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Book Review: A Wasted Death

2011-12-26T19:33:00.000+05:30

A Wasted Death - the rise and fall of Rajan Pillai
by J Rajmohan Pillai with K Govindan Kutty

* * * * */ 5

Humiliation and Defeat of a successful, flamboyant businessman

This is a sad story of government and administrative apathy and perversion of judicial process. It is also a sad account of best friends turning into bitter foes. Rajan Pillai was destined to be a big businessman. Coming from a business family, he ventured beyond the family trade in cashew products. Rajan Pillai was smart, intelligent, savvy and ambitious. A small rural hometown would never have sufficed to quench his quest for greatness and fame. This story about his life comes from a close family member and protégé - his younger brother Rajmohan Pillai writing in collaboration with journalist Govindan Kutty.

The story starts from the very beginning. The humble origins of Rajan Pillai's grandfather, the established cashew trade business of his father and the birth of the eldest son - Rajan Pillai. The story starts with the memories of younger brother Rajmohan, of all the praises his mother mentioned for Rajan, the anecdotes from school and growing up years. Praise and admiration from friends, family, teachers, everyone. He is a prodigal son. He has big ideas and plans. He goes forth. Fails at a few intial business ventures. Then Rajan's father guides his son toward expanding the family business. Political and legal options suggest Rajan to be based outside India for making international operations of the family business a success. Rajan finally selects and sets forth for Singapore. At the time Singapore was growing, establishing itself in the international community of commerce and industry - but they were not quite there. Strict laws and harsh punishments were a must at that time in Singapore to make itself a small powerhouse in international trade.

But things finally went well financially for Rajan Pillai. His business in Singapore grew. His ambitions grew higher still. He wanted more. He wished the best and the wishes were granted. He indulged in the best of luxuries and comforts money can buy. He was successful and well known. Rajan Pillai had arrived!

So begins the rise and rise of Rajan Pillai. From Singapore he expands West to South American industry and USA for business collaborations. To Australia for a grand scheme of many hectares of cashew farms. His ambitions are as grand as his generosity. Ask and ye shall receive with best regards from Rajan Pillai.

Many were possibly envious. But such extravagant and flamboyant display of wealth often draws negative attention from people in its company. Owning the best homes and residences, setting up the first Taj hotel in Goa, a private space in Wimbledon during season - all points to a successful man enjoying the liberties his income offers.

Yet things went wrong... horribly wrong. His friendship with RJR Nabisco head Ross Johnson for one was a big turning point. From being best of friends and investing partners, the American stabbed at Rajan Pillai when Rajan was down and stabbed him hard. There were other signals. At his height of success, Rajan Pillai had bought ownership of Brittania Biscuit Company - a first time an Indian was owning this old Indian company. A very prestigious deal and fame and media praise was instant. But the Board at Brittania alleged misuse of company money. That Rajan was spending too much and too frivolously.

At home, Rajan's father advised his son to go slow. To take smaller steps. To be more careful with the business deals and ambitions and the expenses. But Rajan was on a roll. He had made big money in a small time and had the capacity to go on for a lot bigger catch. He aimed at dominating not just the Indian market as the "Biscuit King" but to venture and capture the South Asian food and beverage market. He went ahead and brought back Coca Cola to India (Coca Cola was thrown out by communist parties earlier in Indian political history). This was a big coup. He was praised not just in media but by peers and superiors in business and industry.

He was for all his faults a gem of a guy - at least in the words of his younger brother and author of this book - Rajmohan Pillai.

What and why and how would anyone wish to harm such a generous and successful man. The man who helped Rajan negotiate Indian legal system to bring back Coca Cola stabbed him in the back and told Coca Cola to venture into India alone. And Rajan was left holding hefty bills on his personal venture's personal investment - unrecovered from Coca Cola. Then Britannia Board made him pay all his pending personal expenses made during official trips. Then his best friend Ross Johnson demanded return on his investment in Rajan's company. In Singapore court of law, Ross alleged misappropriation of funds, fraud, cheating, etc and this led to the Singapore government enacting its arcane barbaric laws to prosecute Rajan Pillai. They seized the businessman's passport and threatened him with 14 years harsh imprisonment. The bail during court procedure itself was a ridiculous USD 4 million. Rajan Pillai hired the best lawyer in the world of course, he always got the best - he hired the Queen's counsel from Britain. The British lawyer was appalled at the ridiculous nature of allegations and how the Singapore court admitted such charges. Ross Johnson and Rajan Pillai settled the matter out of court. Rajan had to sell his stake in Britannia to his French partner and lost the prized company. But he paid his debt to his friend Ross Johnson who was anything but understanding nor grateful.

The Singapore court continued the prosecution of Rajan Pillai even though Ross Johnson had settled his claim outside court legally. They wanted to make an example of Rajan Pillai. Among such crisis, the British famed lawyer suggested to Pillai that his presence would only help the crazy Singapore lawmakers prove the validity of the court proceedings. Ross Johnson had not appeared for a cross-examination yet the Singapore court accepted his allegations. This was humiliation, torture and senseless misuse of judicial process. They had already taken Rajan's passport. And a day before the expected negative ruling Rajan was left with no choice but to flee Singapore. He landed in Mumbai.

The chaos only gets worse. Rajan Pillai held a press conference in Mumbai after he landed to explain the ridiculous nature of the legal proceedings against him in Singapore. But the media focussed now only on his past expensive lifestyle, his court hearings, the allegations, the business failures, the escape from law. They wanted to know how he fled from the law rather than the more critical, important question of why he had to flee from the law.

A few months of such mental stress would break anyone. But Rajan Pillai was still planning ahead, planning future business endeavours. He even sent his younger brother Rajmohan Pillai to establish their food business in Thailand. Courts in India refused anticipatory bail. There was no warrant but Singapore was preparing extradition proceeding papers. All the hype later, just when Rajan Pillai agreed to surrender in Delhi, he was arrested by the CBI, denying him the honour of presenting himself before the Indian judiciary. Here on, the story is heartbreaking.

The associations with the best friends in business, politics, law, the Godman Chandraswami - all narrowed down to one thing - loneliness in his struggle for justice. How CBI and the criminally-idiot Judge M L Mehta denied a visibly and documented sick person immediate medical care is horrifying. If you thought Singapore has bad laws, consider the worst law-keepers that India and India's judicial system nurtures. The denial of serious medical care, the refusal admit verifiable evidence, the insults to injury - it only proves that people can go to any extremes to prosecute a person who is seeking justice from his homeland.

The last 3 chapters are very sad indeed, very depressing, especially the chapter titled "A Wasted Death" which is also the title of the book. It was a wasted death of an inspiring man indeed.

This is a good fast read and very important book in the business history of resurgent India. Do take time to read this book and question the system that questions you.

Book Review: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

2011-12-23T10:53:00.000+05:30

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

* * * * * / 5

Certainly not Wimpy

This is a unique piece of literature. It's not a traditional novel. It's not a graphic novel. It certainly isn't a comic book. The front cover description "a novel in cartoons" is fitting though. This is an engaging journal of a middle school kid. New to his environment, he doesn't hesitate in attempting to make things go his way.

Neither the book nor this kid Greg is "Wimpy" - the word defined by my dictionary as "weak and ineffectual". The book is funny and witty and clever. It links all the characters and back stories very well. The narration is brisk and I flipped through it twice to appreciate the cartoons along with the storyline. Greg ain't wimpy. If anything, he seems almost as bad as his elder brother Rodrick. Of course, Greg has good intentions for all his misdeeds (unlike Rodrick).

This is a good gift for child or adult and I am 32 years old as I read and write this review. The "novel" started as author Jeff's gift to funbrain.com website, a children's site that educates in math and science and other subjects. You can read the original "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" at that website and is worth re-reading because the original is slightly different at parts with some cartoons and scenes not appearing in the published book you find in bookstores. That can be found here: http://www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=2 so enjoy that as a bonus from author Jeff. He certainly is talented and makes you wonder of his adventures as a child in school.

My favourite part of the book is of course Greg's friendship with his best friend Rowley and the ups and downs in it. Greg certainly ain't mature though all his intentions seem noble and beyond his age. His schemes and plans always backfire and the irony of these situations are visually delivered in simple and attractive cartoons.

All the various characters of the novel standout well and are definitely attractive parts of Wimpy Kid's World. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read graphic novels and kids above 10 years of age will appreciate the humour the most. Pick it up at any bookstore, all of them have it showcased prominently, flip through a few days of Greg's adventures and I am sure you will be tempted to buy it.

Wilbur Smith in Mumbai

2011-12-04T13:39:00.001+05:30

I was privileged to meet legendary historical adventure author Wilbur Smith on his book tour in India. He visited Landmark Bookstore at Infiniti Mall, Mumbai on 03-Dec-2011. He is 78 years young and has fans from multiple generations. A rich career and life that everyone should take inspiration from. He arrived to a standing welcome from the crowd gathered to meet and listen to him just past 7pm. Many eager faces were awaiting him, young and old, a true mix of age-groups which his fiction has conquered.

Wilbur Smith mentioned that he was supposed to read from his latest novel "Those In Peril", but he would rather just talk with the gathered audience. Everyone listened with rapt attention as Wilbur Smith recounted many anecdotes from past book signings he had attended in various countries. He also mentioned that he has been to India quite a few times before as well but that this was the first time he was here for promoting his novels.

His website: http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/

So Mr. Smith recalled his very first book signing and how no one showed up to buy and get his novel signed. Another author on the floor was without any fans but busy signing books so Mr. Smith walked over to him and asked for whom the books are being signed. "Sign them, once signed the bookstore cannot return it to the publisher and we get our royalty" was the answer he got. He also narrated how once a lady in an Australian bookstore mentioned that she had travelled far from the Northern territories to get a book signed by him as a birthday gift to her husband. To Mr. Smith's surprise the book was a Jeffrey Archer novel and he mentioned that he was not Mr. Archer. The lady demanded that he sign the book - so taking this in stride, Mr. Smith wrote on the book: "In the absence of Lord Archer, signed by Wilbur Smith". LOL. Once Wilbur Smith was visiting England and found that no one was buying his books. This was his initial years as an author. While at the airport to take a flight back home to Africa, he saw a lady reading his novel. He was delighted and intrigued and tried to see if the lady had any emotional expression while reading his book. He also went around behind her pretending to go to the washroom so that he could see which page she was on. Finally he couldn't resist and interrupted her - "Madam, that is my book you are reading." The lady looked surprised and answered handing over the novel to him, "Sorry, I just found it lying around and started to read it." LOL!

Many other funny anecdotes were narrated and the crowd lapped it up with laughter and applause. He also recounted the incidents of die hard fans. One lady sent him a letter saying that her husband loved Smith's novels and wished to be buried with them; there was an accompanying photograph showing her husband in a coffin with all of Wilbur Smith's novels arranged with the dead body in the coffin. That Smith mentioned was a great compliment. Another such fan was a man who appeared in a hotel lobby requesting the staff to please allow him to meet Wilbur Smith. As luck would have it, Mr. Smith was passing by and introduced himself. The man had an amputated leg and mentioned that he fell off from the top of a train onto the tracks when he was travelling with friends. He said that he had given up all hope in life and the only thing he could do was read Wilbur Smith's novels and one character in one of Smith's novels had an amputated leg - and that fictional character went on despite his disabilities to achieve great success. So the young amputee thanked Wilbur Smith saying that his fiction gave him new hope to live and succeed in life. These he said were moments that he cherished about his fans.

He mentioned that though he is on a book tour in India, he is desperately trying to arrange to visit Jim Corbett National Park and glimpse the famous tiger conservation there.

Soon it was time to take questions from the audience and every one of the persons who asked him anything started by thanking him for taking them to the rich land of Africa through the descriptive words of his novels. I asked him a question too. I said: "Your website has a biography of you which mentions how your mother encouraged you while reading fiction as a child and that you had an encouraging teacher in school who liked Smith's writings and said it is admirable to be a bookworm - so what advice would you give to a struggling author?" He said that this was a very serious question which he cannot take lightly. He recalled how an editor friend of his thought writing a novel was easy and that he could write it in a 6 month break from work. "After one month, he was back in office" said Smith. LOL. Smith added, "It takes much effort and discipline and like all good things you have to continue with determination against odds to be a writer or succeed in any other profession as well."

He also answered a question regarding future of Africa, when a person from the audience asked that after Asia, is Africa the big boom economic centre. Mr. Smith said that Asia was very different and far more developed. That Africa is still in infancy in terms of growth and stabilization. He mentioned that India will grow further because he observed that Indians are intelligent and hard-working and hence like other countries in Asia, is growing fast. He also said that the leaders in India had done well to keep Indian states together after the British rule ended, otherwise the olden times when Maharajas fought each other and lived without unity would have kept India just as Africa is today - divided and lacking direction. He also said that Lincoln had done a great job when he allowed war to keep the 50 states of America together and that is the reason why USA is a great global leader it is today.

So a great evening wrapped up with the hostess announcing that Mr. Wilbur Smith would sign books. A very well organised event by Landmark Bookstore, culminating with an organised linup by fans to get their books signed. Very entertaining and enlightening evening indeed.

Catch Wilbur Smith on tour in India in various cities at Landmark Bookstores near you. I got 7 of his novels signed by him in person. :-)

Below are some photos from my mobile phone camera.

Best Wishes,
Ujjwal Dey (Editor)

Book Review: 7 Secrets Of Shiva

2011-11-12T10:28:00.001+05:30

7 Secrets Of Shiva
by Devdutt Pattanaik

* * * * * / 5

The Greatest God Made Accessible

Shiva is a God that has truly transcended time and space. He is Mahadeva - greatest of Gods. His legends exist and have survived since eons ago. This book is a treat for all who find mythologies and ancient legends fascinating. In the must-read introduction, the author Devdutt explains his approach. A reconcilliation between East and West. He mentions how Western scholars look at Hindu mythology through the lens of western thought and philosophy, often referring to Western stream of understanding and analysis. And Indians are shy of the explicit exploits of their Gods, a result of Victorian colonial propriety. In this book Devdutt explores the myth through research of Vedas, Puranas, legends and temples. He goes to the basic philosophy of Hinduism to explain and interpret the mythology in its more accurate meaning.

For example, there are many Gods in Hindu mythology and many demons and a heaven and hell, but there is no equivalent of Satan. Lord Shiva is an ascetic and he also is a householder. He is worshiped in these 2 forms as well as a host of other forms - angry Rudra, united Ardhanareshwara, simpleton Bholenath, vengeful Kaal Bhairava, etc. So not only do we have more than one God, the God's themselves have myriad versions and avatars.

Shiva is eternal with no beginning and no end, he is infinite, no before no after, he grants boons and blessings to all who worship him. So even demons pray to him for benefiting from his benevolence. This is a unique thought process of a God who differentiates between no one and nothing. He has angry form, he has a compassionate form, he is a lover and husband, he is a father too, and he is formless divine. He can revive the dead, he can take away all fear of death. He provides for all his devotees and protects them from predation.

This book is insightful and at the same time simplified text of the vast pantheon and rich ancient culture of India. I was hooked from page one and read it within 2 days. It pulls you in with indepth interpretation of symbols, stories and rituals. It is a must have for any beginner or professional who wishes to unravel the mysteries of Shiva and understand Hindu thought process. Apart from all this there are many images from paintings and temples and excavations and sculptures that illustrate the book along with the image's descriptions.

Other books by Devdutt I look forward to reading are "7 Secrets of Vishnu" and "Myth = Mithya". Hope these books entertain and educate you all and brings understanding and order out of chaos.

Book Review: Red Sun

2011-11-03T20:18:00.004+05:30

Red Sun
Travels In Naxalite Country
By Sudeep Chakravarti

* * * * */ 5

India Unleashed!

This is a must-read book. Actually it should be compulsory reading in all high schools and colleges in India. A real eye-opener as well as a page-turner. If you believed for a moment that now is India's moment in the sun, believed the "India Shining" campaigns, thought India is soon to be a global superpower - well you are wrong, misinformed and unrealistic. India, most of it, is in absolute misery. Great pain and destitution is the common factor for half the population of the nation we are so proud of.

Firstly let's clarify about Naxalites - they like to be called "Maoists" And no they are in no way interested in Chinese occupation of India. Maoists of India are patriots by default - they love their nation of India more than anything else, hence they have taken up desperate measures to bring India's citizens their birthrights, their constitutional rights, their right to be free from oppression, right to justice and equality, right to be a human.

This book is an easy read in terms of language but a really thought-provoking, insightful and many times painful read in terms of content. If it doesn't make your blood boil at the inequities in this "modern India" then you are not even alive. Any sane educated citizen would be depressed and agitated at the wrongs of our civil society, our industrialised nation, our global pacts - because these things are not what we believed them to be - they are means of repression and exploitation.

The book takes us to the remotest parts of rural India. The author has travelled and contacted people at great risks. He has explored the grounds were revolt takes hold. The people who have suffered at the hands of either the Government, the police, the administration, the landlords or the moneylenders. These are real people and the book chronicles real conversations of real lives. These are people who have known nothing but struggle and obstructions in their life and finally turned to Maoism as a final solution to their problems. No man, woman or child takes up armed struggle out of choice, they have been pushed and they have been beaten and they have had no option left but to fight back against a corrupt administration and cruel society.

The book takes us through the known strongholds of the Maoists and has views and opinions of not just Maoist leaders but also bureaucrats, senior police officers (including KPS Gill), politicians and local villagers. This is a book of the common man for the common man. It is a book that will keep you awake long after you have turned the last page. The injustices of corporate India, the desperation of rural India, the corruption of every single one in power, these are bitter truths that we as Indians need to face. It is high time we face these harsh realities instead of ignoring their proximity and growth. This is a revolution for the common man. A book that mirrors the true face of 21st century India.

If there is only one book you would bother reading on the subject of Maoist Revolutionaries (not the lay terminology of Naxalites) make it this one. It will show you and prove to you that these revolutionaries are fighting for you and me and not for any petty cause.

Jai Hind!!!

Book Review: The Mountain Between Us

2011-09-10T18:03:00.002+05:30

The Mountain Between Us
by Charles Martin

* * * * */ 5

Warm Love Letters and icy wilderness

At the outset, reading the back cover blurb, you would wonder how engaging can a book about 2 stranded people be? Well it's no Robinson Crusoe. The stranded people are 2 good characters, successful male doctor and successful female journalist. On a chartered plane outracing a storm, the doctor - Ben is looking forward to going home and the journalist - Ashley is going to her wedding. But the plane crashes. A brave pilot managed to land them as safely as possible, but on a snowy mountain in a vast stretch of wilderness.

It's not this adventure of survival that is the selling point of this book. So if you are looking for Crusoe and his man Friday then you may not enjoy the novel in its entirety. These two primary protagonists have a choice - lay down and die or fight for a chance to survive. They both are injured but they keep their spirits up. And the pilot's dog who also survived the crash keeps them good company.

There is a good deal of the novel describing their painful efforts to survive in icy wilderness far from any civilization, but that's the less interesting part. What keeps you engaged and entertained is these 2 lives exchanging their history and reciting their intriguing memories.

Dr. Ben has a recorder he uses for medical transcription. Many stranded nights he records messages in it for his estranged wife. These messages read like beautiful love letters. You almost look forward to 'hearing' more of these messages and unfold the brave yet loving and caring character of Dr. Ben. Ashley brings her own background, awaiting her first wedding, anxious and yet hopeful of the concept of everlasting love.

The author Charles Martin must be a die-hard romantic because this is a love story with a bunch of romantics. The pilot had a long lasting love for his old lady. Dr. Ben reminisces his separated wife's young love since school till present. Ashley looks forward to being in eternal love.

Read this not as an adventure novel but as a romance novel and you will be more than satisfied with it. For a moment in the climax I thought it would be a sad ending, but there is a nice twist to the tale and a very surprising and satisfying happy ending.

Book Review: Red Dragon

2011-08-25T21:42:00.003+05:30

Red Dragon
by Thomas Harris

* * * * */5

Wonder and Awe for the Great Red Dragon

This is an amazingly well written book. The plot is tight, good paced narration, spectacular characters and brilliant descriptions.

The book is advertised as 'the novel that created Hannibal Lecter' but the book is neither about Lecter nor the special agent Will Graham. It is about the Red Dragon. The serial killer is the real protagonist for me. The novel starts off with the FBI wanting Will back for a new case. Will had left the bureau after apprehending Dr Lecter. FBI wants him back and soon the manhunt for the new psycho killer starts.

We are taken through Will's unique procedures as he recreates the crime scene in his mind, his imagination and projection helping him get inside the killer's perspective. He is creating the killer's profile and also profiles of likely victims. As the next full moon approaches, the cops are working out all possible leads to stop the Red Dragon.

