Eat dessert first
Life is uncertain
28 December 2007
21 December 2007
Wish List
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list"
Hmmm...a glimpse of what else is there on my list...
- Sikkim and East India
- Barcelona
- New Zealand
- Paris, France
- Novi Sad, Serbia
- Caribbean
- China
- Sri Lanka
- Alaska & Canada
- ...
~Susan Sontag
Hmmm...a glimpse of what else is there on my list...
- Sikkim and East India
- Barcelona
- New Zealand
- Paris, France
- Novi Sad, Serbia
- Caribbean
- China
- Sri Lanka
- Alaska & Canada
- ...
Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium
When my cousin called and said she had got tickets for a car racing event and that I should keep my Sunday free I thought it was some local racing event. Moreover since I was crazy busy at work, doing late hours I didn’t even get a chance to check out the event on the net.
So it was a total surprise …and a pleasant one at that when I reached there and realized that all the world champs were there…
Called The Race of Champions, it brings together drivers and racers from all forms of motorsport to see who’s the fastest. It’s unique as the competitors use exactly the same cars on a parallel track so that the drivers’ talent behind the wheel becomes the deciding factor.
There are 2 titles to be won – The Champion of Champions at the individual level and The Nations Cup to decide the fastest motor sport nation on the planet.
The likes of F1 Champion Michael Schumacher, F1 drivers Jenson Button and David Coulthard, World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx, Triple Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais, Tom Kristensen, Mattias Ekström, Jimmie Johnson took part in this event.
Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae was supposed to take part. But due to his untimely death a couple of months back his seat was offered to his brother - Alister McRae.
The National teams (of two drivers) that participated for the cup were England, Scotland, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Finland and USA.
Wembley Stadium had been turned into a mini motor racing circuit. The race was in a knockout competition format …so we had a short races one after the other…
The cars (and drivers) seemed to have too much power for the narrow track. Moreover the track seemed too small and with too many turns...many times while maneuvering the curves I felt that the car moved horizontally and would just go off the track…Upteen times they brushed against the walls and dividers…all of which added to the excitement in the crowd…
In between the races, while the cars were being prepared for the next race, we had the other car events on the track as well as motorbike display riders
I think it was Travis (not sure)…who really entertained everyone with his car antics on the race track. He performed what is called the doughnut- literally he made the car go round and round in the same place…and after giving it a lot of race he jumped out of the car…and the car kept going in circles…it was toooooo kewl…
And then as part of a funny act - he got into another car and was about to speed off…but was stopped…so he jumped back into the car that was moving in circles and drove off the track….Amazing….
The motorbike riders were also excellent…Its like.. they fling themselves into the air and the bike seems weightless in their hands as the turn over mid air…
Many times we see car races and motor bike riders performing on TV…but live …is another experience altogether….
Thanks to my cousin for an unforgettable day…
So it was a total surprise …and a pleasant one at that when I reached there and realized that all the world champs were there…
Called The Race of Champions, it brings together drivers and racers from all forms of motorsport to see who’s the fastest. It’s unique as the competitors use exactly the same cars on a parallel track so that the drivers’ talent behind the wheel becomes the deciding factor.
There are 2 titles to be won – The Champion of Champions at the individual level and The Nations Cup to decide the fastest motor sport nation on the planet.
The likes of F1 Champion Michael Schumacher, F1 drivers Jenson Button and David Coulthard, World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx, Triple Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais, Tom Kristensen, Mattias Ekström, Jimmie Johnson took part in this event.
Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae was supposed to take part. But due to his untimely death a couple of months back his seat was offered to his brother - Alister McRae.
The National teams (of two drivers) that participated for the cup were England, Scotland, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Finland and USA.
