and I didn’t see it all this time (this is becoming too frequent now - things/people/words that are all around you and you don’t *see* it and then something triggers off an initial recognition and then you suddenly start *seeing* it all around you and wonder how you managed to miss it all along).

The W Village is the place I end up hanging out in the City most often - love the area - the food (the trio for me - Mamouns, Katti Roll, Indian Bread Co., and then Brunos for dessert), Comedy Cellar (their in-house performers feature quite frequently on VH1 and such - awesome, friendly place), the bars, more importantly the music in the bars - like how you can actually find places that don’t necessarily play hip-hop after midnight (one more of my rants that anyone who has been to a bar with me has heard - irrespective of what a bar/lounge plays before midnight, come midnight and the Ushers and Nellys storm the place. Nothing against them, but have just had too much of it).

Literally stumbled into Café Wha? last night - walked in to the band playing Strange Kinda Woman (Deep Purple) and I already knew I was gonna love this place. The Café Wha? band dished out some sensational stuff for the next 2-3 hours that I was there - classic rock (ooh yeah!), 80's pop (Michael Jackson stuff, with the dance too! Always wanted to watch a Jackson concert live, probably never gonna happen again sadly.), Latino (sounded great, no idea what the songs were, but hot Latino women flooded the dance floor coming out of nooks and corners and cracks in the wall..really!), Reggae (Bob Marley in da house!!) - was very very impressed.

Here it comes - till I discover otherwise, Café Wha? has the distinction of being my favorite bar in NYC!

Ladder Theory

If you already haven't heard about it, don't miss this chance to check it out! Its a hilarious, meaningful, "scientific" look at the purpose of life (which, you guessed right, is to move up the ladder). Its a very noble attempt by a certain Dalas Lynn to explain sexual attraction and the way its different for men and women.

Ladder Theory explainedor This one

The crux of it is this - men - we place women we know on the ladder. On top are the women we would give anything to make it with, then the women we have a chance of making it with, then the women we would mess around intoxicated and admit to it, and then the women we would mess around when drunk and not admit to it. The motive is to simply move up the ladder.

For women, its not that straighforward ( of course!). They have not one, but TWO ladders - the ladder of sexual interest (like men) and then the ladder of friends. The trouble for men is that its not easy to guess which ladder you are on. In between the 2 ladders is a dark, deep abyss. If you make a move and you turn out to be on the right ladder and things work out, great! If you are on the friends ladder, don't realize that, and make a move - you fall deep into the abyss (which isn't so bad for most men anyway - there is a short period of embarassment and awkwardness, then we dust ourselves, and move on our merry ways..).

And then there is the idea of an "intellectual whore" - "oh, you are so funny! oh, it was so nice spending time with you! oh, its always so interesting to talk to you!", while all along she is saying, "but sorry hun, you ain't gettin none!!" Admit it guys, how often have you found yourself to be the intellectual whore? With me? - shamefully admit, way too often! You know whats the most annoying tag - "nice guy"!!

Interesting Blogging Stats

27% of the US reads blogs and 7% of the US maintains one (thats it??).

Yahoo is releasing its blog at the end of the month - so all my avid readers, don't be too surprised if I request you to point to a different address in about a month. In the portal-war between Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo - my loyalty lies with Yahoo (Google wouldn't hire me, their recruiter left me disgraced! :), MSN - hotmail I get way too much spam!). Its also an effort to NOT do what everyone else is doing (which is the only possible reasoning for my iRiver stance against the Ipod too!), which is lapping up whatever Goog is throwing their way. Interesting times in the portal-war..

Lake of the Ozarks

This was my 1st visit to the Midwest, Lake of the Ozarks - it was a small pretty town of about 10,000 people, mostly families, over by a man-made lake.

When I told people I was from NY, the immediate response was - "what the f you doin out here?!" *I was* diversity :)! What struck me about the area as soon as I drove into Missouri was the size of the vehicles there - every alternate vehicle was an SUV or a pick-up truck, with "Save Our Soldiers" and "God Bless America" stickers. Lake of the Ozarks would make for an amazing spot in the summer, but right now for me it was a welcome change from NY.