Other characters in the novel are also well filled out. FBI man Crawford, the tabloid irritant Lounds, Will's wife, Dollarhyde's love interest and many others who are an intrinsic part of this unique story - not to mention Dr Lecter and his asylum's incharge.

The first meeting with Lecter is memorable. The descriptions of the crime scenes are close and horrific. You could picture yourself standing there with Will Graham. The family background and childhood atrocities on Francis Dollarhyde are cruel and will touch any reader's heart. The pain and humiliation and cruelty that finally created the Red Dragon almost makes you understand that the survival through such trauma could only happen by the creation of a monster.

The story is also about strong men. Men who have survived great odds - Will, his stepson, Dollarhyde, all strong characters who stay in the fight against the problems and dilemmas they face.

There are some memorable moments in the novel - some of it will shock you and others will keep your eyes burning into the pages - such as the death of the tabloid reporter, Reba the blind girl feeling the unconsciouss tiger in the zoo, the moment Dollarhyde accepts that he is completely alone in this world, etc are moments that will haunt you and amaze you.

You would never guess what's coming and it is a shocking climax in the last few chapters.

Book Review: Moonraker

2011-08-19T19:03:00.005+05:30

Book Review: James Bond series by Ian Fleming
See previous books' reviews

Moonraker
by Ian Fleming

* * * * */5

007 in UK

The first thought that comes to you as you begin reading this novel is that its nothing like the movie of the same name. The movie was a success with even a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars. The novel doesn't disappoint either. It goes off with a slow start with a commonplace investigation of cheating at cards at M's favourite club known as Blades. Then on the intrgue and unanswered questions pile up and before long you are submerged in a thrilling game of deception and discovery.

Interestingly, in this novel, James Bond doesn't leave United Kingdom, the entire adventure unfolding on homeground. 007 starts off dreading Monday office blues but by the end of the week he will be striving for his life and put all his skill and determination in saving England from a disaster of unimaginable proportions. There are guns, fast cars, gambling and a lovely lady to keep you hooked till the very end. The villain is unique, a national hero who is actually working against the nation that celebrates him. After the initial chapters depicting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you are caught into a climbing rocket of thrills and suspense. Its a "nail-biting" (haha, read the book and you will know) dash to save England and Bond will persevere through incredible hardships and danger (including gigantic rolls of newsprint) to save the day (or his weekend, eh?). A week in the life of 007 but only a few days for you as an addicted reader of this small novel.

A great follow-up to the second novel and surprising twists of fate.

Book Review: On Writing

2011-08-11T19:47:00.002+05:30

On Writing
by Stephen King

* * * * */ 5

The King: Wisdom and a one-on-one session

This is an awesomely magnificent book. Whatever opinions you may have regarding his fiction novels, suspend them all and read this as if peeping into the life of a professional writer. Stephen King is an all-time bestselling novelist and some beautiful movies have been made from his books too (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, come to mind immediately). I can understand that genre fiction is looked down upon by some elitists and reading horror stories may not be everyone's fare. But this book has got nothing to do with any of that. This book proves that Stephen King is an immensely great, accomplished and successful storyteller.

There are good forewords to this book, 3 of them actually, where King (I will call him King because he is one) explains how he came to write this book. Nothing to do with his own success in the craft but because he needs to clarify the art and craft of storytelling.

The book is not an autobiography. It is full of entertaining anecdotes that lead up to how he became who he is. I love anecdotal books (such as Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman! By Richard Feynman and At Ease stories I tell to friends by Dwight D Eisenhower) and this one is a treasure. Starting from his earliest memories as a toddler to mischief with his partner - elder brother, to high school days, college and marriage, we are taken on a fantastic voyage as King discovers the world around him and explores the talent within him. It is written in casual, conversational style, with great style! You can't help but picture him in the situations he mentions. It is not just entertaining but a lesson in living with his wise conclusions and mentions of turning points that led him to a fulfilling career as a writer.

Not everything is funny. Many of the anecdotes stand out and make you wonder at the complexities of life. Raised by a single parent - his mother, the tough jobs King did even after passing out from college, how King related to the creation of his breakthrough novel "Carrie" where he recounts his memory of 2 unfortunate girls in his school, etc are moving and emotionally impactful. The support he received from his dedicated loving wife is also quite heart-warming to read. His was not an easy life growing up or as a father and husband - but he remembers it fondly and has endured it in great spirits. He even recounts the very personal account of his struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse. He overcame those addictions and gave up cigarette smoking as well.

But all this is just a background, a buildup toward how he became a professional writer and maintained his success.

The book continues and reveals his thoughts on the process of writing. This reveals his process of writing based on his ideas that come to him from paying attention to the story when the story presents itself. He says the story is not made, the story makes itself. He mentions how he comes up with a unique situation and lets his characters thrive in the situation, thus surprising himself with a story which he discovers as a writer transcribing the goings on in the situation and the characters in them. He likens this process to unravelling a fossil in the ground. He does not approve plotting and writing to the plots restrictions. He compares the plot to a jackhammer being used to excavate a fossil, preferring instead to take time with a writers basic tools to excavate the delicate fossil which is the story idea. He doesn't know how his stories will end until he writes the final word.

He discusses and gives examples of various stages of writing and getting it published. This may not be a comprehensive guide on everything there is to know about writing but it paints for us a clear picture through his vast experience in the field of the craft.

In the last few chapters King shares his painful experience of getting hit by a van. Serious injuries he sustained and his thought process at the time are mentioned in detail. The description is powerful and emotional and makes you feel as if you are witnessing it all right in front of you.

There is more than enough positivity and encouragement and wisdom in this book - it should get you started and motivated to pen your own epic. You can even see this book as a fine non-fiction to enrich your life, not just a book on the art of writing.

Book Review: The Bourne Identity

2011-08-02T12:16:00.002+05:30

The Bourne Identity
by Robert Ludlum

* * * * */5

An espionage novel that thrills from start to end.

If there is ever a novel worth labelling thriller, this is it. A real page turner from the word go - from first page to last and everything in between. This is the second Ludlum novel I have read, first being The Matarese Countdown which was quite average. This so much more infinitely better, well researched, well plotted, planned, characterised, thought out and with a fastpaced action packed narrative. If anyone thinks NYT bestsellers are not literature then they have never come across such masterpiece storytelling and probably live in a remote cave with their loathsome copies of Shakespeare or John Updike.

The Bourne Identity is a gripping tale of a man, his origins, his uncertain present and conspiracies that entangle a range of ruthless or unsuspecting people somehow associated with the man they dont really know. The movie version is set in a modern setting and far different from this novel but both are definitely greatly enjoyable taken individually. The book set quite a few decades ago (when it was written) deals with the enigma known globally as Carlos the jackal. Bourne and Carlos drive this story with each proving their worth without which they could be dead. A race against time across varying locations in differing situations that make you glued to the book you hold closer and closer as plans unfold, dead bodies discovered, news and its targets manipulated and an ever changing landscape for the protagonist with an unknown past and bleak future.

The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. There is a covert mission for Jason Bourne but unexpected circumstances have made him lose his memory. His mind throws glimpses of images, some words stand out and he has not lost his ability for being a highly talented operative. The man is plagued by these things, not knowing where it comes from and what it means. Only one thing is clear - there are people out to get him, kill him and he needs to solve the puzzle that is his mind. To uncover where he comes from and why he has talents that are so unusual.

The novel is an exploration of not just the man's mind but the unexpected possibilities of covert missions, deception and the dangerous world of terrorism. This book does work as a standalone but of course Ludlum wrote 2 more of Bourne adventures. The thrill of the first ignites a passion to read on. Pick this up and forget the movie version for the time being. Both are great in their uniqueness. There are no cell phones or other gadgetry in this old novel but the novel isn't dated. If anything it proves how effective a trained person can be when dealt with uncertain and life-threatening circumstances. A real masterpiece from Ludlum.

Book Review: Blood Lines

2011-07-04T14:25:00.003+05:30

Blood Lines
by Kathryn Casey

* * * / 5

Not bloody at all

The protagonist is a Texas Ranger but the book is not a Western. The Texas Ranger here is a female, with a kid, with a Mom living in, with a dead husband, with an estranged lover, with an eager boss and her own haunting past. Sarah Armstrong is a good character; flawed, fighting and fearless. She loves her family but wants to keep her occupation which sometimes brings trouble too close to home.

We have 2 unsolved crimes in here. An elusive stalker and an unsolved murder. The characters are realistic though the caricature of the teen pop star Cassidy Collins and her staff is very cliched and stereotyped. The tension and action in the novel are there to keep you reading till the end. Apart from her investigation and profiling for these 2 cases, she also has to deal with a birthing horse and a reunion with a 'distant' lover.

The book first disappointed me with its dual perspective. Casey first writes in third person perspective and then switches to first person narrative of Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong for most of the book and in between we again get third person perspective. This is distracting and to me as an editor it is very irritating. The first person view brings us close to Sarah and this is a well-written perspective, making us feel and sympathise with Sarah. The third person view is needed to deal with all the places/ instances Sarah is not present, so that's really frustrating.

Casey also uses a lot of I'd, we'd, he'd and doesn't differentiate between "had" and "would" while using - 'd - though both are interchangeable. This was a constant hiccup for me.

Casey came to write fiction after writing true crime for 20 years, covering crime in news, magazines and non-fiction novels. So its not surprising that she chose her fiction foray in crime. She seems comfortable and natural at writing since the book is an easy smooth sailing till the end. But the plot relating to the murder and the stalking seemed average to me. I don't want to post any spoilers so I will leave it at saying that I expected much more intrigue and realism from a book written by a lady with 20 years of true crime writing.

Overall, the book is entertaining. I haven't read the first one in the series but don't mind reading more from Casey's impressive catalogue of books.

Book Review: Where The Shadows Lie

2011-07-02T22:10:00.005+05:30

Where The Shadows Lie
by Michael Ridpath

* * * * */5

Where Surprises Lie

This is a surprisingly good read. I just picked it up randomly and was hooked since the first chapter. We have a solid protagonist in Magnus. He is a tough cop at the receiving end of a drug cartel. A thorough American, he is reunited to his origins in Iceland as he needs to be alive as a witness in a case. The run-in with an assassin in the initial few pages itself had me admire the work of author Michael Ridpath. I read his brief interview and though he is no Icelander, he has painted a fantastic image of the nation. His research shines through in this novel.

I loved discovering new and newer things about Iceland in here. With Michael's prose it all comes alive. The protagonist is at once interesting with an enemy gunning for him in the first few chapters. Then on he is working for Iceland's police force which is drastically different because cops there don't carry firearms, forget about civilians shooting anything. There is plenty of mystery in Iceland and no small portion comes from the murder of a professor being investigated by the local police with consultation from Magnus.

Here too Magnus faces obstacles with the local police head not being too cheery on having help from an American cop. No cop likes their domain encroached upon by anyone no matter how experienced or qualified they be.

Of course with the rare crimes in Iceland the police there have little experience in following leads and investigating into a murder. So Magnus is to be there with the local chief grudgingly keeping him informed.

Then there is the pretty girl who is involved in the mess over ancient sagas being sold off to raise money. She is too good to have been involved in anything illegal, yet all clues seem to have her involved somehow. The sagas itself is fascinating and Tolkien had clearly taken great liberty in making the stories his own with "The Lord of the Rings". There is the familiar friendly but dull cop eager to be a partner to Magnus. There is a mysterious pastor of a church that was swallowed up by hell. There is information that leads to other possible murders. There is a lot of action and suspense with each chapter satisfactorily leading us to a thrilling finale.

The descriptions of the landscape, the sky, the waterfall, the simmering mountains of lava is simply marvelous.

It is a very rewarding novel to read and this is the first novel on Magnus. I can't wait to see how Michael Ridpath comes back to this cop in a sequel.

Book Launch: Amitav Ghosh's River of Smoke

2011-06-26T10:17:00.004+05:30

Crossword Bookstores have again held a delightful event for all of us bibliophiles in Mumbai. So on 22 June 2011, we were honoured with the presence of Amitav Ghosh. He was here to launch and promote his second book in the Ibis trilogy - "River Of Smoke". The first one in the trilogy was "Sea Of Poppies" which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2008.

I reached the Kemps Corner Crossword store an hour and half early, he was to arrive at 7 pm. The stage was set with 2 microphones and 2 chairs as we were to be entertained with a Q & A between Amitav Ghosh and Anil Dharker. The two arrived to an applauding audience. An introduction was given by Penguin publisher's representative and then Amitav Ghosh opened a copy of "River Of Smoke" to more applause.

Amitav Ghosh read from his new book and then a Q & A with Anil Dharker began. Apparently, Amitav Ghosh has many drafts before he comes out with a final product. He writes with a mechanical pencil, then with a pen and then finally onto the computer. He mentioned how writing can be a physically exhausting undertaking. He has his rituals before he can write, as obsessive as any author. He spends most of his time now in Goa. Anil queried about the research that goes into the book and Amitav held us spellbind with his answer. The book traces the Opium Wars and how China and India were forever changed at the hands of the British trading in opium.

Amitav mentioned how one Parsi character in the book took a life of its own and elaborated that it wasn't just the Parsis of India who became rich with opium trade. He cut to the present day when he mentioned the aluminium microphone stand and how Orissa is suffering through mining. He said that all of us benefit and lose through the devastation in other regions of the nation or world.

Anil was all praise for Amitav, going as far as to say that anytime soon Amitav would win the Nobel Prize in Literature ("if Nobel Committee know what they are doing").

Then the audience were allowed to ask questions. One person mentioned how reading is a lost habit in USA and same trend is appearing in India. Amitav Ghosh disagreed and said things have changed drastically in India. When he started out, selling 200 copies would be considered a success. There were no bookstores other than a small corner with a pile of old books. Now, he says, there are so many new writers, more publishers and a range of bookstores and books for the readers.

One old gentleman was very interested in Amitav's mention of a mechanical pencil. He quizzed the author about what it is and where to get it. Amitav entertained him and mentioned it's not available everywhere. Another person mentioned Amitav's fascination with the sea and how it appears in his novels with poetic descriptions. Amitav admitted he is a "sea person", that he has lived among mountains but prefers the sea - "the mountains divide locations while the sea brings us together".

Another fan asked that since his books are so picturesque, why hasn't a movie been made based on them. Amitav mentioned that an Italian producer was interested in adapting "The Calcutta Chromosome" into a movie. He also mentioned that one of his friends is adapting "The Hungry Tide" into a feature film.

I asked him why Indian authors and publishers don't seem to accept Science Fiction. Amitav had won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for his SciFi "The Calcutta Chromosome". I also asked him if he will write one more SciFi. Amitav mentioned a couple of Indian authors who have written SciFi and said that his own historical fiction takes as much effort as a SciFi, to create the fictional world and everything within it.

Soon it was time for the book signing and people queued up. I got 3 of his books signed by him, namely - Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and The Hungry Tide.

Few snaps from my lousy mobile phone:

Amitav Ghosh with Anil Dharker

The book launch

Amitav reads from his new book, River Of Smoke

The Q & A session

One of the Signed First Editions

Movie Review: Green Lantern 3D

2011-06-19T17:06:00.003+05:30

Awwesomeness !!! Now awesome in 3D !!!

Just saw this wonderful movie in 3D glory. It is a thrilling movie with just the right mix of action, humour, visual effects and drama.

I immediately regretted not seeing Avatar in 3D. But this will have to do for now.

We find our hero in a rebel without a cause. An extraordinary test pilot who is chosen by the ring - the ring of the Green Lantern Corps' most celebrated hero Abin Sur.

The background to the Green Lantern Corps is given very well without breaking the pace of the movie. We find a reluctant hero in the test pilot who is the first human to wear the ring. On Earth he faces his demons about his past and on the other side of the Universe, an evil awakes and consumes the very essence of the living beings - feeding to strengthen its evil powers.

There are 2 things that I thought of immediately - of course the other powerful ring, the ring from Lord of the Rings which itself is based on the Icelandic saga of the One Ring. But this green ring is good and it channels the will of the wearer to do justice and defend the universe.

The other thought more clearly showed inspiration - the evil feeding on the essence of living beings - just like Imoteph rising from the dead in The Mummy. So while the ring and lantern idea may be original, the feeding part seems to have already been done in one blockbuster - which may have its source in ancient tales of vampires (somebody tell me if there is some other source of inspiration).

But back to the movie and the perfect blend of all things that make a blockbuster. Totally awesome choice of actors and characters. Yes, not only the cast is great, but also the fictional characters they portray.

There is love lost and found. There is estrangement between father and son/s. There is power and greed for more power. There is vulnerability and the human force of rising against odds - being irrational to surpass obstacles. There is spectacular special effects; in 3D. And there is a satisfying ending. With scope for a sequel, wink wink.

The reason why the first Spiderman movie was a big hit and why the Star Trek reboot was a big hit is why Green Lantern will be a big hit. It adds the human touch to the hero. Aspects of him that we can relate to. To find comfort in knowing that adversity can be defeated with righteousness.

A good movie to watch again, and I will next weekend in IMAX 3D.

Movie Review: An Unfinished Life

2011-04-16T16:05:00.002+05:30

* * * * */ 5

Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman as old friends and Jennifer Lopez as the estranged daughter-in-law, this is an awesome movie.

Remember what I said about John Cusack and how I can't like any of his movies (not him, his movies !!! ) ???

Well, I can't say I like any of the Jennifer Lopez movies I have seen but this one is brilliant.

A moving story of a grieving father (Rdeford) who blames Jennifer, his daughter-in-law, for the death of his son.

The single mother has run away from an abusive relationship and lands at Redford's ranch in a rural town.

The kid who plays the grand-daughter is also a gem of an actress.

This movie should have escalated J.Lo's movie career to grand heights. She is great in the role and shows she can act.

Meanwhile there is a strong friendship between an injured Morgan Freeman and his voluntary caretaker buddy Redford. And then there is the wild bear.

You can't miss this drama, watch it on a calm day when you are reminiscent or emotional or just indulging in memories.

Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

2011-04-06T14:56:00.002+05:30

I don't like any John Cusack movie. I can't recall a single movie of his that I enjoyed watching.

But this movie is fun. One day in 2010, 3 friends and a nephew get into a hot tub and wake up in 1986. Then on its a struggle to not cause a butterfly effect space-time continuum disaster and correcting follies of past. The friends go on with the 1986 adventure despite memory of having lived through it and then try and gain an upperhand on their own existence.

This is a good movie to watch with friends and mugs of beer. Not as great as 'The Hangover' but certainly aspiring towards it.

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

2011-03-27T15:04:00.001+05:30

This is an awesome adventure of a movie. Spectacular on the screen. The movie is from the director of 300 and Watchmen. He transformed from directing music videos to such awesome movies.

SUCKER PUNCH is a great movie set inside an abusive mental hospital where a girl fantasies about escape along with other girls. The fantasies come real and the girls dance and fight their way through a different mental dimension toward freedom. The female protagonists are really well played by the actresses. Their grim tale of decadence and their plight in physical and mental imprisonment is displayed in beautiful camerawork and special effects. Their struggle comes alive in vivid fantasy displayed to us on a grand scale.

Lot of great music in the movie during the fight sequences - especially BJork's Army of me and altered version of White Rabbit.

Rocking movie, it will blow your brains out.

Movie Review: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2011-03-10T15:35:00.003+05:30

This is not your typical Steve Martin movie. This is funny and beautiful too. Steve plays a guy trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving holiday. John Candy is the fat talkative salesman accompanying him for no reason.

Steve loses a taxi, their flight gets cancelled, the train they take stops in the middle of nowhere, they get robbed in a motel, their rented car burns up,....

This is hilarious but not in a typical comedy movie way. There is more of the familial feel to it, like a Christmas movie.

Watch it with patience and by the end of it, you will feel the family love oozing out of you as well.

Written, produced and directed by John Hughes, in 1987, there is another version - a 2010 film "Due Date" starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis follows a similar plot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planes,_Trains_and_Automobiles

At Wikipedia, read the Production section - a lot of effort seems to have gone to make the movie possible.

Jeffrey Archer visit to Mumbai

2011-03-07T15:27:00.005+05:30

I had the good fortune to meet Jeffrey Archer on Sunday (6 March 2011). I along with a room full of people skipped the Ireland Vs India cricket World Cup match to attend this event. Held at Crosswords bookstore at Kemps Corner, Mumbai, the eager fans had come more than an hour early to occupy the seats.

I managed to travel from home to this other side of the city to be there. Jeffrey Archer was supposed to arrive at 07:30 pm and he arrived a few minutes early to a standing ovation.

He is an energetic and enthusiastic speaker. He had the table moved away from the podium and paced as he spoke in appreciation of the large crowd gathered to meet him.