Wembley Stadium had been turned into a mini motor racing circuit. The race was in a knockout competition format …so we had a short races one after the other…
The cars (and drivers) seemed to have too much power for the narrow track. Moreover the track seemed too small and with too many turns...many times while maneuvering the curves I felt that the car moved horizontally and would just go off the track…Upteen times they brushed against the walls and dividers…all of which added to the excitement in the crowd…
In between the races, while the cars were being prepared for the next race, we had the other car events on the track as well as motorbike display riders
I think it was Travis (not sure)…who really entertained everyone with his car antics on the race track. He performed what is called the doughnut- literally he made the car go round and round in the same place…and after giving it a lot of race he jumped out of the car…and the car kept going in circles…it was toooooo kewl…
And then as part of a funny act - he got into another car and was about to speed off…but was stopped…so he jumped back into the car that was moving in circles and drove off the track….Amazing….
The motorbike riders were also excellent…Its like.. they fling themselves into the air and the bike seems weightless in their hands as the turn over mid air…
Many times we see car races and motor bike riders performing on TV…but live …is another experience altogether….
Thanks to my cousin for an unforgettable day…
20 December 2007
Phrases...
New phrases I have caught on to these days-
1. Easy as kiss my hand -
Sounds kinda weird but I like it...
2. Catching the blues trying to...
Just the opposite of 1 - when one is facing some difficulty with a task…
1. Easy as kiss my hand -
Sounds kinda weird but I like it...
2. Catching the blues trying to...
Just the opposite of 1 - when one is facing some difficulty with a task…
18 December 2007
Calvin Gyan...contd
Hmmm...but in reality and life don't we most of the times end up doing things we are not enthu about?
17 December 2007
Miss Bollywood…starring Shilpa Shetty…
We were booking theatre tickets on the net for our evening out on my birthday...when my cousin realized that Miss Bollywood was already playing in UK. When she came to know that it was going to be in London for only one day – 12th Dec and tickets were sold out…she was heartbroken…
It was playing at Royal Albert Hall...one of the best halls in London with a seating capacity of 5000 and an additional standing capacity of 200...There were no sitting seats available but Sheena was ready to go standing in the Gallery… I was not very keen...after all its wasn’t SRK…it was ONLY Shilpa Shetty…but one look at her face and I was like …fine…get tickets for standing (at 20 pounds a ticket)!!!
The first thing that came to my mind at that point was…man…Shilpa is big here in UK…she is as big as AB or SRK in India… 5000 seats all sold out and we were not the only ones booking the standing tickets … we were no 57 and 58…
Luckily when we reached there we found that there were a few cancellations and we upgraded our tickets to a box…
The people here feel that she went through a lot of anguish and humiliation during Big Brother…something I think we in India could not relate to… But I think she needs to stop cashing in on that and move on…There are knowing jokes about her Big Brother incarceration (“I’ve learnt that life can’t all be Goody Goody”), as well as platitudes about extending the hand of friendship across cultural frontiers.
Though I did enjoy the joke about her lip-locking encounter with Richard Gere…
It wasn’t exceptionally brilliant but quite entertaining …especially for people who enjoy Bollywood numbers … as we get to see some full-blown fantasy dance sequences from the recent movies…
The story line was quite Bolloywoodish…but the dance troupe was full of energy...
There is a lot of Bollywood style slap stick humour from wheeler-dealer duo Mansukh bhai and Hasmukh bhai. They are brilliant as they try to sell foo foo fans or agra ka ghagras to the high-profile businessman Nick Madhavis or try to convince the mayor that he should hire them to help him win his next elections with their political campaign… the vote for mayor bit was toooooooo funny…
The show opened with the dance troupe doing 2 Bollywood nos – Dhoom Machale Dhoom had me tapping my feet and wanting to get up and dance…
Thereafter we saw many jhatka matka dance sequences from Shilpa and the troupe. The other lady of the show – the vamp by Bollywood standards - Riya is an excellent dancer. I personally thought that she was far better than Shilpa but somehow Shilpa got all the claps and hoots…
You should have heard the audience when Shilpa made her first appearance with the popular Bollywood numbers - Silsila hai Chahat ka and Dola re …
The face off between Riya and Shilpa was quite good – with Shilpa showing off her Tandava style dancing skills.
