Mmandarmani

Had a very restful break this time in Cal. the two long weekends saw get triple the days off that I had taken:) Mandarmani beach was beautiful- you can drive the car on the beach. Our hotel too was on the beach.
Takes me a week to get used to being at home with family. Missing my folks now.

Inglourious Basterds

I really liked the film. The subtle menace of the lead villain, the build up by the New York Times Review, the unique experience of watching a film by a living legend on the big screen, in real time. The cinematography was excellent, the circling shots, the music, but I thought it could have been better edited. It was fun giving Hitler what he should have got.

Singing Singapore's Praises

It started with a Singapore sling

Learnt, lived, loved the fling

With the city, the seminars, the speakers.

Neat and clean roads laid out, Sentosa stunned

In the habitat of fishes & dolphins plunged.

Veg sushi Vietnamese, dessert before second course

No space for the second dinner, अफसोस

We spiders wove our way through the agencies network

Tattooed, watched an MD dunked topless, smirked

Awards were glitzy, glammy, and afterwards

Purplehaired, we sat on the purple sofa

Rupee room, Clarky's beat a desi dil

Where we danced the wee hours till

Red carpet withdrawal syndrome struck

A world exposed to, I want to go back

To that time, place, people that's fading away

Not letting me be, when I see the snaps gay.

Rain pain

Feel like writing an essay on a rainy day, like we used to in school. Should've stayed in Gurgaon yesterday, or at least left my laptop in office. Got lucky- took an auto to Ladosarai, walked to Ahinsa Sthal, took a relatively empty bus which stood at Ahinsa Sthal for half an hour, but then gethered speed. There was waterlogging along the way, but managed to reach office in two and a half hours- pretty decent.

Attendance is low though. Left my bag on a bus, but a Good Samaritan pointed that out.

A Sing a poring we will go

I am so excited about attending Spike! Was shortlisting seminars, planning where to go in Singapore, what to buy. Santa Singh's definitely come early this year:) Am saving up money, although there isn't much time. Hope I can extend my stay. Looking forward to networking, experiencing Singapore by night, the awards, the workshops, the talks, the accents...

Weekend with a wham

The Medicine Show was very refreshing yesterday. Venue mismatch continued, but I guess performers' comfort comes first. The stand up comedy had us in splits.

Sang at All Sports Bar- Always by Bon Jovi. Karaoke solo is something else- you stop for breath and realise the voice has stopped. I barely knew the lyrics too, so was feeling very born in the USA types.

Made papri chat- hunger will work wonders. Was good and felt a sense of achievement too. Motivation to entertain.

Crystal gazing

Crystals--the scientific back up could have followed the experience. i did feel lighter afte encountering them. Sometimes too far out though. Obsidian and smoky quartz's suitable for screen grazers...here I come.

@#$%

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

hi namaste नमस्ते

Baarish

Went for the play reading The Strange Case of Billy Biswas. The strength of the book lay in it's descriptions, which highlighted the lure of the jungle. From a dramatci perspective, it slowed down the action.

I liked The Blue Umbrella- the umbrella was indeed very beautiful. The tale was engaging too, not merely for children.

The muppets at the Monsoon Festival were also riveting.

I also enjoyed An Inconvenient Truth- although there were too many images of Al Gore for my liking. The screening was in a smaller room than the auditorium where The Blue Umbrella was shown, the people were less and so too hopefully were the carbon emissions:)

Check your carbon footprint on climatecrisis.net.

The music program in the evening was also very refreshing- with Suchet's shamanic drum and other previously unseen, unheard and unknown instruments.

Kartik Baul's music was lilting in parts.

We rounded off the evening with wine on the house, courtesy the American centre:)

Serious Play

Western classical

The music program at IHC yesterday was very refreshing for the soul. Also a refresher with French and Italian guessing. Didn't have the same impact in English:)Worth the long ride.

I

Caferati's Godawful Poetry Fotnight- a baker's dozen of days- begins today.

Well, Godawful poetry to me would mean forced rhymes, trite emotions and just generally...bleh.

http://caferati.blogspot.com/2009/08/son-of-godawful-poetry-fortnight-19th.html#3758941225409206053



Godawful Poetry Fornight has begun
Time to let blessedly go, tum tum.

Kaminey liked, like called to like
Earfuls the next day, let's strike.

Boredom wars with logic here
How to writers keep me there.

Maids and cooks made havoc
Gym gayi, cleaned bugs adhoc.

Ageless aunties

Artful, artless aunties attacked
My attempts at guessing their age.
Lively, full nautanki, lip smacked
Glossy, faces with character's page.

Does it matter?
Endless chatter
Outside, inside, besides
Aging gracefully's better
Than not aging at all.

Babes with serene, seraphic expressions
Aunties with wide eyes, mock innocence
Bejamin Button
Has competition.

The weekend that was

Liked Curious Case of Benjamin Button and also Love Aajkal. Good to see a hindi movie trying to be more realistic. The contrast seemed sharper when compared to the 60s typically filmi love story. Only when the movie is over do you realise how wafer thin the storyline was.

Also read the Science of Influence via torrent- good read; a change in environment leads to a change in behaviour...very true.

Saturday night bacardi fun...I do still have a life:)Homedulgence.

Shopped more...USI always has pickable stuff.

AAAA Future Of Planning Zj

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

AAAA Future Of Planning Zj

View more documents from Zeus Jones.

Was checking out the open course ware at MIT online today...the philosophy section. Tough to follow- seem to be saying the obvious once you've waded through the jargon...

Also read some of their lectures on writing short stories-useful stuff- but tough to follow--bit like how I would feel if someone asked me to paint:)

Enjoyed the performance by Shaw's Corner on Sunday at the Habitat.

The concert there by Swaratma on Saturday was also good. The lyrics were social cause related and the music was very danceable-- very different from the usual Hindi music available. The guitarist singer switched from English to Bihari with complete ease.

The YP seems a tad yuppie--but as long as good work is being done, why crib.

Went shopping at sales on Sunday after a long time- felt very very good.

Mehendi rang layegi...

Was fun having a friend over on the weekend.

Final Poll- Please answer in the comments section- Thanks !

Post Awareness Survey:
1. In India, is it possible to get Braille on your visiting cards? Yes/No
2. Do you know of an organisation called Esha – People for the blind? Yes/No
3. Would you like to/have u visited the Esha website?