Pacing the podium, he delivered hilarious anecdotes from his life and work. He mentioned how he struggled to be popular in USA where he couldn’t get a word out about his book in talk shows. This was during the promotion of his bestseller “Kane and Abel”. Then the late Johnny Carson mentioned on his show how great that book was, welcoming his guest Jeffrey Archer to his show and then on it was history. His worldwide success includes huge sales in India as well. “Kane and Abel” was his international breakthrough novel.

Jeffrey Archer informed the crowd about his latest novel “Only Time Will Tell”. It is a first in a 5 part series on the “Clifton Chronicles”. A dynasty tale of fame and fortune and intrigue. He says he doesn't know where his latest 5 book Clifton Chronicles series is heading. He has finished writing the second book in the series which will come out same time next year.

He mentioned how he writes the books in his home in Spain where he spends 50 consecutive days writing daily to keep the flow of continuity in the story.

He also doesn’t use any gadgets – no computer or typewriter. He writes his novels in longhand.

He joked about Ireland and England beating India in the World Cup, which hasn’t happened yet and thanked the crowd for turning up in such large numbers in this cricket crazy nation of India. He poked fun in great jest with the audience while taking questions from them.

He likes "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens, loves John Steinbeck especially "Of Mice and Men", has read Indian author R. K. Narayan, and likes Shakespeare and the theatre.

To aspiring authors he says to write what you are good at and not try to write for example SciFi or Horror just because they are popular genres.

A 70 year young man, his energy and charm was very attractive and he was very patient and keen on all the people at the event. He is clearly a good orator and knows how to get the crowd going with humour and passion.

There was a mad rush for the book signing and I wrestled my way in there with my hardcover copy of his latest "Only Time Will Tell" which is the story of Harry Clifton of the new dynasty 5 book series of his – The Clifton Chronicles.

For more news: http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/

Here are a few snaps from my lousy mobile phone.

And the mad rush for book signing... he was patient with this impatient crowd and probably signed books for more than an hour. I left after I got my book signed in the swamp of fans.

Book Review: Our Man in Havana

2011-03-01T14:41:00.002+05:30

Our Man in Havana
by Graham Greene

*****/5

"Everlasting Entertaining Classic"

This book was written and published in 1958. Yet when you read it, its as fresh as any of today's novels. It is a brisk easy read. It starts in Havana with a humble vacuum cleaner salesman who gets recruited by a British agent to spy for England. The gentleman doesn't know what to do and makes up fictional agents and fictional military/ political developments in Cuba.

This dark humour slides in great style with Graham Greene using his own experience in having travelled in various nations and having worked as a spy for England himself.

The book's freshness is unique. So many novels from that period of time seem relics of past. But this evergreen everlasting classic is as relevant and funny and entertaining as any spy novel written recently.

Allow Graham Greene to take you through a joy ride in Havana's clubs, bars, dark places and bring you mystery where there is none.

The ending too is quite surprisingly agreeable and delightful.

Book Review: The Big Short

2011-02-05T11:51:00.001+05:30

The Big Short
By Michael Lewis

****/5

The Doomsday Machine explained

If you have ever wondered about the American financial crisis and not found comprehensible answers in financial newspapers and magazines, then this book is for you. Michael has a confident and easily understandable writing in this latest non-fiction. He presents not just the big banks workings but gives us a personal introduction to the people behind it. He mentions a bunch of hedge fund operators who knew what tragedy was coming and invested wisely. The book takes us on the journey with insights from these hedge fund investors’ point of view. It at once puts us on the front seat of this CDO and credit swap machinery. It helps us understand the complicated mortgage disaster as seen by the eyes of visionary investors who knew the bubble was about to burst into disastrous proportions.

The characters in this book is what brings the book alive. It helps us know the business in Wall Street as analysed by these characters, what they do, why they did do something and how they profited during the biggest recent collapse in the financial market.

There is no better guide than this one with characters and explanations taking you inside the system and showing you what happened, why and how.

A good reason to drive under 60kmph

2011-02-01T10:23:00.000+05:30

Thanking my lucky stars - got saved from a gruesome accident.

I was riding my Enfield Bullet at 7 am to go to the gym today. I was crossing the Airoli bridge to get to New Bombay which is where my gym was. Suddenly in the middle of the bridge my bike's rear starts fishtailing violently.......then the whole bike starts shaking violently. I tried to be gentle to control the motorcycle. Then I feared I may crash and started to go to the left corner of the road (in India we drive on the left) and applied the front brakes because I was sure the rear wheel had gone kaput.

I managed to stop without falling and indeed the rear wheel had gone flat. Luckily I was going only 60kmph in the fast empty morning bridge. If it was faster I surely would have crashed. Luckily also the rim of the rear wheel didn't get damaged. There was a thick long nail in the rear tyre.

Another important aspect of such situations is that even if you fall you might be okay but only if some trucker or bus doesn't run over you. The fact that I managed to get it to the left side of the road and slow down gradually was a small miracle. Sundays the hospitals don't have the regular staff and doctors and fewer people on the road early morning. I truly feel blessed rather than saying it was bad luck. Often enough its not the crash that kills but the large vehicle coming behind you which is not able to break suddenly and goes over you to make a gruesome accident.

So drive safe, drive upto 60kmph. The road is full of surprises. Thank God for small mercies.

Book Review: The DaVinci Code

2011-01-15T12:39:00.002+05:30

Book: The DaVinci Code
Author: Dan Brown

*****/5

“Thriller with the right mix”

I am not ashamed to have read the book long after the movie version came out. The book is a separate entity. It is unique look into symbology, myth, art and history played in the present among locations accessible to anyone who wants to see them.

It is an interesting, intriguing and insightful novel.

The chapters are short, start with intrigue and end with suspense – thus giving the reader an illusion of fast-paced page-turner. But the story is grand and the plot a thriller. The timeless quest for the Holy Grail is replayed in modern times, with present day people reaching for the extraordinary.

The book is a must-read not because millions of copies have been sold in multiple languages but because it is a uniquely thrilling tale and a story that the generation will always recall instantly on mention. It is much better than the movie of course.

Book Review: The God Of Small Things

2010-12-30T13:53:00.003+05:30

Book: The God Of Small Things
Author: Arundhati Roy

****/5

"Beautifully Haunting, Hauntingly Beautiful"

The book is impressive in the number of stories it unfolds, the range of their indepth tales.

The book will be a difficult read to someone not raised in India. The advertisements, the products, the Mahabharata, the viciousness of caste-based politics, etc will not register in a foreigner’s mind so easily.

It will be a difficult read for paperback readers who need sequence and explicit clarity. This book revolves around real people of a fictional realm. And they haunt its pages randomly. Without care for sequential unfolding of their life’s drama.

Every character is elaborated upon, discovered and illustrated. The story is at times desiring reader’s effort and patience. Take in the story as it comes without fighting its unique layout and you would enjoy reading it. Not a must-read. But recommended. Not an “untouchable” book. But deeply touching.

Book Review: The Associate

2010-12-15T12:44:00.000+05:30

Novel: The Associate
Author: John Grisham

***/5

"The Tedious Job"

The premise is set in the back cover itself. Blackmail to intimidate and coerce. What is an honest man to do in such a situation? The premise takes off well in the initial chapters. Then on the story is engaging intermittently but not the kind of thrill promised in the cover. The characters are believable, especially so because Grisham delves deeper than surface introductions. The characters have a life and we get to read about it. This pulls us deeper into the story and adds dramatic storytelling.

Yet for all this the thrill of the plot is disappointing as it progresses. The bad guys are forever in the shadows and the good guys are chasing shadows.

The end was disappointing to me as it leaves the protagonist’s future with a question mark. The suggestion of some possible organization more secretive and powerful than FBI & CIA & NSA is also unconvincing in its presentation. It’s a readable fast read. Pick it up if you love Grisham’s stories about lawyers. And if you are new to it, it’s still a fair novel for killing time as you go through the protagonist’s life from January to December.

In the end the tedious job of Kyle in New York is tedious to read about for us.

Book Review: The Pilgrimage

2010-11-30T16:27:00.000+05:30

Novel: The Pilgrimage
Author: Paulo Coelho

"An essential voyage towards God"

*****/5

This book is pure truth. The reality of human condition and the God question is perfectly illustrated here. These are examples, explanations and exercises for all my personal troubles. May none suffer from such trials.

This book is a deeply moving account of Paulo's journey. Its chapters move through at a pace that reflects his passage through the Strange Road To SanTiago. The words and exercises are all relevant to the reader's experience - an experience of the Road To SanTiago via Paulo's lively notes.

So we as readers also travel the Road and learn and live the journey. There are innumerable lessons in each chapter of this book. Lessons learnt through Paulo and his guide Petrus interactions, actions and reflections. Each chapter in this book has a purpose and each exercise shared generously by Paulo has a direction - in all taking us through the Strange Road via Paulo's words.

So live the experience and take this pilgrimage, accept the magic and the miracles, and have faith in what you would question elsewhere - this Road is not traversed on blind belief but requires faith from the faithful.

Book Review: The Matarese Countdown

2010-11-15T16:05:00.003+05:30

Novel: The Matarese Countdown
Author: Robert Ludlum

"THE VERBOSE COUNTDOWN"

***/5

I want to like Ludlum's works. I really wish to be knocked to hell and back through his global crises writings. After all, I have watched Jason Bourne movies only a few dozen times (starring the brilliant Matt Damon in the title role). Yet this novel was disappointing.

It starts off well enough, with the prologue and initial chapters creating intrigue. Then on the "drama" takes over the "suspense thriller". There are some wonderful chapters or rather the majority paragraphs in them. Yet one cannot stop thinking that there is too much written with too little being said. The verbosity is visible and causes sadness. The 566 page novel, in my mind, should have been complete in 350 pages at the max.

The plot is almost good. It is/ was timely. It is true enough that nations, groups, conglomerates and other vested interest individuals try to manipulate the economy.

The plot is what kept me interested to see the reading till the end.

Europe does have big money, especially the novel's "Amsterdam". The Netherlands is indeed a rich nation with small populace controlling a lot. Add to that the organizations such as G8, G6, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc and the commonly seen manic ups and downs in industries/ sectors of the economy - it makes for a great plot in "The Matarese Countdown".

I am being generous here saying I liked the novel but with an eye of an editor could note some poor writing, often childish or unfitting in a bestseller. Example: The words of pilot Luther at times silly (chapter 35). Then description of banker Wahlburg too racist and stereotypical (chapter 31). The banter between Pryce, Scofield, Shields and Waters at many moments too childish to be believable in a novel about international espionage, in a fight against something as mighty as "The Matarese".

I haven't read the other Matarese novel - "The Matarese Circle" as yet but intend to some time soon. If it precedes this novel, then doesn't matter, "The Matarese Countdown" was complete by itself and not requiring the input of the other novel.

Readable. Not necessarily though.

Best Indian Corporate Blog

2010-05-12T12:55:00.003+05:30

Hello all,

This is the best corporate blog I have read from any Indian corporate or from any foreign one for that matter.

Subroto Bagchi is the founder of MindTree - an Indian IT company.
He is also a bestselling author of 3 books.

In his corporate blog he is frank and wise and intelligent on a wide-range of topics including: IT, business, economy, India, people, travel, personal issues, etc.

It is exceptional to find such a leader to be so candid about a range of issues. He would have been a leader no matter what sphere of work he would have chosen. The amount of responses he gets for his blog posts shows clearly that he is not just a corporate leader but has fans across society.

He and his management also aims to make MindTree into a USD One billion company. They are appreciated by industry and liked by employees. MindTree’s website also reflects Energy, Enthusiasm and Success. They link to popular social networking sites and have podcasts as well.

Subroto’s blog is at: http://www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi/index.php

Interesting recent topics:
Not one, but many Microsofts – about India’s lack of IT Products and Microsoft making USD One Billion revenue in India
http://www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi/not-one-but-many-microsofts-in-the-making/

My Mother is an Ugly Woman – about the educated Indians mocking India and its culture/ society/ people
http://www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi/my-mother-is-an-ugly-woman/

Burial of the dead – about a man who built a profession around carrying unclaimed dead bodies by simply volunteering to be a good human
http://www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi/burial-of-the-dead/

An old one and favourite - The Fallen Tomato Cart at Scribd.com

The corporate logo of MindTree is unique as is their views on business. All in all a great example of branding, communication and business intelligence combined with human touch.

Best Wishes,
UD

Movie Review: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

2010-03-14T23:08:00.003+05:30

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Where was this movie all my life ?!?

Such an incredibly beautiful movie. And I heard about it only on the recent Oscar award telecast where they paid a visual tribute to John Hughes who passed away last year.

I can't believe this movie is not celebrated as the best of best to come out of Hollywood. Sadly it is only listed in Best Comedies.

This movie is wise beyond any youth-oriented movie I have known or seen.

I have the 'Bueller, Bueller' Edition - that too at half-price clearance sale. So beautiful I could cry at this beautiful comedy (of life ? )

The direction and narration for a film from 1986 is so fresh and clever and well-done.

This is a movie which has the ever-lasting quality because it speaks about what will forever be a "human condition".

And the performances are great. Perfect background score and music that fits the situations as if the songs were written for it.

I don't know why I never came across this movie. And yet today there it was sitting alone in a stack of discounted VCDs and I couldn't believe my luck. And that changed to a fortune when I had finished watching the movie.

I hope all the people in the world can see this and see beyond the jokes into what Ferris Bueller is teaching to these few who worship him - and rightly so!

As I sort through all the John Hughes movies on his profile, I see I was previously impressed by "Baby's Day Out" and had never bothered to look through this director's works.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is a masterpiece. If you thought you deal with life as a struggle - well wake up cause it shouldn't be a fight - dance to it and let it take you where you wanna go.

Very inspirational!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_Bueller%27s_Day_Off

From Wikipedia:

"I think when John Hughes wrote, produced and directed Ferris Bueller's Day Off, he was writing about a human need as basic as the human need that Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration of Independence: the need to be free, and to pursue happiness. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – very basic stuff. And I don't know that there’s ever been a happier movie. It's a movie that you cannot watch without feeling really, really great." —Ben Stein

So check it out and learn how to live!!!

THE RAILROAD @ Bikernet.com

2010-02-17T23:48:00.004+05:30

Hello Riders and Friends,

My latest fiction adventure live at the best American Motorcycle Magazine Bikernet.com

Read "THE RAILROAD"
at Bikernet Fiction department
http://www.bikernet.com/fiction/PageViewer.asp?PageID=3100

A Western Fantasy Adventure

Synopsis: In a world of vermin and violence, a lone gunslinger will cheat crooked businessmen, cowboys, lawmen and his own nightmare. As DuJang fights to stay alive in an alternate dimension, the Old West is yet to find peace.

So have fun, and recall spaghetti westerns, read it online.

Ride a horse or ride a motorcycle - "ride forever" as Bikernet gang says.

:-)

Free Movies Online Again

2010-01-28T20:04:00.003+05:30

Hey folks,

So many people disappointed over Lycos Cinema demise. A great idea coupled with a new trend in social networking destroyed before it could be on terrafirma. Lycos Cinema followup.

Well, cheer up. Cause another team of movie buffs are doing the same thing and doing it better.

So even though Lycos Cinema Social Networking may have died a strange death, we can still enjoy the idea.

Another site as taken its idea and made a more beautiful website out of watching movies for free legally online.

http://www.freemooviesonline.com/

The website has over 1000 public domain movies, TV shows, TV series episodes, cartoons and feature animations - something for everyone. And yes, this too is a legal service. All these films and television episodes on FMO are in the public domain.

From their website:

The professionals who work with FMO have a vast knowledge of the film and television industries, and have over 30 years of experience in the public domain business as well.

So check it out - your Lounge of the Lazy Mind has brought you an avenue to bring your cinema hall to wherever you are lounging with your laptop (or iPad ? ). Movies starring Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Nicholson, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Buster Keaton, Lee Van Cleef, Robert DeNiro, Charles Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Dean Martin, Demi Moore, John Travolta, etc. Other stars and heavyweights include Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola, Lucille Ball, Tarzan, Tom & Jerry, Superman, Bugs Bunny, Zorro, and more, more, more.

Check out their showcase, plus articles and enjoy!!! All this with great video streaming online.

FMO - Free Movies Online - Tag Cloud for popular stuff

Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, SciFi, Western, Cartoons and many more just waiting to be watched again after ages.

Free Movies Online also allows Social Networking for similar minded movie aficionados. So check their FMO Social here and it is also FREE just like the Movies.

:-)

Gospel of 2write from Facebook

2009-11-27T16:26:00.003+05:30

:-p

"Sleep is for babies; Men get stoned unconscious"
- Ujjwal Dey

"Take a bee for instance or an ant. We live like that. Only, they believe in their purpose while we struggle to find our own."
- Ujjwal Dey

"We drive till we find a sunrise that we like"
- Ujjwal Dey

"For a nomad, there is no language barrier. He is nature's child. If someone can't understand you, it means you are becoming civilised."
- Ujjwal Dey

"The winds don't bend to our wishes, but we can set ourselves free to fly to new skies."
- Ujjwal Dey

"A truly wise man knows there is nothing to fear. A happy man knows there is more to endear. An intelligent man knows how to slap them both back to reality."
- Ujjwal Dey

"The tornado of passion, the torrent of love - all you can hold on to is your faith, for trust may need a reason - but belief comes from within."
- Ujjwal Dey

"The only true fear a Man should overcome, is to fear to tread into his own self - to not look within."
- Ujjwal Dey

"When we shed our clothes and put on new ones, we never do change our nature. But there is the opportunity and possibility to change to suit our new colours, to be dressed for the success every conditioned human seeks.

When we shed our mortal selfs and stand immaculate before our Creator, we never do change our indestruc...tible Soul. But now we recognise there is the opportunity and possibility to be our inherent self, to be undressed from the Maya/ illusion of self.

For we are fragments of the Super Soul and his image however small in a smallest mirror, will forever possess virtue and compassion. Just as a drop of ocean still belongs to the expansive ocean and retains its flavour, no matter how miniscule - it is there - you are it."
- Ujjwal Dey

* * * * * * * *

Get American Address and Ship all goodies in one bag

2009-11-20T11:49:00.005+05:30

Hello dudes and dolls,

Wonderful uber-cool websites for Christmas shopping.

http://www.darkfigures.com/

A very cool website with the best action figures from your favourite characters in Movies, Books, Games, TV shows, etc

http://www.cmdstore.com/

This one has all that plus action figures of NFL players and celebrities - get your own Johnny Depp or Fox Mulder (X-Files) or Lost/ Heroes/ 24 etc. If you are ever in Canada, visit their huge store.

Unfortunately many websites including the 2 above don't Ship to India.
Also many good websites charge ridiculous amount of money to Ship to India.
Then, you may be buying a single product from a website and shopping at multiple websites for a few products.

So how do you get all your goodies to your home in India - bunching the shipping from different websites and shipping them together to India?

Fear Not - I present to you, your very own American Address

http://www.comgateway.com/

ComGateway - Get American !!!

Get a free American Address.

For fellow dorks like me who like to buy American - many shops won't ship outside USA/ Canada because of the troubles they have to go through to declare stuff with the American government staff on international shipping. Also such shipping is expensive at some sites for no reason. Or for buying from multiple websites and shipping it together.

So you can have your own American Address and then these guys will ship it to you anywhere in the world.

Example: I recently tried to buy The New Yorker box DVD of 100 years of their magazine issues and they claimed a ridiculous USD 60+ for Shipping to India. LOL.

And I want my Jason Voorhees and Hannibal Lecter and Indiana Jones and Capt. James T. Kirk from the Collectibles Store mentioned above.

So now - you have a virtual home in USA with ComGateway - store all your stuff there till they arrive from multiple websites and then send them all to your India Address in one gigantic Goodie Box.

LOL - isn't DotCom Business the best. Makes me wonder how much more ideas are out there waiting to become the next Yahoo/ Google/ Amazon.

AWESOMENESS !!!

Shopping online: Action figures, Toys, Fiction Stars, Movie Characters

2009-11-19T13:12:00.002+05:30

Hey dudes and dolls,

Buy your own pet monster....

http://www.cmdstore.com/

http://blog.cmdstore.com/

http://www.darkfigures.com/

Bloody expensive - maybe Santa Claus will stuff it in my stocking - hope he leaves my legs in one piece.

* * * *

Movie Review: Nightmare on Elm Street 4

2009-11-19T12:58:00.001+05:30

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Nothing to write home about. Well, it is better than the movie number 3 reviewed earlier.

The reason this movie works for me is simply the better setting/premise for the story - a high school atmosphere, safe and friendly - and then Freddy is back and the giggling kids are dying.

LOL.

So the high school premise definitely is better than the unbelievable mental hospital setting in previous movie.

Also - then there is a better play among the characters - unlike in previous movie - sort of understandable interaction/ rapport.

Here, the girl from previous movie Kristen gets used by Freddy Krueger to bring in other kids into her dream and thus feed Freddy's bloodlust.