The dance sequence in the dark where they refrain from any Bollywood songs but just use some background music and the dancers use florescent masks and strips of cloth in their hands was beautiful…
You think of a good Bollywood no and it was there – from Kajra Re to Beedi. The last 20 mins was pure Bollywood songs one after the other and had the audience clapping along and enjoying themselves thoroughly…
It was playing at Royal Albert Hall...one of the best halls in London with a seating capacity of 5000 and an additional standing capacity of 200...There were no sitting seats available but Sheena was ready to go standing in the Gallery… I was not very keen...after all its wasn’t SRK…it was ONLY Shilpa Shetty…but one look at her face and I was like …fine…get tickets for standing (at 20 pounds a ticket)!!!
The first thing that came to my mind at that point was…man…Shilpa is big here in UK…she is as big as AB or SRK in India… 5000 seats all sold out and we were not the only ones booking the standing tickets … we were no 57 and 58…
Luckily when we reached there we found that there were a few cancellations and we upgraded our tickets to a box…
The people here feel that she went through a lot of anguish and humiliation during Big Brother…something I think we in India could not relate to… But I think she needs to stop cashing in on that and move on…There are knowing jokes about her Big Brother incarceration (“I’ve learnt that life can’t all be Goody Goody”), as well as platitudes about extending the hand of friendship across cultural frontiers.
Though I did enjoy the joke about her lip-locking encounter with Richard Gere…
It wasn’t exceptionally brilliant but quite entertaining …especially for people who enjoy Bollywood numbers … as we get to see some full-blown fantasy dance sequences from the recent movies…
The story line was quite Bolloywoodish…but the dance troupe was full of energy...
There is a lot of Bollywood style slap stick humour from wheeler-dealer duo Mansukh bhai and Hasmukh bhai. They are brilliant as they try to sell foo foo fans or agra ka ghagras to the high-profile businessman Nick Madhavis or try to convince the mayor that he should hire them to help him win his next elections with their political campaign… the vote for mayor bit was toooooooo funny…
The show opened with the dance troupe doing 2 Bollywood nos – Dhoom Machale Dhoom had me tapping my feet and wanting to get up and dance…
Thereafter we saw many jhatka matka dance sequences from Shilpa and the troupe. The other lady of the show – the vamp by Bollywood standards - Riya is an excellent dancer. I personally thought that she was far better than Shilpa but somehow Shilpa got all the claps and hoots…
You should have heard the audience when Shilpa made her first appearance with the popular Bollywood numbers - Silsila hai Chahat ka and Dola re …
The face off between Riya and Shilpa was quite good – with Shilpa showing off her Tandava style dancing skills.
The dance sequence in the dark where they refrain from any Bollywood songs but just use some background music and the dancers use florescent masks and strips of cloth in their hands was beautiful…
You think of a good Bollywood no and it was there – from Kajra Re to Beedi. The last 20 mins was pure Bollywood songs one after the other and had the audience clapping along and enjoying themselves thoroughly…
Boeing Boeing...
Since this is a new play (actually a sixties hit which ran for seven years but had not been seen since) there was a promotion on at Justminute.com for 11 Dec...10 quid for a Balcony seat...
But I guess it was our lucky day ...coz when we reached the box office to collect our tickets we were told that we had been upgraded to stalls!!! We were on the 8th or 9th row from the stage...
Boeing Boeing has a sexist premise and national stereotyping... but somehow that took a back seat since it was deliriously funny and it was virtually impossible to stop laughing that evening...
It revolves around an affluent French architect – Bernard juggling his love life with three air-stewardesses. (I seem to remember seeing a Bollywood movie on the same theme starring Akki)
The stewardesses - American, Italian, and German stereotypes had the audience roaring with laughter...All 3 work for different airlines and thus fly into and out of his life at suitably irregular intervals. All Bernard has to do is keep an eye on the schedules... He is reluctantly assisted by his French maid who changes the photos in his bedroom and adjusts the day's cuisine to accommodate whichever stewardess is flying in that day. Her gloomy deadpan face and resentful exits through the service door are superbly timed…
Robert, Bernard’s friend, comes across as a village bumpkin. Unlike the sophisticated, overconfident playboy Bernard, Robert is a simple businessman from the provinces and is portrayed initially as a nervous character.