Met friends in Chicago, drove down to Central Missouri (nice 8hr drive!), and checked into a beautiful cabin on the lake - huge 4-bedroom condo with a deck facing the lake. We stocked ourselves with enough alcohol, just in case aliens struck or something, barbequed food Friday night, and chilled out at the cabin.

Woke up early on Sat morn only to see the sunrise over the lake - that was among the most beautiful sights - to see colors you would never expect to find on the sky during sunrise and sunset over the lake. The weather was a wonderful 70F - after a prolonged winter in NY this was much appreciated. Every trip I have a personal Song of the Trip (Nauleans - Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong, on a cruise on the Mississippi; Paris - Buddha Bar Oriental Trance @ the Buddha Bar) - this time it was a Shaggy song - sitting on the deck, sun beating down my neck, sipping beers, hanging out with friends, talking about how a Shaggy song would complete the picture, and the local RJ hears our request - good times!

The town had a St. Patrick's Day parade and celebrations on Sat - with the other activities we had in our minds (boat ride, go carting, horse ride) becoming increasingly impossible with the whole town out on the streets, we just walked in and out of local bars to indulge in St. Patrick's Day festivities - was a good call. Spoke to some locals, played chess, listened some great live music (rock n' roll), drank some, danced some..nice.. Came back to our condo, freshened up, and headed out for Sat Nite out in that town - hit a bar by the lake, umm..drank some more :), and stuttered and stumbled our ways to the end of a day very well spent in Ozark-land.

Had a 7pm flight to catch on Sunday from Chicago - had to leave quite early Sunday morn - drive back was smooth and eventless - empty, wide roads with a 70mph speed limit.

What I was hoping to achieve at this trip - some quality alone time (check), catch up with an old friend (check), good weather (check), check out the Midwest to get some idea of the place (check), unwind, relax, meet ppl (check, check, check) - very good way to spend my 1st vacation day since I started work!

Bunch of Bullshit!

Jim Morrison's rant after rendering Light My Fire to a live audience in NY - "I don’t believe in astrology, I think it’s a bunch of bullshit!"

Do I check my horoscope everyday - yes. For me, it’s a daily game I play with my moods, emotions, and state of mind. My horoscope this morning said I could do with some rest, relieve myself of stress, and only thing on my mind today should be where to have dinner - wonderful! This could have been my horoscope today, yesterday, the week before, it would have concurred with what I wanted to do, I would've done as my horoscope said, and yes, my horoscope today came true! On the flip side, if my horoscope had something negative about it, then it’s a fight to try and defy it - sometimes I succeed and hey, "astrology is a bunch of bullshit" anyway; on some other days, my best efforts don’t succeed in leaving me with a good feeling at the end of the day and then I throw my hands up in the air in resignation because my horoscope said it'd be a bad day anyway!

My point is this (get used to it - I beat around the bush a lot before hitting the spot! Its my style! Like..like..Quentin Tarantino's) - when something/someone predicts events in the future, human tendency is to sometimes take that for granted and subconsciously work towards that outcome. Reading my daily horoscope messes with my mind enough, I *do not* want to know things in my long-term future - whether there was any science/logic/magic about someone predicting things for me, I am scared that my mind will unwillingly follow the path leading to that prediction. I will sing along that astrology IS a bunch of bullshit, but don’t even bother telling me and trying that shit on me - I don’t even wanna know..!

Quality and Values

These are the premises of Robert M. Pirsig's two "timeless classics", Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM) and Lila.

I don't often read books (or watch movies) more than once - I have read ZAMM 3 times already. Everytime you read that book, it speaks differently to you. I guess the beauty of both these books is that based on where are you in your life, you can interpret ideas in the book differently. Another amazing thing about these books (for me) was the generous dose of Hindu philosophy (the author spent some time at Banares).