So her 2 surviving friends from previous movie are sucked in. A pet dog gets sucked into the dream and the dog digs up the grave where the yummy bones of Freddy Krueger lay in restlessness.

Well, it was kinda funny - the scene where the dog pisses on Freddy Krueger's grave and Freddy comes alive through that.

It would have been funnier if the dog was a bitch. LOL. Imagine that. Well the dog was named Jason and I wonder if it is in any reference to the other big franchise of the time - Friday the 13th.

A good funny line that worked for me was when Kristen is back in Freddy's wonderhouse and she sees a diner ----

the waitress asks her "Come on, what will it be - I don't want to stay here forever."

LMAO

But most of the supposedly fun bits are too tedious. Also, too many good characters seem to die very lame or rather in easy/uncreative ways.

The best part of this movie is that it emphasises its main premise - the subtle distinction between reality and dreams.

It is normal for kids to be fascinated with dreams and it is normal for them to be wishful thinking at many ages.

So this is the film series' trump card you know.

To present the blending horizon of dreams and reality - a real waking horror when you consider its implications.

So enjoyable movie - but nothing exceptional.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Street_4:_The_Dream_Master

* * * *

Movie Review: Nightmare on Elm Street 3

2009-11-18T13:52:00.002+05:30

Wes Craven and John Carpenter are two horror flick directors I admire, simply for their devotion to pulp - plus the vast array of skills they possess, well beyond being simply a "Director".

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

That said - this Wes Craven franchise - is disappointing. Not directed by him but co-scripted.

I don't know - even the pathetic Hellraiser 6 I reviewed last week seems better than this 3rd Freddy movie - which was co-scripted by Wes Craven himself.

Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!

http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/

Well it is just typical slasher and gore - no real creativity or originality.

Freddy's Mom shows up as a ghostly guide in this one. Freddy Krueger - the bastard son of a 100 criminally insane men who have attacked staff member of the facility - and now that Nun/mother is back to guide a psychiatrist to find a solution to end this terror.

Sounds horrible - but from the look of it - it isn't.

Also - I have the 3rd and 4th movie in this Nightmare series - both of which claim horror and humour.

Call me silly, but I couldn't see any humour. There is no joking or witty one-liners or irony or satire or comedy of any recognisable sort.

Maybe the skeleton of Freddy with the blade battling briefly with the psychiatrist at Freddy's grave (discovered to eliminate Freddy) is supposed to be funny - but it is so only in a stupid clumsy horror way.

Evil Dead movies were horror + humour.
Even Hannibal series has horror + humour.

But I would call it false advertising on their movie/DVD covers when they say it is great horror and humour.

Even the gore is very predictable and lack the imagination which I would say is poorer than the Jason X or Midnight Meat Train (brilliant by comparison) I reviewed previously.

But let's not forget - this Nightmare 3 was made way back in 1987.

So I will discount the lame typical horror fare silliness as cultural factor of the movies back then.

But there is no excuse for not having a story to make a movie on. LOL.

So the last of the Elm Street children are locked away in a mental hospital suffering fatal nightmares and this time a kid from the first movie is now back providing therapy for these kids. And this hot chick seems to become unspecified but implied love interest of the male doctor who at first doesn't believe in Freddy dream terrors but then "gets with the programme" so to speak. An unbelieving old haggard female plays the boss of the mental hospital who fires these 2 nitwits for encouraging the delusions of the kids - 2 of whom have died since they started their treatment.

Laurence Fishburne is wasted in this movie as a wardboy type of character. He was not even prominently mentioned and his name appears on the DVD only because he is now an established celebrity - well it duped me into buying the damn movie.

In the movie credits Fishburne is mentioned as "Larry Fishburne"

Thank God he changed his name cause with that name it would have been difficult to be a critically acclaimed actor. I watched him briefly on CSI - but that was some old season which I can't find on air anymore.

IMDB lists his acting career dating back to 1972 - so a long wait for him to break into the big celeb world. Haven't seen him in any great movies recently - so don't know what's going on with him.

John Saxon wasted in here as well. But well, he has never been a force to reckon with really.

Back to this movie....
Logically - think about it - if some damn doctor/s tell you that your kid is haunted in his/her dream by some evil bastard son of devils - would you leave your kids in these idiots hands for medical treatment. So I sympathise with the old woman playing the hospital head - she is almost shown in poor light, but she is generous and kind and the 2 therapists seem to understand her point of view and its only the kids who think that old woman is nuts.

Well - if it isn't believable, if it isn't anything new, if it isn't even remotely scary with all its display of blood and guts - what is it ? It's not a good horror flick.

Watch at the risk of your own patience and pocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Street_3:_Dream_Warriors

Wikipedia Said:
In Jan 2008, Variety reported that Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company would be rebooting the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Robert Englund will not reprise the role of Freddy, and that Samuel Bayer was hired to direct the film.

For Trivia

Wikipedia Said:

Nightmare 7 (1994) written and directed by Wes Craven

Craven had intended to ask Johnny Depp, whose feature film debut was in A Nightmare on Elm Street, to make an appearance as himself. But Craven was too timid to ask him. Upon running into each other after the film's release, Depp said he would have been happy to do it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Craven%27s_New_Nightmare Also..... Johnny Depp made a cameo appearance in the sixth installment, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Wikipedia Said:

Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in 1987 and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in 1988. Despite his reputation for appearing in horror films, Englund is a classically trained actor.

Movie Review: The Midnight Meat Train

2009-11-17T14:32:00.001+05:30

The Midnight Meat Train

Clive Barker's short story gets rewritten for a film. Based on a short story that appears in his collection "Books of Blood". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Blood

Well the short story was pretty awesome. The movie adds characters including a girlfriend and a change of job for our Leon who becomes an artistic photographer in the movie from desk-nerd in the short story (The Subway Butcher had addressed him as an accountant with being meat as the most useful thing he could ever be - LOL).

Well - the movie is gripping - but not because of the storyline - which has changed considerably.

Leon is in the movie stalking Mahogany (Subway Butcher) because he has strange notions about him and Leon's dreams seem to suggest either ESP or just mental imbalance.

Okay, I don't want to be cruel - the short story as it was would be a poor tiny movie-let - so the change to the storyline was the rational thing to do to make a movie out of it. The short story solely existed with the 2 characters - Leon and Mahogany.

Gripping movie? Well because its "bloody" shocking at the gruesome crime and gore shown in this movie.

I MEAN WOW!!! I didn't know such graphic explicit violence was even legally allowed to be shown.

Well, okay, it is all relevant - since we are dealing with a professional butcher who now for some reason is hanging midnight train passengers, naked, upside down - like a line of fresh cows for slurping by..... ? ? ?

Well, that's the other major change from the short story into the movie version - the motives, purpose, confrontation, etc.

Watch it - I would say it is much better than the regular horror franchises I have been reviewing recently.

I had an afternoon nap and did have a brief nightmare - the actors are great - unknown but good talented actors - the Subway Butcher indeed looks his role and acts like one - as if this movie was being shot without the knowledge of a psychopath who is billed as Mahogany. He is that good and convincing as a dedicated butchering killer.

Brooke Shields in a small but very visible role in this movie. Love that gal.

Please try and find and read the short story before watching the movie - you will appreciate both the story and the movie more that way.

Just goes to show that Clive Barker's short stories are so intensely good horror pieces that they are even relevantly adapted into modern movies so many years later - and it works.

http://www.clivebarker.info/

I hope some decent director does something well - a decent modern adaptation of - H P Lovecraft fiction.

Will I see the day that happens? I will haunt Hollywood in wait baby !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Meat_Train

* * * *

Movie Review: Jason X

2009-11-16T13:28:00.003+05:30

JASON X
Evil gets an upgrade

Wikipedia says: Friday the 13th is the highest grossing horror franchise in the United States, with approximately $614 million. The Hannibal Lecter film series follows closely with $573 million, A Nightmare on Elm Street with $522 million, Halloween with $517 million, Scream with $400 million, Saw with $378 million, Psycho with $371 million, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with $315 million, and the Child's Play film series rounding out the list with approximately $200 million. The financial success has extended to home release, with more than five million DVDs sold by 2005.

The tenth movie in this ever successful franchise!

There already is a 2009 reboot of the franchise that I have yet to hunt down.

This is better than you would hope.

At first imagining the "hero" of countless Friday the 13th movies in space seems ridiculous.

But there is a nice back story to cover this excuse for mayhem and murder in outer space.

So Jason is frozen with cryogenics since he doesn't die by electric chair or lethal injection or hanging or firing squad, etc. Then in the future when Earth is doomed - a team of teenage students land on Earth as routine educational "bus trip" and find a dead woman beside the ice chamber of Jason at the now decrepit Crystal Lake facility.

Back on the ship their teacher revives the woman who had also frozen, who recounts her death by Jason - who is now missing from his autopsy table. LOL.

And the deaths in space begin.

But don't worry - within a minute of the movie starting, Jason is already hacking away at army generals and scientists in 2010.

I don't know which SciFi to compare it to - except maybe Alien - but that had the sexy Sigourney Weaver battling it out alone for most of the movie.

These idiotic students from year 2455 have now done the same mistake - brought the killer on board the ship.

Jason X is definitely a good SciFi with its technology display and humour.

Plus, there is a hot lovable cute female android who goes one-on-one with Jason.

The entire movie is gripping, especially the last half will have you glued to your seat and you won't know whom to root for actually. Well the human characters, even though played by unknown actors - are good actors, and in the small time have a decent enough characterisation to make you sympathise with them.

Of course, like all slasher films, this too has the space-borne students getting horny at every opportunity in scenes in which sometimes they end up getting f***ed (killed) by Jason.

There is intrigue, action, horror/ gore, backstabbing (not just by Jason), SciFi, humour, even a bit of love and humanity, great fireworks and special effects.

Fun movie for FRIDAY THE 13th that went by 2 days ago. Won't give you nightmares because its just a slasher movie and not really a mindbender like a few of the Hellraiser or Hannibal series or some of the other cool horror flicks.

On a scale of one to five, I would give it a 3 and yet say you will enjoy it. The 3 because I am not a fan of the slasher genre, whereas the Hannibal type of horror is more comprehensively entertaining.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_X

* * * *

Movie Review: The Game Plan

2009-11-14T17:04:00.000+05:30

THE GAME PLAN

No matter how many times they show this on TV, I watch it again and again.

I simply love this cute story of a successful football player finding out he has a young daughter and then the humour of him dealing with the spunky kid and then there is also the ballet teacher as a romantic interest. Even the various other characters - the footballers, the guy's PR manager, the whole cast is simply beautiful and perfect in this perfect story.

A MUST SEE MOVIE !!!

It has to be the best movie Dwayne THE ROCK Johnson has ever done and I don't know how he will ever top this.

Going from his macho image to this loveable giant - he does it so naturally - because in reality - he is a great guy.

Vin Diesel and Arnold Governator have failed in their attempts to showcase their acting skills through Kid Movies.

Here The Rock has successfully made a great movie as well as showcased his talent on screen in being so fluent in his dialogue, timing, rapport with the other cast members, his visible presence, charm and in general AWESOMENESS.

A true WALT DISNEY movie - it has a happy ending and the music and dancing at the end credits is worth seeing again as well.

Great cast of actors - every one of them lively and entertaining for every second they are on screen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Plan_(film)

A movie made for USD 22 m, it grossed $USD 137,766,652 worldwide in box office - plus it earned USD 45.79 m in DVD - a clear commercial winner as well.

* * * *

Movie Review: Hellraiser 5 and 6

2009-11-13T16:45:00.000+05:30

Clive Barker broke onto the literature scene like a bat out of hell - suddenly so many great short stories by him were everywhere and loved and ingested to the very core of horror fiction fans.

Then came HELLRAISER.
So this post for Friday the 13th November 2009.

Hellraiser: Inferno

So well I couldn't resist the cheap discounts on this anymore. Seduced by its mystique I indulged in guilty sinful pleasure of this movie - one of many in the Hellraiser franchise.

I haven't seen any other of the Hellraiser movies but it doesn't seem to matter.

The movie is AWESOME ! It starts off with a noir-like narrative by a super-intelligent police detective. You may think he is so upright and just - but he has his own indulgences and he likes a lot of kinky stuff and drugs on the side even though married (happily) and has a kid daughter.

This is the kind of horror movies that are truly scary.

The stupid ones with those puppet creatures and special effects look comical and irritating.

This - we see Hell on Earth - and that's scary. Because these sequence of events unfold such that you would think it could happen to you and it sure seems more scary to find Hell so close to home.

So the detective has to get to solve this riddle, this puzzle - this case - before he is completely implicated in random murders and loses his sanity.

The Pinhead is here known at first as "The Engineer" - which is his streetname and people think of him as a grandiose criminal and boss of organised crime.

"If you hunt for the Engineer, the Engineer will hunt you"

Pretty awesome blending of modern elements with the core nature of our human fears.

The actor playing the detective is good I think - he has that face for that role - he does well. Craig Sheffer is the guy who was in Academy Award winning movie from Robert Redford "A River Runs Through It" with Brad Pitt.

Strangely this fifth installment of Hellraiser was also the first to go straight-to-DVD.

I say this is a great movie - and the idiots don't know the innovative presentation of horror and of that franchise.

The ending is left open, whether the police detective lives in his Hell forever or takes the only way out - suicide ?

You don't need to see blood and guts to create a horror film - it is all in the mind, the unsaid, the evident, the implicit, etc.

Idiots I tell ya! Its a great movie !
The whole idea - the point of view of a cop trying to be the best cop and at the same time battling his personal temptations - and then the "game" with an unknown criminal mastermind - THE ENGINEER (Pinhead).

wiki said: Inferno is unique in the Hellraiser series in that it underplays the high level of gore of the earlier films. Many scenes cut away before the moment of violence. Others praised the movie for relying on physcological terror and not relying overtly on consistent gore and the presence of Pinhead [Doug Bradley], instead the character acting as a demonic morale judge and his screen time cut back to even less of that of the original picture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellraiser:_Inferno

* * * *

Hellraiser: Hellseeker

This one was the next one.
Okay movie. Not that scary. Very irritating at times. The guy has lost his memory in an accident and like him - we don't know fact from fiction - as he goes about reconstructing the events of past.

Also went straight to DVD - that's about right for this.

The original gal from the first Hellraiser movies - the only human to have escaped Pinhead - returns in this movie.

And she will make a deal with that Devil.

Not really spooky. Very lame horror and it turns out as not even a good suspense nor crime story.

* * * *

I guess I tried to read up on Clive Barker and Hellraiser series out of curiosity and appreciation of his imagination.

But it gets repetitive if every film in that franchise is going to talk about some horny promiscuous man having multiple sexual partners and a few indulgences of drugs/booze thrown in for good measure.

I mean, so much can be done with this - and they stick to the successful horror formula used by every other horror movie - young people having sinful sex - and getting paid back with nightmares that turn real.

They are going to remake the original movie (well someday, been quite a wait since announced).

Check out this official site of that multi-talented man:
http://www.clivebarker.info/

He is a playwright, horror author, fantasy children's novels author, painter, illustrator for his own books, directed the first and most successful Hellraiser movie, etc. etc. etc.

One of his short stories was made into the successful movie "Candyman". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candyman_(film)

Hope to see more from him soon.

* * * *

Movie Review: Bullitt

2009-11-12T17:14:00.004+05:30

AWESOMENESS !!!

Steve McQueen - BULLITT

He did whole lot of things for this movie including driving the car himself in the great car chase in San Fransisco. Year 1968.

No damn studios here - real hospital - real streets - real airport.

Even the doctors and nurses shown in the hospital scenes are actual doctors/ nurses - not actors.

Great stuff.

I have a DVD which they call "New Digital Transfer" - whatever that means.

Jacqueline Bisset as I have never seen her before - she looks so innocent and beautiful instead of the gorgeous bomb she is in later movies. She is actually perfect opposite copper BULLITT who wouldn't be attracted to fake smiles, glam or artificial beauty.

She looks splendid in her small role. As does Robert Duvall, so young he is in the movie.

I have the Special Features which has "Steve McQueen's dedication to reality" - a great small feature that shows how he did himself - all that action and making a REAL story instead of a glam movie.

* * * *

Movie Review: Neverwas

2009-11-10T16:59:00.001+05:30

NEVERWAS (2005)

A great idea for a movie, a good concept - totally ruined and wasted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwas

Ian McKellen completely wasted in this stupid pathetic movie.

Aaron Eckhart? Well he has done some great movies - but I guess he accepted scripts hoping to make it to the very big league and didn't really pay attention to what shite he was putting his name to.

Is it a wonder the movie went straight to DVD and never was released in cinema halls?
I am not at all surprised.

The concept: A brilliant psychiatrist returns to a hospital where once his father was admitted for schizophrenia. His father had written one super great children's book about a kid finding justice for his banished father who is the King of a great kingdom.

This fantasy of the children's book is to blend with the work of the psychiatrist in this mental hospital.

The reality: A stupid bullshite movie full of cliched crappy characters and worse scenes and pathetic unconvincing acting.

I sympathise with the actors - they had nothing to work with in the first place - poorest of script and worse direction.

Everything looks so lame - and the way these patients are presented and the 2 leading actors/characters - the father/son - King/saviour - is totally pathetic and stupid.

Other wasted talent include Nick Nolte and Brittany Murphy.

It was neither a commercially nor critically acceptable movie.

There is complete lack of concern for the subject of mental illness and how such patients are to be portrayed. No insight into any characters nor the medical condition nor why the damn book is important to anyone.

There is so much that could have been done with that concept.

There are so many innovative ways mental illness has been blended into a great movie:
* Girl Interrupted
* Instinct
* One flew over the cuckoo's nest
* A beautiful mind

I would say even a film like Dark Knight with Heath Ledger as Joker is a better use of mental illness in a movie's primary storyline. And Aaron was great as the TwoFace villain another mentally affected guy in that movie.

Waste of time and producer's resources.

The film's name is ironical for the idiots who ruined this project.

* * * *

Movie Review: Species - The Awakening

2009-11-09T16:38:00.000+05:30

Species - The Awakening

If there is a worse movie in recent years then I have yet to know about it.

The first Species movie was brilliant piece of pulp scifi.

The second the lame sequel which should have killed the franchise.

Then came this piece of retard film-making which is worse than shooting your own horse and placing its decapitated head in your own bed - it not only ruins the whole concept and future of Species, but also makes you vomit at the stupidity that gets millions of dollars of investors in a professional place such as Hollywood.

Somebody tell director Nick Lyon to find himself a new vocation as a favour to himself instead of sharing his miserable lack of talent with fans of the original Species movie.

WHAT IS SPECIES AWAKENING ?

Complicated question - here is a simple answer:

ingredients: Species DNA premise, X-Men makeup, Matrix style upload of knowledge, leaps as seen in Spiderman, horror from The Omen, etc. etc. etc.

A hash of a million cult movies - with a choppy editing job - with no comprehensible script skill - with the worst of ham acting - forget predictability, it will shock you at its pedestrian entirety.

Phew! I am at a loss of words to describe the utter futility of attempting to watch this piece of shit float around and then jerk around, like a turd refusing to drown, fretting about frenetically and stinking up the surroundings with the disgust that makes you want to burn down the house for having noticed this pile of crap in your home.

On the plus side - the doll faced protagonist villain looks good for a few early moments - where she is whiter than Nicole Kidman and has her nose and facial appearance as well as hair. I think she may have risked ending her career before she could start. And maybe you will not notice this nonsense and concentrate on skin display instead.

What is the original beauty of Species - Natasha Henstridge - doing these days ? She was the best find to come out of a pulp movie in years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_-_The_Awakening

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Tidbits from 2write's daily conversational quotes

2009-10-27T16:22:00.003+05:30

Confucius say "Aaachhfuckyouooo !!!"

Here is my question, "Fuck You !!!"

Here is my advice, "Are you fuckin' crazy ???"

To be or not to be, is an irrelevant question. You are either with us or against us is senseless ranting. You want the truth, you can’t handle the truth, is an exaggeration. One small step for man, doesn’t put you on the moon. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thy neighbour couldn’t give a rat’s ass. Oh, East is East and West is West, and never get stoned drunk when in jetlag. Political correctness is tyranny with manners you fucking douche. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth kicks you in the balls for lying. I have a dream, but this California’s Humbodlt County makes me forget. God is dead, so are your grey cells by now. Dancing after dinner is silent poetry, farting is the side-effect. I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways to irritate my boss. A witty saying improves nothing about your stupor. An I for an I and you get Roman numeral II. Old jungle saying, don’t shit in a Phantom’s den. With great powers comes unwanted expectations of responsibility. Well done is better than well boasted. You are smarter than the average bear, which has IQ of 23. Any sufficiently advanced technology today is indistinguishable from last week’s iPod model or one released a week before that. It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are already in jail. The answer my friend is blowing gas. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the time you went away and then returned. Men are from Mars, Women wish they were on Venus instead. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, so go suck an egg. Elementary my Dear Dumbass! Do you feel lucky punk, blow on my dice then. So long and thanks for all the nights.