Bernard crows to his pal about the bliss of his romantic life...Robert is shocked to his bumpkin boots ...but he learns fast and takes control when catastrophe strikes… the schedules that Bernard assiduously follows begin to fall apart and girls fly in at the wrong time and land in Paris at more or less the same time. As he covers up for his friend he ends up being soundly kissed and unexpectedly betrothed (to the German)…
In her first scene the American named Gloria didn’t come across as too great but when she returns in the 2nd half she is simply SUPERB…a TWA hostess with the glamour, vocal power and all-American pizazz. Her monologue when she is telling Bernard that in America it’s the women who do all the thinking in the house and men only earn the money was brilliant…
The German – Gretchen with her accent, pronunciation and dialogue delivery was excellent – at times she sounded like she was giving some army commands … a hail H****r kinda feeling…amazingly hilarious
Alitalia’s romantic Gabriella was pretty good too…and eventually Bernard ends up getting married to her…
All in all a brilliant evening...
But I guess it was our lucky day ...coz when we reached the box office to collect our tickets we were told that we had been upgraded to stalls!!! We were on the 8th or 9th row from the stage...
Boeing Boeing has a sexist premise and national stereotyping... but somehow that took a back seat since it was deliriously funny and it was virtually impossible to stop laughing that evening...
It revolves around an affluent French architect – Bernard juggling his love life with three air-stewardesses. (I seem to remember seeing a Bollywood movie on the same theme starring Akki)
The stewardesses - American, Italian, and German stereotypes had the audience roaring with laughter...All 3 work for different airlines and thus fly into and out of his life at suitably irregular intervals. All Bernard has to do is keep an eye on the schedules... He is reluctantly assisted by his French maid who changes the photos in his bedroom and adjusts the day's cuisine to accommodate whichever stewardess is flying in that day. Her gloomy deadpan face and resentful exits through the service door are superbly timed…
Robert, Bernard’s friend, comes across as a village bumpkin. Unlike the sophisticated, overconfident playboy Bernard, Robert is a simple businessman from the provinces and is portrayed initially as a nervous character.
Bernard crows to his pal about the bliss of his romantic life...Robert is shocked to his bumpkin boots ...but he learns fast and takes control when catastrophe strikes… the schedules that Bernard assiduously follows begin to fall apart and girls fly in at the wrong time and land in Paris at more or less the same time. As he covers up for his friend he ends up being soundly kissed and unexpectedly betrothed (to the German)…
In her first scene the American named Gloria didn’t come across as too great but when she returns in the 2nd half she is simply SUPERB…a TWA hostess with the glamour, vocal power and all-American pizazz. Her monologue when she is telling Bernard that in America it’s the women who do all the thinking in the house and men only earn the money was brilliant…
The German – Gretchen with her accent, pronunciation and dialogue delivery was excellent – at times she sounded like she was giving some army commands … a hail H****r kinda feeling…amazingly hilarious
Alitalia’s romantic Gabriella was pretty good too…and eventually Bernard ends up getting married to her…
All in all a brilliant evening...
07 December 2007
Saawariya...
What a let down...it’s a good thing that I missed it at the theatres… and we had an option to fast forward and reduce the misery from 2 hrs 10 mins to 1 hr…
It is a totally bizarre romance. The characters were not sketched well and so one gets a feeling of incompleteness and only at the end of the movie you think that the storyline was good but could have been handled a little better.