To clarify, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is NOT about Zen or about Motorcycles. Its about Quality with a capital Q. Quality if the primary reality, the source of everything. Value, he says, is the direct experience, independent of and preceding intellectual recognition.

In Lila, the author goes through some great ideas - his views on the culture of the United States, the way the times have moved from the Victorian Age to the WW's, to the Hippies era. The author spends most of his time on a boat on the Hudson in the company of Lila, a woman bordering on mental "instability". His views on NY in this book make for some very interesting reading.

Both books are great attempts to bridge the gap between science, metaphysics, and mysticism. They sometimes are far from easy reading and require you to occasionally pause to digest the philosophy the author is trying to get at, but very satisfying nevertheless. 2 of the best books I have ever read!

The Downfall

When I first visited the Film Forum, I read a sign saying it was voted NewYork's best theater for the last x yrs - I thought "best theater" was about the plush seats, legroom, and popcorn! A couple of movies there and the epiphany dawned on me that it wasn't the popcorn, but the kind of movies shown there, that made it the best theater in the City.

When I stepped into NY, there were 2 things that I particularly wanted to exploit out of this place - indie movies and theater. Theater - have had enough of B'way plays - I really want to see some good off-beat, off-B'way plays. Indie flicks - have watched some great movies in the last few months and every movie that I have watched so far at Film Forum has been awesome.

The Downfall - I was hoping it'd be a history class in 2 hrs. It seemed a fairly accurate portrayal of events towards the end of WW II. Bruno Ganz who acted as The Fuehrer (name makes no sense to most, but I got to find out his name and give him his due) did a great job - desperately screaming with denial, talking about his legacy and what could've been. It was interesting to see the way everyone reacts not just to imminent defeat, but imminent death along with it. The con - if only they had been more stringent while editing. It was about 1/2 hr longer than it should have been and lost the viewer towards the end, post-Hitler's death. That apart, a highly-recommended, good watch.

So, this far in the City I have watched some good movies at the Film Forum and Angelica Film Center - would be very keen to find out more such theaters around the City. The best indie movie I have watched this far - without a doubt, Born Into Brothels, with I Heart Huckabees coming second..

When I met an Oscar winner!

I had seen Clint Eastwood, Laura Linney, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Susan Sarandon, and Sean Penn when I went to the red-carpet premiere of Mystic River, but that was not my *meeting* with an Oscar winner. The person I am talking about is Zana Briski (and Ross Kauffman), the winner for the Best Documentary at the 77th Oscars last night.

I was *lucky* to have watched this documentary at Film Forum a couple of months back - Born Into Brothels. I was luckier to have gone a few minutes late and end up on the first row. After the brilliant movie, we had a chance to meet the directors for a Q&A session. Truly fortunate to have met and spoken to Zana. This documentary was the beginning of my "life-changing weekend" (sensationalize it even more.. :)); it deeply impacted me!

Its truly a pity that the makers of the documentary do not plan to release it in India. The Oscar win last night might help the documentary gross over $4 million and one would assume, most of that money would be pumped back to a noble cause in Calcutta or elsewhere.

Greatest respect and admiration for that lady, Zana Briski!

Self-acknowledged Wannabe NuYokker

I read today that to really live up the New York experience, you must want to be lucky. Notice, not just be lucky, but *want* to be lucky! Its a dynamic place where its very hard to hold on to your static, rigid beliefs and values, you must be open to change...I am!

I acknowledge that The City has the ability to change me in a bigger way than any other city that I have lived in so far. I consider this a transient phase in my life; I don't see myself living here for too long. I want to make the most of it during my stay here. Am willing to embrace, appreciate, recognize anything and everything that is thrown at me here in NY. Its the place where you can go, "ah, that is good!" without turning over your shoulder to see if your thoughts are resonated/approved by anyone else. You can be whoever you want to be in NuYok and have a good time. In the next year or so, I want The City to mold my identity and make a lasting impression on me for life.

Truly acknowledge - very fortunate to be living in The City, totally smitten by it, and admittedly, a Wannabe NuYokker..