Book Review: Guns Of Navarone

2009-10-19T19:33:00.007+05:30

Novel: Guns of Navarone
Author: Alistair MacLean

Book Review - A lesson in adventure - Glory of the characters and the author - by Ujjwal Dey

Those guns are now very much part of our vocabulary, of our history, our popular culture. And this is the fictional novel that created it. It is so well written that you start to think of it as a historical fact rather than great fiction.

MacLean is a master at thrilling war adventures. He writes a page-turner masterpiece in a way of literary fiction writers. It is filled with danger and intrigue and great will of determined soldiers.

The glory is not just of these characters battling to bring down the Guns of Navarone but also of Alistair MacLean who made such an entertaining book which easily could find a worthy place in school and college libraries - right alongside the ancient classics. This is more than entertainment, it is a tutorial on writing a war novel with passion and courage infused with realistic drama and danger.

* Awesome action, deep into war zone from page one
* Realistic battle depictions, real people in real danger
* You would start to believe that the fictional Nazi guns of fictional Navarone were real - it is that good
* The details are blended into the story very well - the descriptions, the experience, the cruel land and worse sea.
* The scaling of that steep cliff face is most thrilling but that's just the beginning really of a gruesome thrilling adventure.
* The dialogue is very human - these special men with a special assignment are most special in their actions - but their words reveal more personality and character - especially the conversation between the injured Stevens with Capt Mallory and Andrea - nothing to worry, we are all scared
* Great humour from Corporal Miller - the explosions expert who can smile even if facing death
* Each character alive in spirit and displaying great grit and purpose in being here and now - each with a unique skill
* Fast paced thriller with each chapter pulling you in to the next with a gripping suspense
* Twists and turns of fate and nature and enemy wiliness
* Betrayal and luck and capture and courage - all affecting them but they keep moving forward and the story races past obstacles to survive by wit and human spirit - to save 1200 men on a remote island at siege from the Guns of Navarone

Just a brilliant read and it all happens in a matter of days, sleepless nights and in a few hours they will see if their blood and pain brings glory to the Allied cause in WWII. (The novel sadly out-of-print in USA, can you believe it?)

Superb war novel, even better as a thriller.

Wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_MacLean

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President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T21:06:00.009+05:30

US President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/

It is truly the evidence of the impact Obama has made outside America.

I totally am with it - him getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yes, the Nobel Prizes in each aspect are given always for accomplishments not for promises.

But no, he didn't get it for accomplishments nor for promises.

He is the GREAT HOPE OF AMERICA

Read why Nobel Committee gave him the award so soon into his Presidency.

He brings hope of a great future not just for America but beyond borders, beyond oceans to the rest of the world.

This is a testament to a single individual's efforts to bring the change he promised way back when he was another candidate for American Presidency.

So no accomplishments - just a wave of change !

President Obama has generated a wave of positivity to flow out of America, he has caused a surge to change the way we look at our world, to what is definitely possible and what he seeks to bring to everyone - more than peace he brings hope - and that is actually more valuable to many outside the American continent's borders, those who don't have the benefit to bicker about his charisma or his local policies - to see a man willing to make efforts and TO STAND ALONE IF HE HAS TO - to bring what he knows is possible to benefit the world.

Yes, it is too early for Obama. But, this award is to say he is welcome to implement what he has been "peddling" all along. This is to say "we believe you are the man for the job" to say "you have our complete support and understanding".

For me Obama is a Superstar for more than just the euphoria he brings wherever he sets foot.

If he could set his words to music he would be the best RockStar ever (LOL)

The privilege of Nobel Peace Prize has validated his motives and endeavours.

It has given President Obama a cape to fly - to now be a SUPERHERO !

* * * * * * * *

Just saw and heard his message on this prestigious award on CNN.

AWESOME ! ! !

At least no critic can deny the man has got class and holds the pulse of nations and generations.

Pretty awesome !

He accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in humility and said he accepts it on behalf of all leaders everywhere in the world who are making their contributions to bring the change, to give the hope - to be better

Best Wishes,
Ujjwal Dey
~stands for an ovation to President Obama~

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First Annual FFJ Anthology vol 01

2009-10-06T13:16:00.003+05:30

The first Annual Anthology of Freedom Fiction Journal is now available for sale online.

Click to Order

The book is 144 pages, of size 8.26" x 11.69", perfect binding, full-color exterior ink, white interior paper, black and white interior ink. Click on above image to enlarge the back and front cover images. Published in USA and UK.

Keep in mind the number of pages is 144 only because this publication uses A4 size pages. So there are 14 awesome short stories in here plus 2 exclusive interviews.

We have a lavish spread for you in this Anthology. The 14 short stories include Fiction from Joshua Allen, Howard Karlitz, Grady Yandell, Chris Castle, AD Dawson, Ilan Herman, Kai Verheijen and more. An interview with digital artist Uwe Jarling and one very detailed interview with critically acclaimed author Mark SaFranko.

Contents:
Fiction:

“Confessions Of A New York City Street Peddler” By Dr. Howard Karlitz
“Once Around The Block” by Chris Castle
“Last Haul” by Joshua Allen
"The Railroad" by Ujjwal Dey
"A Time To Reap" by Grady Yandell
“You Should Have Closed The Door” by A D Dawson
“The Run” by Inez L. Wilson
“Chronicles: The Watcher” by Kai Verheijen
“Carmen” by James Newman
"Highway To Hell" by Grady Yandell
“Curse And Counsel On Kell Island” by Martin Murphy
“Queen Of Buttons” by Chris Castle
"Ne Plus Ultra" by Ujjwal Dey
“The Package” by Ilan Herman

Non-Fiction:

Interview with Uwe Jarling (Digital Artist)
Interview with Mark SaFranko (Author)

A secure online shopping cart ensures a smooth transaction. Pay online for your order/s and select customised shipping. You can see a preview of the Anthology online as well.

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^^ get your copy of FFJ Anthology Print Edition today ^^

Friends Forever

2009-08-23T17:00:00.001+05:30

It is good to be human
It is good to break and be broken
It is good to mend and have hands that lend
It is good we can laugh but also we could cry
It is good for sorrow to remind us of pleasant goodbyes
It is good we sing, to speak our mind
It is good to experience the world within and outside
It is good for shoulders to bear thy burden, dead or alive
It is good for flowers to be in thy garden
It is good for sunshine, for rain and snow, that you are there to smile alone
It is good to be human and have a friendly human

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ZODIAC (2007) : Movie Review

2009-08-11T14:12:00.006+05:30

I was not really interested to see this movie, because we all know it is still an unsolved case. So for me it appeared to be a speculative assortment of gossip and trivia which led nowhere and felt like a real waste of time since the movie is 158 minutes long (plus the advertisement breaks on HBO) playing after 11 PM on a workweek. But I peeked in out of curiosity, not knowing who had directed it (Director of Seven and Fightclub, etc.).

I have to say I got hooked easily to stay awake till the end of the movie well past midnight.

I watched it then as a movie instead of a crime documentary.
It doesn't really matter that the story remains unresolved. And there are many characters which never seem obtrusive or complex.

It is a real thriller at a thrilling pace.
No blood and gore - yet horror of horrors through the implied scare and death and the hunt for the crazed serial killer known as "Zodiac".

The 3 main lead actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. are awesome in their roles. I looked up on how Director Fincher approached this project and all his hard work shows - it is clearly a good movie, well written and directed and acted (Digital Camera and As many as 70 takes for some scenes ).

The movie is based on 2 books on the Zodiac killer by cartoonist Robert Graysmith - who was soon out of cartooning job at the newspaper and deep into an obsession with finding the killer. Graysmith is now known only as a True-Crime Author. He later also penned a book on the unsolved case of the death of Hollywood star Bob Crane.

The author, the screenplay writer, the director - all of them were deeply into their own research for this movie. Interviews and paperwork and reading. The 2 male surviving victims of Zodiac were even Consultants on this Movie.

Fincher has said that - "All the President's Men" - was the style of movie he wanted to implement for the Zodiac movie.

All this effort truly shows in the movie, in the tension and pace and craziness and confusion and intense clarity with the lack of substantial evidence to incriminate in a court of law.

Personally, based solely on the book, I would say the police's prime suspect "Arthur Leigh Allen" surely had not done all this alone (if he indeed was the killer) - most certainly he had help from at least 2 friends (fellow psychos/ perverts/ whatever).

It does seem that apart from Darlene murder, the rest of the murders seem to lack any personal (or professional, as in paid hitman) motive. He killed because he could and probably because as the Zodiac claimed in his letters - he enjoyed it - and also he believed he needed to do it (if the mental illness aspect is included). Well, yes not all killers are insane. A human doesn't need to be insane to kill another human. Most of the killers and murderers do it in planned or conscious effort.

Anyways -
1. was this a grand way by one or more guys to prove they can get away with murder - just have fun with a media circus and spooking the police force in various jurisdictions ?

2. was this an act of a mentally ill person? Arthur Leigh Allen does seem to fit that bill. He was also arrested on charges of molesting a female student.

3. was this just random murders with some non-criminal nut sending letters to newspapers to create "Zodiac" - similar to how some idiots make prank calls for "bomb" hoaxes ?

Whatever it is Leigh Allen seemed a good candidate who surely had a significant part of the crimes. He is also tested to have been above average intelligence, with an I.Q. of 137, and was allowed to skip three grades. Then the sexual perversion charges. His own family relatives having poor opinion of him. The things the police found in Leigh's trailor when they searched it. The various other circumstantial evidence when the police first interviewed him. Leigh was one of thousands of suspects interviewed by cop Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) to have written a letter to Toschi offering help - it was typewritten. So many things.

Yet, no real hard evidence.

1. Fingerprints - no match
2. Handwriting - no match - tested for the ambidextrous suggestion
3. DNA test - done many many years later and 10 years after the death of Leigh - and the poorly preserved evidence ensured there was no match on DNA test.

The author Graysmith's claim of the lack of letters and blank phone calls when Leigh was in prison, under scrutiny and when Leigh died also is very much suspect but nothing a policeman could use actually.

Ah! Watch the movie - and be ready to be obsessed with the contagious passion of these investigators.

Much appreciation for Fincher for staying determined to offer an investigative scrutiny and never glamourising the Zodiac killer. Fincher had said that "he didn't want to make a movie which killers would want to collect/watch". There is also a funny mention of the Dirty Harry movie which was based on Zodiac murders at the time. The Zodiac killer had mentioned in letters that he wanted to see movies made on him and who plays him next in a movie based on his crimes.

Fincher's movie "Zodiac" did make profit but was outclassed at the box office first by WILD HOGS (awesome movie yes) and then by 300 in the second week. The movie made more money outside USA than in USA. American audiences seemed to have been not in the mood for the analysis and narration presented. Personally I think Fincher surpassed - "All the President's Men" - even if we don't know the actual killer/culprit.

Tough luck Fincher - but the DIRECTOR's CUT DVD seems to be the best bet - looks very promising and the official website offers downloads (and upgrades) - to give you more than you spend on it.

http://www.zodiacmovie.com/

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Bridge to Terabithia (2007 film): Movie Review

2009-08-10T11:58:00.005+05:30

Easily among the best children's movie from recent years. Probably better than most children's movies since a long time.

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

Based on a critically acclaimed Novel of the same name - this movie adaptation made 30 years after the release of the novel - lives up to the quality of the novel.

Wiki says: Screenwriter David Paterson is author Katherine Paterson's son, and the novel is based on parts of his childhood. When he asked his mother if he could write a screenplay of the novel, she agreed because of his ability as a playwright.

So there was the personal touch, which probably breathed much life into a simple kid's story to make it into an immensely moving tale about life as a child with little comforts but great happiness and friendships.

This one tops in both adaptation of a children's story and as among the best children's stories.

The movie stays with the spirit of the book, though it is not the same.

There are quite a few things different - but the plot and premise stay the same.

Director Csupó noted that the two main characters are a little bit older in the film than they are in the book. Csupó reasons that the movie "deals with so many issues including friendship, and maybe first innocent love, things like that", so it "made more sense" to make the characters older.

So, while the author's son had experienced similar loss when he was 8 years old and the novel is indeed dedicated by the mother to her son - the movie shows us young school teenagers who are getting into their own - finding others and themselves and discovering the world around them - and more importantly the possibilities of love and life.

This movie may be too much for anyone younger than 12 to appreciate or understand its suggestions. But nevertheless it is a story for youth. It is meant for children so as to give them the benefit of these 2 young adventurers, who explored self and society and the immense joy of friendships.

Adults would also enjoy the movie very much as this isn't your typical Walt Disney movie, even though Disney did make it and made it well.

Special effects never get in your way and the world you experience is closer to home than you would think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_to_Terabithia_(2007_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_to_Terabithia_(novel)

The original school and the original friend

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Book Review: James Bond series by Ian Fleming (part 1)

2009-06-10T11:21:00.004+05:30

CASINO ROYALE by Ian Fleming

Very disappointed. It's a pathetic attempt at genre fiction/ pulp fiction.

Well I started with the very first book and the only one of Fleming I can claim to have read. So maybe it gets better as the James Bond series of novels of his progresses.

I read online that this first novel was rejected by publishers. The only reason it ever got published was through influence of Fleming's brother who was an established figure. I am not surprised.

This book would never get published otherwise.

I mean I have read cheap 30 pence paperback novels which were more thrilling to read than this one.

I would say Fleming's penpal Raymond Chandler is million times better at genre fiction. But then I have to read the later novels of Fleming to see if this series is really the legend that it is claimed to be.

This JAMES BOND is nothing compared to the tough Philip Marlowe or even the predecessor Sam Spade detective fiction.

In espionage, this pales in comparision to the Bourne series of Robert Ludlum which is a masterpiece when compared to CASINO ROYALE.

Any novel by Alistair MacLean would be highly recommended over Casino Royale.

But I will persist and go through the James Bond series of novels to see if it improves and gets better.

I am saddened deeply that the brilliant MATT HELM series by Donald Hamilton is out of print. Matt Helm is incredibly better espionage fiction than Casino Royale.

So is the James Bond legend only because of the Movie franchise? I would say yes even with just one novel of Fleming read so far by me. It has to be the movies and Sir Sean and the writers, stuntmen, technicians, music, that made James Bond into a cult icon and cultural legend.

REVIEW:
The names of the chapters in Casino Royale are unimaginative and tedious. Fleming overuses the word "directly" as well. The dialogue is nowhere close to the witty one-liners we recognise from the movie versions. Bond is very ordinary here. The chapters don't make you curious enough to go on to the next chapter. The action seems realistic but not thrilling enough to call it a Bond adventure.

Comparision with the movie: Daniel Craig certainly made a great version of this story, his thrilling debut as Bond. Many differences with the novel. Unlike in the movie, in the novel the unknown source of the drink at the Casino table is not poison and Bond drinks and plays on. Also Vesper Lynd is not that angel as portrayed in the movie. She doesn't deserve the love as per the novel. Also there is a long list of chapters after the win at the casino and after the torture of Bond - and all of it deals with his emotions for Vesper. Damn! This could have been published by MILLS AND BOONS if it had a happy ending. Also, the car chase and accident of Bond is different in the novel.

Anyways, not to give the plot away, but I don't regret having read the novel. It does give its insights.

Ian Fleming was indeed a spy and active during World War II. But I guess experience doesn't ensure literary merit.

I would say Graham Greene novels on espionage are way better than any of the ones by professional spies. A writer needs to know how to make the story entertaining and intriguing and a page-turner - and it seems professional spies, though giving us some good insights into their lives and actions - fail to make it into a classy genre fiction adventure.

But let's see how it changes or improves!

I remember reading in my childhood an adventure of Nick Carter Killmaster from AXE organisation which my mind feebly recalls as certainly better than Casino Royale, LOLz

RECOMMENDATIONS for reading something other than BOND Novels of Ian Fleming:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Hamilton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_MacLean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Carter-Kill master

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LIVE AND LET DIE by Ian Fleming

So Fleming rescues the series with this second book on James Bond. The first one (Casino Royale) had its moments of excitement but compared to the second one, it was pathetic.

"Live And Let Die" is an awesome adventure. Again SMERSH raises its communist head, this time in USA. But the Russian angle is not much explored. What Mr. B.I.G. does for Russia remains unclear except for hints about his vast obedient army of blue-collar workers.

Mr. BIG is a gigantic black man who uses the inherent fear of Voodoo among the blacks to pretend to be the Zombie of the evil Baron Samedi (Prince of Darkness and ruler of the dead). He is actually a scholarly man with great intelligence, tact, skills and creativity.

There is Florida as the entry point for smuggled gold and Jamaica as the origin.

Thrown in is a gorgeous "corker" of a damsel named Solitaire who seems to know what she wants. And CIA agent Felix Leiter who we enjoyed in the first book returns as a liaison between FBI and MI6. Many other wonderful characters, especially the black gangsters Tee Hee Johnson and The Robber. Friends include the Cayman islander and Bond's trainer/factotum named Quarrel.

The pirate Bloody Morgan or rather Sir Henry Morgan plays an important role - the long dead pirate's treasure being the point of investigation.

This book is a real page-turner. The descriptions of Voodoo and that of the scenery in New York, Florida and Jamaica bring everything to life. The adventure in the corals and the damned voracious barracuda are also exciting.

So I am happy to say, the series got a lot lot better right away with the second novel.

Comparision with the movie:
There are crucial differences with the movie version starring Sir Roger Moore as Bond. In the movie Mr B.I.G. is revealed to be a Prime Minister of a Caribbean island who also is a New York gangster. Baron Samedi is a different person, a henchmen in the movie. However in the novel Mr BIG is a legitimate businessman whose criminal activities remain to be proven and he is "Baron Samedi".

Also the death of Tee Hee Johnson happens simply in the book. There are no crocodiles in the novel. Instead there are sharks and barracudas and giant squid and poisonous sea creatures. So the daring stunt performed in the movie is completely absent - no crocodile farm - instead the book shows a "worm-and-bait factory" which has exotic fish used for smuggling gold.

So no unlike the movie, Mr BIG is not attempting any Voodoo sacrifice with dances and rituals in the novel version - though he does offer the flesh of Bond and Solitaire to the "sharks and barracudas" who play important symbolic roles in Voodoo - a myth which the locals believe and fear.

Anyways, the book is much different but with similar plot lines and characters. I would say the book is more cruel and more realistic than the movie version.

Very thrilling and I look forward to the other books in the series.

Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)

2009-06-07T21:56:00.003+05:30

AWESOME ! ! !

Well the Producer-Multiplex strike is over.
But Angels&Demons won't be played at multiplexes.

Anyways, STAR TREK 2009 is awesome

And the young James T Kirk is great and so is Spock and all the other original characters.

I did like Mission Impossible 3 better than the first 2 and this new movie by JJ Abrams is very well done job to revive the franchise.

Seeing how disappointing the Star Wars revival was - this seems like God's hand at a Cosmic orgasm of sci-fi nerds.

Most thrilling was the awesome attempt to prevent the mining drill from doing its job at planet Vulcan by Kirk and Sulu and ensuing action.

THIS IS edge-of-the-seat entertainer. The second-half of the movie post-intermission surpasses the thrills and surprises of the first half.

Anyone who has ever liked a singular episode of the original Star Trek series just ought to get their butt into the cinema hall and watch this.

What was most brilliant about the movie is the rebooted version of the background of all these memorable characters. And to top it, each one has an unforgettable introduction when they are presented to us on screen - young and able.

Actually in all interviews JJ Abrams had said that he wanted to make a good movie with a good story instead of the previous movies which were made with the fans being given priority.

So he decided to make a movie like any Hollywood movie - for the masses instead of a bunch of Trekkie fans.

JJ Abrams claims he is not a fan of the original series (and perhaps not a Trekkie).

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20090522TDY12001.htm

"If I expect an audience of non-Star Trek fans--which is the majority of the moviegoing public--to go, they need to see something that is sort of surprising to them," Abrams, himself an admitted nonfan, told The Daily Yomiuri in an exclusive interview during a recent promotional trip to Tokyo. "I thought, well, that's what I was going through as the potential director for the movie, and maybe that's why I should direct it. Instead of having some huge Star Trek fan direct it and have something more myopic...[I said] 'Screw that, start over.'"

Also, I have to say it is not entirely surprising that the recognisable names in the movie - JJ Abrams and Eric Bana - should distance themselves from the original Star Trek and its "baggage".

Eric Bana had claimed he had watched the original series as a kid but didn't revisit it nor catch up on Romulans or the characters as in the original series.

He said he improvised on his Romulan character and how he speaks, behaves etc. He also never wanted to be in a franchise and the only reason he did the movie was because it was a one-off gig and because the script was great.