I am sure Sanjay Leela Bhansali could have done better – with some good dialogues but instead every few minutes they break off into a song… reminded me of the Chitrahaar times on Doordarshan years and years back…just one song after the other…we tried keeping count in the beginning but eventually lost count…
The few dialogues that we have in between the songs hardly make sense and are so irritating because of the plastiky giggles from Sonam…(Cant decide if her giggling is worse or Ashwariya’s)
The set was quite artificial too…you like it initially but after some time it gets monotonous…
The only nice thing about the movie was Zohra Sehgal, who is brilliant as always… She plays a ‘now-stern-now-mellow’ landlady who wins your heart over.
The song that Ranbir sings in a towel…seemed a bit erotic…wonder how come the board passed it…or didn’t give the movie an A rating…
Rani Mukerjee was likable at times…and if had to sum up this movie in her words…’I don’t likes’…
It is a totally bizarre romance. The characters were not sketched well and so one gets a feeling of incompleteness and only at the end of the movie you think that the storyline was good but could have been handled a little better.
I am sure Sanjay Leela Bhansali could have done better – with some good dialogues but instead every few minutes they break off into a song… reminded me of the Chitrahaar times on Doordarshan years and years back…just one song after the other…we tried keeping count in the beginning but eventually lost count…
The few dialogues that we have in between the songs hardly make sense and are so irritating because of the plastiky giggles from Sonam…(Cant decide if her giggling is worse or Ashwariya’s)
The set was quite artificial too…you like it initially but after some time it gets monotonous…
The only nice thing about the movie was Zohra Sehgal, who is brilliant as always… She plays a ‘now-stern-now-mellow’ landlady who wins your heart over.
The song that Ranbir sings in a towel…seemed a bit erotic…wonder how come the board passed it…or didn’t give the movie an A rating…
Rani Mukerjee was likable at times…and if had to sum up this movie in her words…’I don’t likes’…
05 December 2007
VIP Day
1st Dec was VIP (Very Important Pedestrians) day in London.
London's West End... the famous shopping streets - Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street were made traffic free from 10.30am
Though the sun was out, it was pretty windy and chilly...but we braved the chill since there was to be street entertainment ...live performances from street theatres, musicians, bands and 2 of UK’s best aerial street performances – the spectacular Heliosphere show and the extraordinary conedancers...
As we walked down we realized that most people coming from the opposite site were eating the same chocolate…and as we reached Selfridges we saw several people dressed as elves distributing chocolates...
Munching our chocolates as we moved down Oxford Street we heard the typical Pipe Bands...dressed in the Scottish attire (a lot like the ones in Braemer)...and imagine my surprise when I realised that the whole band was Indian!!!
We turned towards New Bond Street and noticed a Punjabi dhol band walking down... suddenly they broke into their act...its that kind of music that just wants you to take off dancing…unfortunately we could not join them...as we did not wanna surprise the Londoners...though I am sure if this had happened in India we would have had everyone and everybody from the street dancing!
At the end we could see a cone shaped baloony structure...that was the cone dancers...we decided to go watch them...but were distracted on the way when we saw a shop where a girl was standing in the show window and a guy had cut up her tee in some places and was knotting it up and converting it into a designer tee. He really was brilliant and the tee looked good...the funda was that this guy was some designer from USA (I couldn’t get his name), you purchase a tee from that shop and he cuts it and knots it up for you as you are wearing it...A guy said that if this guys scissors touch a tee its price goes up to 400 quids!!! Sheena was apprehensive about standing in the show windowing and modelling...and I didn’t have the figure (coz the tees were those figure hugging ones...so we couldn’t have a go at it :-(
We killed some time in the shops in that area as the Cone Dancers had a show after 15 mins...the wait was worth it as they were excellent... Set to music, two performers danced effortlessly on the outside of the giant eight meter high air-filled cone. It was an extraordinary acrobatic performance giving the feeling of an amazing gravity-defying illusion.
As the show got over we decided to walk to Regent Street and catch the Heliosphere ... using music, lighting and the location, the Heliosphere creates the illusion of flying. Spiraling and spinning and seemingly weightless, a lady was suspended beneath a massive helium balloon. The balloon was being managed by 3 men on the ground working on the strings. Looks easy...but while we were watching the men could not control the ropes and the lady nearly came crashing down...though she managed to balance out...