The reason it is not surprising is that it firmly goes with their plan of "rebooting" the Star Trek franchise.
To cast away shackles of fan-affection and legacy and to create a dynamic modern interpretation of it.
So even though we see and hear the known names of Kirk, Spock and the rest of the famous gang - we really are seeing a whole new "characterisation".

"Live long and prosper" dear Star Trek !!!

Review: James Bond movie series (part 4)

2009-05-30T11:56:00.001+05:30

Review: James Bond movie series, part 4
By Ujjwal Dey

LIVE AND LET DIE

Wow! Now that’s the way to introduce a new star as James Bond. This movie is magnificent. The perfect launch vehicle any actor would want when getting into a successful franchise.

Sir Roger Moore makes a thrilling, action-packed debut as 007.

This was the first Bond movie to have a rock song as the title song. Performed by Paul McCartney (The Beatles), the song “Live and let die” is easily among the most popular and recognised songs from any Bond movie. The music of this song is thrilling as we imagine what may come ahead.

Also, I believe this movie started the Bond movie trend of having James Bond do things that make him destroy private, public and all other property around him, as he executes his mission; a walking demolition man, blasting away with gunshots and explosions all around.

This Bond movie also for the first time does not deal with a large international enemy with hopes of world domination. The enemy is a relatively tamer gang of drug smugglers who are as reckless with their killing as the man with the license to kill.

It features the first black Bond girl as well, a double agent.

Thrilling scenes include the awesome crocodile farm from which Bond escapes. The stunt was performed by the man who owns this real farm, who suggested that escape to the filmmakers. This man had a sign out front “Trespassers will be eaten” and the filmmakers went ahead and contacted him only to be so impressed as to use it in the movie and use the man’s name as the name of the villain – “Kananga”.

Another great sequence is the speed boat chase which is quite lengthy but you will have your eyes on the screen for every second of it. The jump over the bayou and over the Sheriff’s car was so good that it accidentally made a Guinness World Record with 110 feet cleared.

Then there is Bond running off by using an ancient double-decker bus.

The airplane lesson he gives, using the flying machine to give the bad guys a run around the hangar is impressive as well.

So many great scenes – and those are just the action sequences.

Frankly I got a cultural shock from this one – but having seen how Steven Spielberg has been racist and ridiculous in his depiction of India and people of India in his movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, I know better than to judge any culture by some fiction movie/ book.

Critics today see this movie as classic case of blaxploitation. The filmmakers used the idea of black gangsters as villains at the time due to the Black Panthers being in the news in those years. Bond movies have always included some current news for making their adventures sound real – refer review of “You Only Live Twice” on that.

Anyway, the black actors do a marvellous job.

Geoffrey Holder who is a genius of sorts with success in art, theatre, writing, choreography, singing, dancing, costume designing, etc. stars as “Baron Samedi” – the evil voodoo man for Dr. Kananga. His screen presence is awesome and he stands an impressive 6’6” (200 centimetres). He also did the choreography for “Live and let die” which I seemed to enjoy more than many of the action sequences. The voodoo dances and the funeral dance are so perfectly done that you would believe the whole fictional occult business. And he just doesn’t die, even with Bond apparently having blown the guy’s skull off with a clean shot.

Dr. Kananga is also played well, a corrupt Caribbean Prime Minister who is revealed to have more than a casual connection to Mr. Big. The dictator Dr. Kananga has fields of heroin poppies and a lab on his island state and he has Mr. Big distributing the drugs, 2 tons of it for free. The connection between these 2 intriguing villains is revealed eventually to James Bond (and to you of course).

So no SPECTRE or any great Cold War villain here. But the witch doctor and the dictator and his main henchman “Tee Hee Johnson” (with a metal hand), are doing as much damage. Three agents dead without a trace. Bond is dealing with more than just crime; he is dealing with the supernatural.

The movie introduces Jane Seymour as the virgin high priestess named "Solitaire", who is used by Dr. Kananga to predict the future for his benefit. She is easily among the most beautiful Bond girls ever in any movie.

So, will Dr. Kananga have his monopoly on drug market through free dump of 2 tons of heroin? What do the tarot cards have in store for Bond, or for “Solitaire”?

This one is actually a more thrilling adventure and a better blockbluster debut as James Bond than even Sir Sean Connery’s debut in “Dr. No”.

Comparisons: I would say Sean Connery looks like a true spy, with his brutish nature masked with wit and charm.

Roger Moore on the other hand is more suave. He has the casual style of fun quips and polished actions.

From the latter lot of actors to play Bond, I would say Daniel Craig takes after Sean Connery – both having a very similar personality as James Bond.

Pierce Brosnan seems to take after Roger Moore and surpasses Moore in the smart, charming, suited action hero, demolition man, girl-magnet, but not a muscular hunk – type of James Bond; a perfect “gentleman”.

So, Roger Moore certainly deserved the role of 007 after Sean Connery refused to reprise the role. Moore is tall, handsome and has that wonderful voice and diction which is required since Bond talks not just with his fists but also with his sharp tongue.

Very good recovery of the franchise after their main man Connery quit.

Jeremy Brett was also considered for the role of James Bond for this film and I will forever remain curious as to how he would have been as 007. Of course there has never been as great a Sherlock Holmes as played by Brett and I am sure he would have perfected Bond’s character as well.

* * * * * * * *

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Another interesting villain, again not dealing with large villainous organisations. This one is not a great follow-up to “Live and let die” but that was always hard to do. An entertaining movie, again with some good action and Roger Moore in his element as a suave gentleman with lot of style.

This was the fourth and final Bond film to be directed by Guy Hamilton.

The best stunt was of course Bond racing his car over a broken ramp to have the car do a 360 degrees spin in midair and land on its wheels on the other side of the broken bridge. This stunt was copyrighted by EON Productions and done after having chanced upon a physics simulation by Cornell University.

Apart from the car chase there is also a small chase on the motor boats in the waterways of the East.

“Sheriff J.W. Pepper” of “Live and let die” returns in this movie as a tourist only to be in the same car as James Bond. Good fun!

Someone has dared to message MI6 with an open threat to kill James Bond. A golden bullet has arrived with the number 007 on it along with the fingerprints of “Scaramanga”. Apparently the best for-hire hitman has his eyes on Bond. No one has ever seen Scaramanga, the man who uses a golden bullet for his targets. And he only ever needs one bullet to make his kill.

So Bond is withdrawn from the current assignment of recovering a device that harnesses the power of the sun which would solve the world’s energy crisis.

But it seems Scaramanga has his eyes on the device and Bond has walked into his scheme to sell it to the highest bidder.

This nuisance of 007 is dealt with by using the goons of Scaramanga’s associate, a wealthy businessman named Hai Fat of Thailand. Then the businessman tries his entire school of martial arts to knock off Bond. But it seems Bond with his local contact manages to survive this assault.

Scaramanga is played well by Cristopher Lee, a successful actor who has played prominent villainous roles in “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings trilogy” later and previously known for his Dracula roles. At 6 feet 5 inches, he is among the tallest actors and has been around for a long time.

Also, Scaramanga is a well-defined character. Unlike other Bond villains, here we really get to know a lot about how he has become “The Man with a Golden Gun”. We get to know his childhood influence and we get to know how he enjoys killing and using his gun. A good psychological character sketch as can be possible in an action movie.

Then of course there is Scaramanga’s mistress who plays a key role and James Bond of course is admired by both, the girl and her villainous master, for his ability to execute and to survive.

So while she wants something from Bond, Scaramanga himself wants Bond as the perfect adversary – a challenge that needs to be conquered to have his own huge reputation expanded to even greater heights. So we see a duel – “pistols at dawn” which Scaramanga calls “a duel between titans” – and Bond and Scaramanga hunt each other on the latter’s island. The lackey of Scaramanga, is the midget named “Nick Nack” who is much a villain as any other minion as seen in previous Bond movies.

Good comic relief comes in the form of “Mary Goodnight” who is the inept clumsy assistant assigned to Bond in the Far East. She does seem useful at times, but Bond knows what she is good for of course (wink, wink). It would also have been good to find out more about "Chew Me", the cameo Bond girl at the Thai businessman's mansion.

Overall a good entertaining movie.

* * * * * * * *

To Be Continued... ...

Review: James Bond movie series (part 3)

2009-05-29T14:33:00.003+05:30

Review: James Bond movie series, part 3
By Ujjwal Dey

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

This one shows us the face of Blofeld, the kingpin of SPECTRE, for the first time in a Bond movie. After this different actors have played Blofeld but this one played by Donald Pleasence is my favourite look followed by Telly Savalas in Lazenby starrer “On Her Majest’s Secret Service”. Blofeld’s style and personality is also seen well in “You Only Live Twice” with his Nehru suit and bald head.

The movie engages us with another diabolical scheme by SPECTRE. They are hijacking American and Russian spacecrafts including the onboard astronauts while they are in space. The visuals are beautiful along with the background music to these scenes.

The movie opens with the death of James Bond. Now that the world considers him dead, Bond is free to operate and infiltrate with more daring adventures.

Shot in Japan, the adventure involves a female Japanese spy helping Bond and the Japanese secret service leader "Tiger" Tanaka provides all that is needed to end SPECTRE’s international outer-space sabotage. There is also the tiny helicopter with missiles and machine-guns which Bond uses for reconnaissance and succeeds with during an aerial dog-fight.

SPECTRE has employed a top Japanese technology company for executing their spacecraft hijacks.

The most brilliant and astounding part of this movie is the huge set to present us with Blofeld’s underground volcano lair. This is complete with rocket shuttle, helipad, attack helicopter, monorail, automated defence guns and command center.

This is a movie dealing with space warfare at a time when there was actual space warfare raging silently between 2 superpowers.

Bond movies have always been timely with commentary on current world situations.

Remember Pierce Brosnan in "Tomorrow Never Dies" ? That was right when Rupert Murdoch was buying everything and every media and he was literally considered evil for his influence on world opinion and on such a large section of world population. Anyway that movie had a different plot than Murdoch empire’s business strategy (more entertaining ?!?).

Lame things were: The Japanese wedding of James Bond. And then Bond learning to be a Ninja in 2 days.

It is a thrilling, entertaining movie. Way better than “Thunderball”.

* * * * * * * *

ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

George Lazenby redefines crap. He is so shitty as James Bond that MI6 should take action against the producers of this movie for selecting such a pathetic guy to represent Her Majesty’s staff in a movie.

Lousy Lazenby has no screen presence, no personality, no power in dialogue delivery and does have an ugly double chin.

The movie has a very lame premise of Bond agreeing to an Italian Mafia Don’s demand of marrying the Don's daughter in exchange for information on Spectre kingpin, Blofeld.

That's not even the boring part. Then Bond sets about romancing and dining and driving the Don's daughter. LOLz Yes, EON Productions made this stupid movie - believe it.

More boring things come along and Bond is also seen in the Scottish kilt as a nerdy genealogist and then he gladly drops it to the floor for banging 2 different women in the same night within minutes of each other in different rooms in the same building. (OK, I do admire that stamina and zest.)

At the scene after Bond’s escape from Blofeld, when he is at the skating rink, Lazenby looks scared shitless and all jittery.

The ugly shirts and other clothes that Lazenby wears in this movie further makes him a target of ridicule and would make you wish that the polished Blofeld succeeds in pounding Bond if not kill him for the fashion choice.

Weirdly it is agreed that this lengthy slow paced movie follows the Ian Fleming novel (on which it is based) closer than any other Bond movie.

The various Blofeld actors over the years

Good Things: However the action in this movie is awesome.

All the hand-to-hand and other car/ ski action in this movie is edge of the seat entertainment. Just don't try and remember Lazenby is starring as Bond and you will enjoy this movie. Actually Lazenby works as an action hero. He is young and fit enough and the direction of the executed fight scenes are thrilling to watch.

Also we see the false family shield of Bond in this movie which declares "The World Is Not Enough" which of course is also the title of another Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan. This is the only Bond movie so far to have been set and filmed entirely in Europe.

The climax to OHMSS is pretty awesome but then we see Bond getting married and then on there is a very pathetic lame-ass ending to a Bond movie.

So there! I hate Lazenby as Bond and his agent who is either stupid or very smart told Lazenby to get out of the 7 movie contract with EON Productions, since as per the agent, Bond movies were out of style in the coming 1970s.

Let's thank and say a silent prayer for the mercy upon us by Lazenby's agent.

I have so many favourite Australian actors. But Lazenby who was only an Australian model appearing in commercials didn't deserve to fill in Sir Sean Connery's shoes.

But I guess staying true to the novel in any adaptation (not just James Bond novels) doesn’t always work in cinema. It is a good action showcase but not exclusively an action movie.

* * * * * * * *

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

A comeback of Sir Sean Connery as James Bond. A comeback for the movies on Bond. This one is better than Connery's preceding 2 Bond movies, namely, "Thunderball" and "You Only Live Twice".

So new ranking for Connery's Bond (with EON Productions):
1. From Russia With Love
2. Goldfinger
3. both "Diamonds are Forever" and "Dr. No"

* "You Only Live Twice"
* Thunderball is still the worst of his of course.

The actor playing Spectre kingpin, Blofeld is definitely the worst in this one so far into the series.

The opening scene is unique in this one, Bond face-to-face with Blofeld.

Then comes the best Bond song from any of the movies I have seen - "Diamonds are forever" sung by Shirley Bassey. Trivia says that the composer John Barry told her to imagine she is singing about a penis while singing this song. This is definitely the best song for a Bond movie.

Then on the adventure is gripping and time flies as you sit back and see Bond in action.

There is also a gay couple who work for Blofeld as assassins and they have some cheesy witty lines of dialogue too.

The girls are awesome and the action, whether in California or in bright Las Vegas, is really a spellbinding masterpiece in entertainment.

The South African diamonds are being smuggled and it is suspected that someone is stockpiling it for villainous intentions. Bond is assigned to the case and he walks into the racket. Enemies attempt to cremate him alive and then bury him alive, but Bond survives and gets to the surface of the scheme. The diamonds will be used to empower a huge laser that can destroy any military installation.

I really enjoyed this one, maybe more so because I saw it right after the lousy Lazenby movie.

Connery's age seems to show on his face and upper body but he still is more charming than ever, than any other Bond playing actor.

Connery had refused to play Bond again after the fifth movie and the producers lured him with an astronomical £1.2 million, plus they agreed to backing 2 movies of Connery's choice. (That is like more than USD 20 m now)

Money well spent I say!

* * * * * * * *

To Be Continued... ...

Review: James Bond movie series (part 2)

2009-05-28T12:34:00.001+05:30

Review: James Bond movie series, part 2
By Ujjwal Dey

GOLDFINGER

This is my second favourite starring Sean Connery. This was a very well received movie at the box office as well as with critics. It definitely sets the tone for the future movies. Gadgets were not Bond’s tools-of-trade until this movie. And we see him in the Aston Martin for the first time, which was actually selected simply because it was the latest sports car of that time. Of course now Aston Martin is synonymous with Bond movies. Interesting trivia is that lasers as seen in the movie didn’t exist when Ian Fleming wrote the novel on which this movie is based upon.

Shirley Bassey sang the popular theme song and of course she went on to sing 2 more. She is the only singer to have scored for more than one Bond movie. Her powerful voice is the best in Bond songs comparable only with Tina Turner in the movie “Goldeneye”. But the “Goldfinger” song is not my favourite from Shirley Bassey.

“Goldfinger” is the first Bond movie to win an Oscar award (category: Best Effects, Sound Effects).

Bond is to keep an eye on the rich Auric Goldfinger. Soon he learns that the mission is to find out how Goldfinger smuggles gold around the world.

But the plot is a lot deeper. Bond realises a scheme called “Operation Grand Slam”. Well a couple of girls die around Bond and Bond himself is strapped on to a table, ready to be sliced by Goldfinger’s laser.

Here comes the most famous dialogue by any villain in Bond movies:

Goldfinger: The purpose of our two encounters is now very clear to me. I do not intend to be distracted by another. Good night, Mr Bond.
James Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: No, Mr Bond! I expect you to die!

This last line is delivered extremely well and with a tone that denotes seriousness and bluntness of Goldfinger’s mindset.

So the thrilling finale comes about with the entire Fort Knox and its security to be targeted by Goldfinger. He has the help of ace pilot Pussy Galore and her Flying Circus crew. For Goldfinger it’s just a bank like any other, only bigger and better protected. A crime to surpass all crimes.

Will James Bond stop this scheme in progress? Also thrown in is a nuclear bomb for finally killing Bond along with the usual “benefits” of an exploding nuke.

What is “Operation Grand Slam”? Find out for yourself.

* * * * * * * *

THUNDERBALL

The worst of the movies where Sean Connery plays James Bond.

The plot revolves around SPECTRE stealing a NATO bomber jet with 2 nuclear bombs on it. Bond and all other double 0s are on the case but Bond has a lead that others don’t. So he sets about chasing the skirt he saw earlier to reach the lavish residence of Operative Number 2. The swimming pool of sharks looks impressive but isn’t used very well actually. The majority of the movie budget went around the lavish undersea shooting and photography.

In “Thunderball”, the opening scene was the worst I ever saw and the stupid jetpack escape was pathetic (Worse than Pierce Brosnan's disappearing car). Then later he gets shot and he is always alright after a bit of dramatic limping, leaving a blood trail; and in the morning he is like the bullet never entered his leg ?!?

The girl dying was somewhat confusing - too many girls and it took some time to make sense of who is what and with whom.

In the underwater battle toward the end, the US Coast Guard troopers seem lame compared to the bad guys. And they need to get rescued by the one man army – James Bond.

The detached yacht of the SPECTRE operative “Number 2” has a nuclear bomb and the Navy blows it up - nothing happens.

Bond crashes the remaining capsule of the yacht and it blows up with the other nuclear bomb and nothing happens.

Apparently the scientific minded guy working for “Number 2”, who saved the Bond girl Domino, had fixed the damn nuclear bombs to never blow ?!?

And the idiot scientific guy had saved Domino. Then Bond saves her along with the same guy. Then in the rescue boat only Domino and Bond climb aboard and the dude who saved the day - Mr. Scientific is nowhere to be seen. And then the couple are grabbed into the air by a passing jet.

Phew! Reminded me of some Bollywood movies with lack of consistency.

Actually it might just be that the Censor Board in India chopped off some crucial scenes and I am blabbering here declaring “Thunderball” as poor cinema.

* * * * * * * *

To Be Continued... ...

Review: James Bond movie series (part 1)

2009-05-27T09:57:00.007+05:30

Review: James Bond movie series, part 1
By Ujjwal Dey

So as you know I scour the stores of Mumbai for bargains in books and movies. So here I was seeing a whole range of awesome cinema going at Rs 99 each. Apparently Excel Home Videos were to discontinue making VCDs and market DVDs exclusively. So here I stared into all the Bond movies going at Rs. 99 each. First I bought only those starring Sir Sean Connery as Bond. But next day I was there again buying everything else including the ones starring lousy Lazenby and TimidDalton, LOLz. The only ones I couldn’t find were the 2 new ones starring Daniel Craig and the Pierce Brosnan adventures “Tomorrow never Dies” and “Die Another Day”.

So I have seen the first 7, so time to jot down my ramblings for your benefit. Keep in mind that all these movies have been censored by the Censor Board of India and most of those early Bond movies had received “A” rating (Adults Only) which is still used today. I don’t think there has ever been nudity or explicit vulgarity in the Bond series of movies and hence the rating only denotes violent content. Either ways I don’t think I have missed anything of much importance in these censored versions.

That’s life in India. You pay the taxes and the entertainment taxes and the retail price and the VAT and then you don’t get the complete product/service. Is it a wonder that majority of Indians prefer pirated movies?

Here is my new Bond ranking:
1. Sir Sean Connery
2. Daniel Craig
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. Roger Moore

*. Anyone else

The ranking is not just for the actor's potrayal, personality, style and screen presence. But also for the overall movie itself and how good it is, how timeless it feels, and how much recreation value they have.

I love Pierce Brosnan and wonder why he is not doing some cool movies like "Tailor of Panama", "The Matador", "The Thomas Crown Affair", etc.

Apart from my main man BRUCE CAMPBELL http://www.bruce-campbell.com/ - I think it is Pierce Brosnan who has this complete mix of charm, wit, machismo, style, personality, physique.

On with the show then...

* * * * * * * *

DR. NO
The first movie and the introduction of Sean Connery as James Bond. Everyone delights in the beach scene where the girl walks out of the sea in a bikini wearing a knife.

Well there is a lot more to this wonderful movie.

Firstly this movie has no vocals in the song for the opening credits. It plays the universally recognised “James Bond theme” the instrumental tune by Monty Norman which has been used ever since for signifying that Bond is in action.

The music of this film is the most beautiful soundtrack compared to any of the Bond movies I have seen so far (the first 7).

Wonderful Calypso tunes make you feel at home in Jamaica as Bond goes through investigating the murders of British operatives. Songs include "Three Blind Mice", "Jump Up" and of course "Underneath the Mango Tree" which was famously sung by Diana Coupland.

So there is a mysterious island here near Jamaica, owned privately, and people who get too close, die! The survey shows nothing illegal is going on. But operatives have been killed. So Bond goes through the ordeal of getting information, surviving assassination attempts and landing on the island.

The action really gets going in the second half when Bond is on the island and battling it out to destroy Dr. Julius No’s operations of disrupting American rocket launches. The car chase before that is neat as well. SPECTRE is introduced in this movie and apparently Dr. No is working for them. The evil organisation has the usual world dominance plan. They work as hired guns of course but with the aim of getting superpowers to fight each other so that SPECTRE can take over when the nations have weakened.

Of course Ursula Andress in her role as the Bond girl "Honey Ryder" is still considered the best one Bond snagged.

Overall a great start to the series.

* * * * * * * *

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

This is the best Bond movie starring Sean Connery that I have seen. It may also be my favourite of all Bond movies but I will wait till I go through the entire series.

So SPECTRE has a chess grandmaster scheming a plot to destroy Bond specifically. This is also a revenge for the death of Dr. No and so the bait is laid. A supposed Soviet defector wants to pass on the prized cypher called ‘Lektor’ to the British but will give it only to James Bond. This Soviet defector is played by gorgeous Daniela Bianchi. She is ordered to love James Bond by her Russian boss who is actually working for SPECTRE. So the girl pretends and Bond seduces and she actually becomes (like all Bond girls) completely devoted to James Bond.

But that’s just the back story. The main action is getting the cypher from the Soviet consulate in Istanbul. Also a great character is Kerim Bey who helps Bond in Istanbul.

The favourite scene for me was the music along with the action at the gypsy settlement. The espionage displayed in this movie is also very good. The Orient Express scenes are thrilling as well. The fight in the train compartment is quite well done. Then there is the helicopter chasing Bond’s car and then chasing Bond who is on foot.

Very good follow up by EON Productions and Sir Sean Connery.

To Be Continued... ...

The Trip: My Logs at Royal Enfield website

2009-05-18T16:11:00.004+05:30

Hello Riders and geeks,

All my various trip logs that were published at Royal Enfield website listed here. You can also find them at my Enfield number plate http://www.royalenfield.com/udey

My published Trip Logs at Royal Enfield website:

Independence Ride: Trimbakeshwar http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/independenceridetrambakeshwar.aspx

Alibaug-Mandwa-Murud Janjira http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/bombaybikersgotojanjeera.aspx

Stairway to heaven: Harihareshwar http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/stairwaytoheaven.aspx

Iron butt on iron engines: Ganpatipule http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/ironbuttonironengines.aspx

Someshwar-Shirdi-Hanuman Ghat http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/someshwarshirdihanumanghat.aspx

Kamshet Death Trap Ride http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/kamshetdeathtrapride.aspx

Malshej Midnight Masti Ride http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/malshejmidnightmastiride.aspx

Matheran Midnight to Sunset http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/matheranmidnighttosunset.aspx

Wild Chinchoti Run http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/wild_run.aspx

Midnight Mahabaleshwar http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/midnight-mahabaleshwar.aspx

Because it's Goa http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/because-its-goa.aspx

So ride on !!!

Because it is Goa !

2009-05-11T13:32:00.003+05:30

Because it is Goa !
By Ujjwal Dey

Destination: Goa !!!
http://www.ujjwaldey.com/

Trip: To do 600 KMs in one day in height of Indian summer on Indian roads and back. Plan for 4 days, 12 Bullets, and one solo ride. Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai.

Meeting Point: Center One mall, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

All Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/udey11

First Published: http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/because-its-goa.aspx

Thursday, 30th April 2009, 0530 hours:
Well, Anoop “the Dreamer”, the man of many adventures, is a resident of Goa. So while he planned to go home from his job in Mumbai, I pestered him to take me along. So the 4 day weekend was on; Anoop on his Machismo 500 and me on my Bullet Electra 4s.

Then the word spread around, 2 Bullets going to Goa.
The ride was to start at 5:30 AM from Center One mall at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. When I reached there at 5 AM, I was told by another buddy Karthik (Electra 5s) that “others” are on the way.

So at 5:30 AM there were 12 Bullets ready to roar onto NH17. This was expected says Anoop, “because it’s Goa”. We started off and first stop was Vadkal Naka for breakfast. Up to here the morning traffic was sparse but prominent.

Soon we rode on and the gang raced ahead, thundering in the early morning like beasts hungry for their prey. The target was a group ride to Goa before nightfall. Soon Ashish, Karthik and I were leisurely thumping along while the more gung-ho guys raced ahead cornering on turns and enjoying the awesome landscape of NH17.

Karthik and I decided to take tea/smoke breaks every 100 KMs. So when we reached Mahad, we parked under a tree and the Kaka at the stall served us hot tea. After stretching our legs we checked our mobile phone and realised the gang has halted just a few KMs ahead before Poladpur Ghat at a proper restaurant.

Anyways, since I wanted to enjoy the ride and see, smell, hear everything on this awesome NH17 route, I decided to thump along with next stop only after another 100 KMs.

* * * * * * * *

Karthik is a great wingman; patient and determined and tireless. He tailed me and we reached Chiplun. The gang joined us within minutes with their speed and all of us refuelled at the BP petrol pump. There is a HP petrol pump opposite this one on the other side of the road.

Here all were spending lot of time cooling off. The sun was rising and the heat was getting intense.

Me with my Cramster touring jacket, helmet, riding boots and gauntlet gloves – I just wanted to get on with it. So Karthik and I decided to carry on toward Goa while the others would catch up with us soon for lunch.

Anoop as a true Road Captain stayed on at Chiplun to ensure everyone was OK and that the ride was going along as planned. Normally he likes his solo NAP rides (No Action Plan) at high speeds on his 500cc Enfield engine; but in a group he takes charge to make it worthwhile for every rider.

Karthik and I rode on till Ratnagiri at a restaurant where we were all to meet for lunch. Here already 2 Enfields from our group were waiting for all of the others. Gauresh (Cast Iron 500cc) was sleeping there on a low border wall under the trees. They seemed to have been ahead of all the rest of the pack for a long time.

So the 4 of us decided to have lunch and then go onward since the “Maha-Rathis” would catch up soon anyway.

The lunch turned into a feast!

Bhupesh and his pillion joined us (they came from Pune) at the restaurant at Ratnagiri. And paneer and fish and rotis and rice and curd was being passed around and consumed as if 6 men were packing their bellies in anticipation of a famine.

I said goodbye soon enough and decided to keep riding to avoid night riding.

* * * * * * * *

Thumping along now, alone and ahead of the pack, I was more alert and my senses seemed to see more colours, hear more sounds and smell the Earth and the sky.

I stopped at Sawantwadi and made the dozen calls to realise the gang was still enjoying Ratnagiri cuisine due to a tyre puncture on one of the Bullets. I waited at Sawantwadi for 30 minutes to stretch and relax and drink lots of water.

Soon it was 7 PM and the sun disappeared into the horizon. So onward bound – Goa just few KMs away. I rode smooth and steady to get my eyes adjusted to the darkness. After about 10 KMs I was able to do a good 60 KMPH at the pitch dark highway into Goa.

Here on Mhapsa Road, I got my final instruction from Anoop – “wait at the big Hotel Green Park, we will all be there in another 3 hours” – this at 9 PM.

So I sat there with the watchman staring at my biker gear and I drank 2 pouches of Electrol with plain water.

Thundering sounds of Bullets resounded around midnight. The gang was riding in – a right turn from the hotel and we were all heading toward Calingute beach, Goa.

* * * * * * * *

A beach side hotel was ready for us and while half of us just wanted to crash into bed, another half decided to ride around Goa past midnight – “we’re here, so let’s see Goa” – and they kept riding on.

Friday, 1st May 2009, 0800 hours:
I had slept in a small room with twin-sharing basis and was alone since Karthik had decided to ride around Goa at night. I was surprised to see him soundly asleep in the room since I had locked the room from inside.

Well, that surprise was nothing compared to the fact that Karthik told me of how I had opened the door at 4:45 AM.

Apparently I was fast asleep and he called on my mobile. I told him I didn’t get any missed calls. “Check your received calls” says Karthik. And sure as hell, I had answered my mobile kept for charging and then opened the door for Karthik and went back to bed. I was in such intense sleep that in the morning I had absolutely no memory of having got up to open the door, forget about answering a mobile phone at 4:45 AM for the same. So that surprise is something I still can’t believe.

:-p

Soon the group gathered around by 10:30 AM and we visited half-a-dozen beaches. Anjuna, Baga, Morjim, Ashwem beaches, etc. and the day turned into night in a matter of minutes in our enjoyment.

Happy things don’t last forever and with a job in an IT company during recession means as an Indian, I expect to be @#$@#^ by the “Management”. So I am to be in Mumbai and it has been just a day since I am in Goa.

So Saturday I will have to leave alone to Mumbai. The gang stays on in Goa for the planned group ride back on Sunday.

I refuelled at Mhapsa petrol pump to top my tank. And sleep comes as the happy bikers outside my room go on to party the night away at yet another beach.

Saturday, 2nd May 2009, 0440 hours:
I woke at the mobile phone alarm at 4 AM. Not a single shop open nearby and no tea, only my cigarette to get me going. So I ready myself, check my Cramster saddlebags and put on the touring jacket, boots and helmet. The bike kick starts to life and I thump along on a long lonely road back home.

No one on the road to NH17 and no vehicles either. I started off via Mhapsa Road at 4:40 AM and rode on to the petrol pump on the highway to top my engine oil. I bought the smallest can at BP of 500ml. No one seems to have 20W50 so had to pour in 20W40.

Next stop Sawantwadi for the first tea of the day. It felt so good and warm in the early morning chill that I wanted to down another couple of those Rs. 2 cuttings. But I decided to ride on. So left Sawantwadi at 7:20 AM.

Now the non-stop ride went on till the same Hotel Alankar of Ratnagiri where we had done the huge lunch on Thursday. From Goa to Ratnagiri I encountered very few vehicles and did good speed and a relaxed cruise as well. I refuelled at Ratnagiri to top my tank. The food is very good at Hotel Alankar and at reasonable prices. After a good halt here for a big breakfast, I decided I could probably reach Mumbai by 5 PM. So planned for it without a lunch break – the big breakfast should hold me well till 5 PM. Then I left the Hotel at 10:30 AM and thumped along at my Bullet’s steady safe defensive pace.

* * * * * * * *

Lots of good things were on the way back. But I couldn’t stall the ride back home to partake any of it. Sindhudurg Fort was just a left turn away and too tempting. I rode on and Mahabaleshwar seemed enticing. But I stopped now directly at Mahad at the same Kaka’s teashop.

Here at Mahad there is the Baudhakalin Caves dating back 1000 years and more. This is on the NH17 highway itself. This was very tempting but again, I didn’t want to see another sunset on the highway. I had a cold drink instead of tea this time. I don’t know if the Kaka recognised me, but I didn’t want to spend time in chit-chat so had my customary smoke and rode on. He is a nice guy, working all day there in the sun in his small shop. Helpful as well. So after a good 30 minute break at Mahad, I left at 2:45 PM.

Now everything seemed relaxing. I was as good as home.

I rode more leisurely and enjoyed the road and the looks from villagers as they saw a single man riding on his Bullet, on the highway with no worries. School kids giggled with awe at this sight when I passed villages and adults wondered where from and where to this mad man is heading.

Whichever teashop I had stopped at, the villagers were very helpful and cordial. Especially, way back at Nandgaon (near Sawantwadi) and at Mahad. They would offer water and ask where I was from and why I went to Goa and “Ektach challaye ki kay?” (means “Going alone all the way?”).

After Mahad my only stop was at Vadkal Naka for another cold drink. As I was passing the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, the damn monkeys were chasing all the vehicles including my Bullet, trying to scratch and bite the passing vehicles. And this was another place on NH17 worth a small trip in itself.

* * * * * * * *

The traffic from Vadkal Naka was terrible. And from JNPT to Panvel to Vashi bridge to Eastern Express Highway the traffic grew bad to worse. It took me almost 2 hours from Vadkal Naka to Eastern Express Highway in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Finally reached home at 6 PM and had a hot cup of coffee.

A grand solo ride from Goa to Mumbai – I enjoyed the road more than the destination – and that can’t be a bad thing.

Best Wishes,
Ujjwal Dey
**** THE END ****

Midnight Mahabaleshwar

2009-05-04T11:09:00.004+05:30

Midnight Mahabaleshwar
NH4 to 3 hill stations
By Ujjwal Dey
www.ujjwaldey.com

Destination: Mahabaleshwar via NH4.
The Trip: Random decision for a ride. Did 600 KMs on a trip lasting 20 hours.

Riders:
Anoop ‘Dreamer’ Agrawal on Machismo 500
Ujjwal ‘Wayfarer’ Dey on Bullet Electra 4s

First Published: http://www.royalenfield.com/community/trip/midnight-mahabaleshwar.aspx

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/udey11/MidnightMahabaleshwar

All Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/udey11

Meeting Point: Eternity Mall, Thane, on 8 pm of Saturday

Anoop is known for his NAP rides – No Action Plan.
This is the story of how from wanting to see sunrise at Malshej Ghat, we ended up seeing the sunrise at Mahabaleshwar.

Saturday 18th October, 2008, 2100 hours:
Well it was weekend and I had nowhere to go. Anoop called and suggested a short midnight trip to Malshej Ghat or Lonavala and back in the night. We do such rides just to have a cup of tea in solitude or maybe stay till the scenic sunrise. No one confirmed to come along for this night adventure so it was only Anoop and I at the meeting point – Eternity mall, Thane at 9 PM. XBHP group members were also here for a Dhaaba Hunt ride and it was nice to see familiar faces even though we were taking different roads. At 10 PM we decided to ride; just the 2 of us.

Then Anoop told me that we could go see the sunrise at Mahabaleshwar instead. I was so impressed by that idea that I decided to go for it even though I had only my riding gear on and nothing else. Normally I have my spare parts, first aid kit, water, engine oil and stuff on my Cramster saddlebags for long rides. But this was supposed to have been a short 4 hour trip. Now we were passing through Eastern Express Highway through Vashi bridge towards Panvel.

Traffic was plenty till we hit Panvel and we took the JNPT route to Lonavala. The Lonavala one-way Ghat was the only thing that intimidated me throughout this trip. At the highway to Lonavala, past the Ghat, my helmet visor broke off. I had kept it lifted up to see clearly in the night and the wind was so strong that it broke off. We stopped and unscrewed it to remove the damned visor and took a photo of it resting at the highway to Lonavala. This road and Lonavala itself still had traffic at midnight. We had had light dinner before the Lonavala Ghat.

We kept on the road to Pune, through Kamshet and then to Dehu Road and on to Wai.

We had enough smoke breaks every 50 KMs and the NH4 was beautiful with wide roads and dividers and at night we were able to do 80 KMPH very safely. The Ghats to reach Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are smooth and easy to do at night and I faced no steep curves or traffic.

We reached Panchgani by 3 AM and we took an offroad ride to Harrison Folly. This place is used for adventure sports of paragliding and such. At 3 AM it was deserted and spooky with the wind blowing hard and no edge of the folly visible by the naked eye. Here the half moon dimmed enough to view hundreds of stars and Anoop pointed out a few constellations. The mountain view at 3 AM was awesome and the stars lit up like a display of Diwali decorations.

Sad thing is that since this was an unplanned trip, I had not brought along my Nikon DSLR and it was too dark for mobile phone photography.

After managing to light a cigarette here in incredible chilling cold windy weather, we moved on to Mahabaleshwar. Both of us in our Cramster Touring Armoured Jackets were shivering in the cold.

We stopped outside a hotel where Anoop knew the staff but it was closed and so were all other hotels.

Anoop went to sleep outside a closed shop and I wandered the deserted market. A temple had morning prayers on now at 4:30 AM and I followed the sound and found a teashop open for business. I had a coffee and went back to find Anoop who had managed to get us a room. We had to contend with seeing a regular sunrise at the horizon and not at any of the famous points.

The room was awful at the price we paid. Rs 350 for 5 hours. The checkout time at all hotels in Mahabaleshwar is 9 AM and hence we were told that we will have to leave latest by 10 AM. We decided that we should sleep for 2 hours so that we can enjoy the ride back on Sunday.

After all, it was riding our Enfields that was our main motivator. Everything else was secondary. And we knew we would need a couple hours sleep to be ready to thunder back to Mumbai on our Bullets.

Sunday 19th October, 2008, 0900 hours:
We freshened up and went for a walk in the market. The coffee at our hotel was awful. Actually I don’t think anyone at Mahabaleshwar makes good coffee, LOLz.

The market had wonderful stuff to sell and we didn’t have the saddlebags to carry any of it. The place is famous for its strawberry and honey produce. Sadly we left empty handed and refilled petrol at a pump at Mahabaleshwar and visited 2 tourist points. The petrol pumps always seem to refuse credit cards. The Venna lake view was beautiful in the morning and a breakfast of strawberry chocolate ice cream made us feel happier than anything else. Kates point had monkeys eying our Enfields and helmets. We went again to the wonderful Harrison Folly and clicked more pictures.

Monkeys, camels, horses, kids, everyone seemed fresh and cheerful today.

We left Panchgani at 11:30 AM and rode on NH4 to stop for another breakfast, 18 KMs before Dehu Road. Then a non-stop ride (OK a stop for cigarette of course) to Lonavala. The service at Kumar Resort restaurant was awful and we waited 30 minutes for a dosa which was as cold as a stale papad. We moved through the traffic onto Khopoli and here again we got good fast roads.

Anoop lent me his RayBan since I didn’t have a visor and this was the only reason I could do good speed in the growing heat and dust of the day.

At JNPT turn my Bullet reached reserve fuel. I had filled my tank in Mumbai and Anoop had filled his tank in Panvel on Saturday. Then we had refuelled a few litres at Mahabaleshwar. It seemed that Anoop’s 500cc AVL was giving better mileage than my cast iron 350cc Bullet. I topped my tank here and then we rode non-stop to Mumbai, via Panvel Expressway through CBD to Vashi bridge. At Mumbai we took our last halt on Eastern Express Highway at 5:30 PM for a smoke and said our goodbyes.

I reached home and had a long hot shower and went to sleep at 8 PM to wake up next day at 8 AM totally refreshed and happy I did that crazy spontaneous trip.

The alien within

2009-03-29T21:55:00.002+05:30

I would never admit it to anyone but I guess I have been at the internet long enough to trust most people here.

I had once made contact with an extraterrestrial being. At that point I thought it was a supernatural being; like answers to my Yoga meditation. It was a spiritual experience for me rather than an exciting space adventure.

It seemed like a dream but I knew things from the experience to analyse and logically deduce that it was indeed a cosmic ordeal I went through.

It started in the monsoon. The clouds were dark and the weather seemed like it would drown the city in its fury. I usually stay indoors during such heavy showers but I went to the terrace of my apartment building to get the thrill of the thunder and lightning that lit up the sky at around 11 PM.

I smoked a few wet cigarettes, they taste funny when wet. Anyways, suddenly there was a zap from the sky at a perfect 45 degree angle. I thought I was dead and burnt alive by lightning bolt.

But no, my heart had not stopped! It had slowed down to negligible proportions. My body was travelling at multiple values of Mach speed. I assumed it to be a worm-hole sucking me to the other end of the universe. Weird thoughts ran across my mind. From horrible images from the movie "Event Horizon" to funny food of the "Restaurant at the end of the Universe" (Hitchhikers Guide).

It wasn't a worm hole!

I was being reformulated atom by atom in a quarantined traction beam. I was later informed that this was for my own protection so that I don't suffer from intergallactic illnesses from my first exposure to life forms galaxies away.

So after this thorough hygiene routine I was face to face with a doberman staring at me with dark eyes of that evil kid in the "Omen" movie. He just sat there and stared. It took me 5 minutes to realise that I was floating above the floor while the dog had his feet and butt firmly on the plastic-like surface of the ship.

When I tried to stand up the dog stood up and said, "Not the blue with the faint red stripe, sir." Before I could say anything, he suggested, "The name is Jeeves and I am your designated best friend". The jolly mutt went about illustrating the virtues of this alien civilisation and the gizmos on the spaceship. We even toasted at the bar to the life on the dark matter cruiser which was an exploration vessel of these aliens mining matter for creating customised new worlds in prime Universal locations. We drank wine of the Europa's under-sea weeds with plasma apples from Sirian constellation. A supernova exploded across the bar room windows. The real estate was booming apparently.