Somewhere in between we also watched some skateboarders...there was a setup for them to show off their skills. There was a really small boy - maybe 8-9 years who was really good...
And then suddenly it started raining…and brilliant Manpreet hadn’t got her umbrella...we decided to get into some shop...after browsing there we realized that it still hadn’t stop raining. I needed to go for a wedding reception later and since it was VIP day I needed to walk and get a bus from outside the VIP area...this was getting serious :-). We decided to walk to John Lewis and pick up an umbrella...
I bought the umbrella - a beautiful mushroom transparent one - and as we walked towards the exit...Sheena exclaims...itz snowing...I couldn’t believe it...we rushed out and realized it was John Lewis creating artificial snow :-)
And obviously the rain had stopped as I had bought an umbrella!!!
London's West End... the famous shopping streets - Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street were made traffic free from 10.30am
Though the sun was out, it was pretty windy and chilly...but we braved the chill since there was to be street entertainment ...live performances from street theatres, musicians, bands and 2 of UK’s best aerial street performances – the spectacular Heliosphere show and the extraordinary conedancers...
As we walked down we realized that most people coming from the opposite site were eating the same chocolate…and as we reached Selfridges we saw several people dressed as elves distributing chocolates...
Munching our chocolates as we moved down Oxford Street we heard the typical Pipe Bands...dressed in the Scottish attire (a lot like the ones in Braemer)...and imagine my surprise when I realised that the whole band was Indian!!!
We turned towards New Bond Street and noticed a Punjabi dhol band walking down... suddenly they broke into their act...its that kind of music that just wants you to take off dancing…unfortunately we could not join them...as we did not wanna surprise the Londoners...though I am sure if this had happened in India we would have had everyone and everybody from the street dancing!
At the end we could see a cone shaped baloony structure...that was the cone dancers...we decided to go watch them...but were distracted on the way when we saw a shop where a girl was standing in the show window and a guy had cut up her tee in some places and was knotting it up and converting it into a designer tee. He really was brilliant and the tee looked good...the funda was that this guy was some designer from USA (I couldn’t get his name), you purchase a tee from that shop and he cuts it and knots it up for you as you are wearing it...A guy said that if this guys scissors touch a tee its price goes up to 400 quids!!! Sheena was apprehensive about standing in the show windowing and modelling...and I didn’t have the figure (coz the tees were those figure hugging ones...so we couldn’t have a go at it :-(
We killed some time in the shops in that area as the Cone Dancers had a show after 15 mins...the wait was worth it as they were excellent... Set to music, two performers danced effortlessly on the outside of the giant eight meter high air-filled cone. It was an extraordinary acrobatic performance giving the feeling of an amazing gravity-defying illusion.
As the show got over we decided to walk to Regent Street and catch the Heliosphere ... using music, lighting and the location, the Heliosphere creates the illusion of flying. Spiraling and spinning and seemingly weightless, a lady was suspended beneath a massive helium balloon. The balloon was being managed by 3 men on the ground working on the strings. Looks easy...but while we were watching the men could not control the ropes and the lady nearly came crashing down...though she managed to balance out...
Somewhere in between we also watched some skateboarders...there was a setup for them to show off their skills. There was a really small boy - maybe 8-9 years who was really good...
And then suddenly it started raining…and brilliant Manpreet hadn’t got her umbrella...we decided to get into some shop...after browsing there we realized that it still hadn’t stop raining. I needed to go for a wedding reception later and since it was VIP day I needed to walk and get a bus from outside the VIP area...this was getting serious :-). We decided to walk to John Lewis and pick up an umbrella...
I bought the umbrella - a beautiful mushroom transparent one - and as we walked towards the exit...Sheena exclaims...itz snowing...I couldn’t believe it...we rushed out and realized it was John Lewis creating artificial snow :-)
And obviously the rain had stopped as I had bought an umbrella!!!
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