After this introduction it was time to face my new mentors. Jeeves was suddenly sober and strict. He chatted with the bartender.
"If you would not mind stepping this way, sir, I think we might be able to carry him in."

"Carry him in?"

"His lordship is lying on the mat, sir."

I then realised that I was stoned drunk on toxic Jupiter moonshine.

I lay there forever it seemed.

Hours, days, months and years passed before my eyes as I lay there contemplating a new future for mankind.

Finally the dog barked instead of serving me tea!

I was standing on a desert. A desert of red dust and manic winds. A tempest of primordial soup rising above our heads, a spaghetti of heavenly bodies, merging and twisting in endless turmoil with absolutely no noise at all. I understood finally what they wanted. I felt like I was carrying a cross heavier than even that of Jesus. A responsibility that even Atlas wouldn't dare to shoulder. I shuddered at the yellow eyes glowing at me from the sky. I knew what they wanted from me. I was the "change" that Americans and the other miscellaneous people on Earth wanted.

The gladiators marched in while I stood at the center of the colossal stadium.

The ground beneath me sank and as the tigers ran to reach me I was swallowed in mud. Grimy, slimy ooze soaked into my clothes and pores of my epidermis. I was a pea in a pod. A pod planted in a cocoon of cybernetic beings created from the best genetic source of the Universe. I grew scales on my back and hair on my forearms. My manhood throbbed like Mike Tyson on viagra. My muscles expanded and my chest drew in the entire liquid in my pod and I burst out in triumph of rebirth.

"Hey guys, with these powers, I could be a Superhero! I could kill anyone with a thought." I proclaimed to the yellow-eyed midgets in neon-blue lab coats.

"Or you could come be a rodeo clown on Planet 999." they replied in choir like unison.

"But I could save the world"

"Or you could scare the Tiberian Bulls with your fart!" they insisted.

"What do you really want from me?"

Now these yellow-eyed freaks started giggling like schoolgirls. "Can we touch it?" one of them asked.

"We don't have that in our planetary lifeforms" another added.

"We just need to feel it against our skin, hold it till we scream in ecstasy" they went on like that with strange space sex innuendo.

"If I let you hold it, would you send me back to Earth please?" I asked.

And they ran toward me. They grabbed my left-hand and yanked away my Timex. They felt it on their wrists and wondered what the significance of time was to Earthlings.

And the thunder struck again! I found that drinking tequila on an empty stomach with Salvia sage of seers can cause 10 minutes to seem like an eternity.

Full Metal Jacket: movie review

2009-03-21T14:31:00.004+05:30

So you thought you have seen the best War movies with “Apocalypse Now”, “Black Hawk Down”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, “Three Kings” and “Courage Under Fire” and the others ? Well think again soldier! Because this movie will blow the pajamas off your yellow behind. This is a realistic depiction. This is a life of a man turned into a killing machine. This is a true-cold-blood War movie.

The story based on the novel “The Short-Timers” by Gustav Hasford follows a bunch of new recruits from their training in the Marine Corps into the assignment at Vietnam, into the War-zone and into the dead face of the VietCongs. From the opening scene itself you see the actors and their fate in their eyes. The first 40 minutes is sheer brilliant delight; you can’t miss a word of dialogue and you can’t take your eyes off the regimental training.

From a man to a Marine. R. Lee Ermey who was a Marine trainer was hired on set as a consultant to make accurate depiction of Marine Corps training. His mean brilliance led to Kubrick casting him in the movie as the drill sergeant – he played on film what he did before retirement to real recruits of the Army. From a man to a killing machine.

The movie moves next as the recruits are assigned to the battle-zone. Actor Matthew Modine ends up as a journalist for “Stars and Stripes”, the official military newspaper.

And then the Tet Offensive starts in Vietnam. Under fire, on duty in the field, Modine’s character “James Joker” is asked to join in with a rifle.

“This is my rifle this is my gun...this is for fighting this is for fun” sang the boys holding their rifle and crotch in each hand during their training run.

The drill sergeant has taught them well. They need to remember what they learnt because otherwise “...you would be a dead Marine; and a Marine cannot die without permission”.

Awesome, mindblowing stuff!

The soldier Leonard (also played by a first time actor who worked as a bouncer and gained 80 pounds weight for the role of a fat idiot) steals the show along with the sergeant Hartman in the first half of course.

The last half belongs to James Joker and Animal Mother (actor Adam Baldwin). The last 40 minutes is equally as engaging and spellbinding as the first.

You would think that this accuracy would mean it was shot on location in some South East Asian country. No, Stanley Kubrick did not like to be farther than 10 miles from his home. So the movie was shot in East London in a old location which was being torn down for rebuilding. So the broken buildings are real and they were being blown up gladly by the cast and crew of “Full Metal Jacket” at no objection. Modine is brilliant explaining why he wears a peace button on his uniform while his helmet has “Born to Kill” written on it. “...duality of man” he explains before he joins the ranks of combat Marines. Kubrick showcased not just another movie on Vietnam War. No, what he did was to show how an ordinary American man is turned into a crazed killer for waging War.

Watch this and learn the horrors of War.

Weirdly after watching this movie I have a strange compulsive urge to enlist myself in the US Marine Corps.

Sadly the book and the other books by Gustav Hasford are out of print. Sign an online petition here to bring them back. You can read the books for free there as well: http://www.gustavhasford.com/

At Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Metal_Jacket

Relive and Relish

2009-02-12T20:50:00.000+05:30

Why do we crave past excitement more than attempting to create new future ones ?

I too have this malady of trying to find the old movies and TV shows of my younger days.

Like I said in "Impulse and Exhilaration" post on "Live Life King Size", I got hold of 11 out of many of the Carry On movie series.

I rarely watch Hindi language movies and have a very few of them in my collection. Most of them are black and white movies starring my favourite Superstar "Dev Anand". His colour films are very disappointing though and I haven't watched any of those except "Guide".

Anyways, getting back to our "Reliving and Relishing" topic:
I suddenly had the craving yesterday and when I saw that movie which I was thinking of in front of me - DVD for Rs 39 (One US Dollar = Rs 46) - I had to grab that discounted piece of plastic.

SHALIMAR (1978 - before I was born) is a grand movie - big budgeted at the time and starring: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078241/

1. Rex Harrison - as King of Thieves Sir John Locksley
2. Sylvia Miles - as Countess (Midnight Cowboy, etc)
3. John Saxon - as Col. Columbus (yes of the Bruce Lee movie 'Enter the Dragon')
4. Dharmendra - Indian Macho Action Hero
5. Zeenat Aman - most beautiful actress ever in Hindi movies
6. Shammi Kapoor - Indian veteran actor of the Kapoor clan of movie makers and actors

This was an international movie, but unfortunately they chose poor US release title such as "Deadly Thief" (video), "Raiders of Shalimar" (USA) and DVD US title "Raiders of the Sacred Stone"

The simple word "Shalimar" as used in Hindi release would have sufficed and intrigued enough people.

The King of thieves wants a heir to take ownership of the biggest lump of Ruby lost to civilisation for centuries. The ruby can be traced back from the Portuguese colonialists who stole it from the Moghuls who stole it from the Indian Emperor of Chandragupta dynasty who rescued it from the plunderer Alexander the Great who got it from .......

..... and can be traced back to the Vedas, over 5000 years ago.

Epic adventure with the 70's poor special effects although cutting edge effects for that time in India - and too much explosions and tribal dancing which sometimes makes the movie look poorer than it is.

The Director does a fine job of storytelling though, written by him and the cast of actors are beautiful and talented of course.

Yes, Childhood, Alas, I will never know you again !

IMAGES FROM THE MOVIE:

Impulse and Exhilaration

2009-02-11T14:48:00.005+05:30

LIVE LIFE KING SIZE !

What makes you spend a small fortune when a relatively cheaper product provides the same mechanical functions ?

I had a fully functional Yamaha but no I sell that off to buy the most dated technology, gas-guzzling bike at the most premium price - A Royal Enfield Bullet. Why ? It is not just a motorcycle. It has its own personality, an attitude, a character that infects the owner, a passion, a History.

I was thinking of the things I buy when I should be more careful with my money. But hell you only live once and when am I going to be in my 20's again ?

I bought my first Zippo lighter in Jan 2008. Yes now they have finally arrived in India. It was at a premium price but the same Lifetime Warranty. I didn't blink, didn't think. Making the selection was tough though, what with Beatles, Elvis, Harley and many other endorsements to choose from. Another one was supposedly BULLET PROOF! Anyways, bought the one with JIM BEAM bourbon whiskey engraving.

Am I fucking nuts ??? Here I am underpaid and overworked and I do this.

The worse is that I don't regret it. Any of such things I spend on. Retail therapy really works I guess.

Impulse buying is a serious problem I deal with daily (and so do many others).

The only way to solve it for me is by having a good friend accompany me around malls so that I don't spend my entire salary frivolously. This works because, I would be too embarrassed spending on such stupid things when even one of them is present.

In recent months:
* I have bought Graphic Novels that cost over Rs 1000 each (a small fortune even if in US Dollars isn't much)
* Whole lot of movies which I have already seen on TV or cinema halls, including box set of Bourne series and then other movies which were going at 50 percent discount hence couldn't resist
* Bought signed first editions that I can't read as they would then be not worth the "investment"

The signed first editions I bought online. This is the most difficult temptation to resist. How can I control myself online. I decided I would spend online only if I could earn online and not you use my regular income. So then the publishers pay me in PayPal and if a website doesn't accept PayPal, I don't buy anything over USD 30. So used PayPal, the 6 hardcovers cost me USD 260 including USD 70 for shipping.

The Carry On movies is another impulse buying I managed to stop on last Sunday's outing to the mall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_films
I have seen most of them on TV, want to see them again, they are on 50 percent discount, but how many times would I see it after buying ?

Online, Most recently I decided against purchasing the complete archives of The New Yorker:
The New Yorker Store has a cheap DVD of the entire Archive of the magazine since its first issue till 2008.

At USD 19.99 that is cheap I would say and quite a bargain.

But I don't think I would be inclined to read too much of the snobby stuff. There are many good articles and Fiction in there but still too many things I don't want to read. But it is still a bargain isn't it ?

For those interested in the New Yorker, I would say don't buy now.
Wait till April or May 2009 when the last year's collection would be added to this box set so you will have everything from the first issue till April 2009.

I don't think the price would change too much.

More importantly they update annually and getting the single DVD of just ONE Year would cost another USD 19.99

Great Marketing Strategy isn't it - Pure Evil !

So let us see if I still crave it in May 2009.

(Don't even talk about the original artwork on sale there - SHUT UP! ! !)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Damn I lasted only 2 days. After Sunday's determined walk out, yesterday I went back and bought 11 of the movies available there in the Carry On series.

At 50 percent discount, how can one resist such temptation.

The bastards !!!

"Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in"

Actually the New Yorker DVD of entire Archive is also quite a bargain. But will wait to see an update from them in May 2009.

Mumbai: Bookstores and bookstore review

2009-02-02T15:39:00.005+05:30

Mumbai: Bookstores and bookstore review
By Ujjwal Dey

Well, being in a city known as the “financial capital of India” has its perks. For instance more than one bookstore that caters to the luxury of reading books for fun instead of plethora of stores selling school/college textbooks. Such academic boredom aside, today thanks to the boom in mall-nutrition, there are many bookstores catering to the shoppers at various malls with a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. Some of them have loyal following to ensure success, some have a café to make it more luxurious, some also sell CD/DVD to stay profitable, and some others simply offer so much benefits that you buy something irrespective of being literate. Salespersons are not evaluated here because this is India, its Mumbai. There is sometimes such a crowd at malls that you want to go back home even before you step inside. So salespersons are helpful if you go at odd times like at noon when a handful of people inhabit the store. Otherwise you fend for yourself.

1. Crossword Bookstores: Crossword started as a chain of bookstores with presence in few select cities with prospering economies. With the acquisition of the chain by Shoppers Stop, the book retail chain has seen growth and more success.

This is my favourite bookstore for the convenience it offers. Some of my favourite features here are:
i) Most of the popular novels are available
ii) The books unavailable can be ordered by simply filling a form (requires Crossword membership)
iii) Dial-a-book offer means you can simply call from your home and order a book to be delivered at any address in that city (requires Crossword membership)
iv) Regular discounts and also membership benefits
v) Offers a good choice of Music CDs and Movie DVDs/VCDs
vi) Has a café within the store
vii) Has nice cushioned seats for sitting to browse a few books

They have seasonal sale as well as other event sales. Of course the upto 80% discount means exactly that; it can be upto 80% but most of the good ones are all at 10 to 20% discount only. Membership is easy; if you buy certain amount worth of goods, then the membership is free with it. The points are redeemable on next purchase. Well maybe I am also biased because it is the closest to my home at Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund (west), Mumbai. There are other Crossword stores in Mumbai as well. A market capturing total of 16 bookstores in Mumbai.

Shopping online is not a feature as yet added to their website: http://crosswordbookstores.com/
But that doesn’t matter as it has a good presence in the cities it is in and you could order a book by phone or store visit.

2. Strand Bookstall: Well if you don’t recognise this name, then you are neither a Mumbaikar nor a book lover of Mumbai origin. The man behind it, Mr. T.N. Shanbhag started it long back in 1948. He is a Padmashri award winner for service to the reader.

Well, when there was little choice in reading and no choice in good bookstores, Strand Bookstall was the only haven for us all. The discounts are unmatched, even by corporates such as “Barnes and Noble”. Their annual discount sale was the first of its kind with upto 80% off on wide choice of books.

I had started out buying my books here. They even have a number where you can call to buy books unavailable anywhere in India. If it is still in print, they will import it at the best price for you. I remember that nowhere in Mumbai could I find the critically acclaimed author Haruki Murakami’s novels. I phoned Strand Bookstall’s office and placed my long order of 5 popular novels of Murakami. They offered me a quotation, I accepted and had to pay them only on receipt of the books.

Since they don’t deal much in genre novels, you may find the choice restrictive. But for classic literature lovers, the best writers of present and past are shelved here in the old Fort store of Strand Bookstall. Ordering online is also possible: http://www.strandbookstall.com/

3. Landmark bookstores: If there is a bookstore that could make you drool literally with its capacity and quality on offer, it is Landmark. Apparently operating since 1987, only recently has it arrived in Mumbai with a huge store in Infiniti Mall, Andheri (west), Mumbai. Tata Group clearly can make this a successful operation with their financial and technical inputs.

I think if it was any easier travelling to Andheri (west) compared to going to Fort or Mulund, I would call this my favourite bookstore ever. Landmark is easily the best bookstore currently operating in Mumbai. The huge and I mean incredibly huge choice of books, CDs, DVDs is delicious. The range of books offered with the many shelves with genres you can never find elsewhere in Mumbai makes you want to jump around and hug the salesperson. I think it is the only bookstore that had a section for Graphic Novels and stocked it seriously instead of the pathetic surplus import-dump at other bookstores. Even the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres are represented with painstaking groundwork at getting the best of those genres.

Clearly there is a great reader behind the stocking of such a good collection of books.

Also the salespeople are as friendly as in Crosswords.

A major plus point for Landmark is that apart from quality choice at competitive prices, they have an even more extensive offering online at their website. So you could do the shopping at the comfort of your home.

So http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/ is the homepage for book shopping for you. I look forward for Landmark to grow and set trends in bookstores and book-shopping.

Happy Hunting !!!

Anecdotes by Richard Feynman

2009-01-13T12:22:00.003+05:30

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character", by Richard Feynman as narrated to Ralph Leighton

As noted by me in my blog post here, I severely dislike biographies and autobiographies. Biographies are just hearsay and gossip. Whereas, Autobiographies are rarely inspiring, with most of them being self-absorbed and boring. There are many exceptions I allow in Autobiographies, since there are quite a few good ones, but rarely have I found interest in a biography.

But as always I love anecdotes from the famous people themselves. So this wonderful book by Feynman is autobiographical but not an autobiography. Just like my previous acquisition of President Eisenhower’s anecdote collection – “At Ease: Stories I tell my friends”, this one too gives a thrilling look at the daily lives of people that changed the world.

The book is divided into 5 parts – His childhood home to MIT, years in Princeton, the bomb and military work, Cornell, Caltech and Brazil trip, and finally his life as a physicist.

Each of these parts have wonderful episodes from his life and the people he met. He explains his interest in science, the luck he has had, the thoughts he pondered, the things he tried, the life he led.

A man with varied interests, he was a physicist in the time when no one knew what a physicist could be employed for. He faked speaking Italian, played assorted pranks on his neighbouring children, he behaved as himself in MIT as well as the British themed Princeton. His interests are as diverse as in biology, philosophy, safe-cracking, mindreading, human sense of smell compared to a bloodhound, Japanese culture/ etiquette, Las Vegas, bar-hopping, playing in a street band in Brazil’s carnival, painting, painting nude women, Jewish and other religious beliefs, dislike of celebrity life after the Nobel prize, Mayan codex and math, providing music for a ballet, out-of-body experience, playing drums, etc, etc, etc.

This winner of Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965 and team member under Los Alamos atom bomb scientists has had an incredible and adventurous life.

I would say his insatiable curiosity about his world is what made him a great scientist, an adventurer and popular with every professor or peer or student.

He spoke his mind, irrespective of speaking to illustrious people such as Einstein or Pauli or anyone else. Because when he spoke of physics he always gave his best theory and deductions.

My favourite chapters? It would be very difficult to say. Like in “You just ask them” a bargirl and her husband tell him that if he wanted to bed a woman, why doesn’t he simply try and ask them. Various other social experiments ensue. In “I want my dollar!” and “An offer you must refuse” he tells about how the scientists at Los Alamos sold their ideas and patents to US Government for a dollar (formality) and how he managed to claim his dollar; with the latter chapter telling us how he saw honour in work and teaching rather than earning easy money.

“A different box of tools” illustrates the value of self-learning and how he managed to find new ways while everyone else tried to solve things by what they had been taught as the correct method.

His daring mischief is brought out to the forefront in “Uncle Sam doesn’t need you!” when Feynman plays around with the team of psychiatrists evaluating him for fitness for Military enrolment. “Who stole the door?” in the first part of the book shows you how Feynman has always been mischievous and gets away with most pranks.

But if you were to ask me of one chapter alone; if you as a reader had time for nothing in the book except to read one chapter alone; I would highly recommend you to read the very last one – “Cargo Cult Science”.

This last chapter is easily the very best advice a scientist or teacher can give eager students of science. It shows clearly how education is supposed to train you to solve rather than train you to imitate.

Feynman clearly led a fulfilling and enriched life. The fact that someone could have such a rewarding diverse life experience (that too back in 50s 60s) makes me want to crawl under a rock and die in shame.

Arabs and Jews - Palestine and Israel

2009-01-04T16:40:00.004+05:30

>> Arabs and Jews - Palestine and Israel

There are many movies made in Hollywood on World Wars and the various conflicts that Americans have bravely faced.

But there are many other old feuds in the world that has never been successfully marketed in the box office.

Yes War is about hate and revenge and also money !

So why not make more entertaining movies on the War - it will be better than Fox News coverage for sure, don't ya think ?

So this movie is a great adventure based on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It provides great insight into the lives of Arabs and Israelis displaced from their ancestral home and living in free America as immigrants.

Does the conflict get carried over to USA ? Do they unite to live in the Democratic Civil Liberties promised to them by the great new promised land - America ?

This story primarily follows an ex-counterterrorist named Zohan. Tired of the never-ending war, this Israeli hero fakes his own death and comes to New York to build a new life. But he finds that the past is not so easy to forget or outrun. It catches up to him and the neighbourhood where he works for a humble normal lifestyle. Into the mix is a real estate developer who wants to incite hatred in the New York community so that he can destroy these Arab/Israeli shops and build a mall (with a roller-coaster inside it).

Zohan, in the midst of struggling to defeat his own grim past finds himself in Love with a beautiful, generous, kind Palestinian girl.

What will be the solution of this never-ending hate war ? Will Zohan live his American Dream ? Will the people of the neighbourhood realise their common brotherhood ?

All this and more - check out the movie for yourself - no matter what you do - don't mess with Zohan ..........

You don't mess with the Zohan

(And I have a poster of that movie :p sadly there is also a Batman Dark Knight print on its backside - how do you frame such a 2-faced poster ? (get it 2-face - have you seen the Batman movie ? ) )

Lounge of the Lazy Mind

2008-11-27T16:15:00.000+05:30

Lounge of the Lazy Mind
Only on Facebook.com

Recent Posts on the discussion forum:

Holiday Season Laziness Preparation Kit
Resident Lazy Guru Ujjwal Dey prescribes and scribes

Avoiding Housework - for Men :
1. Pretend you are having a harrowing time at office - carry minimum 5 files with corporate jargon to your home to make it convincing

2. Ask for an aspirin immediately after getting home - say stress induced headache - Aspirin is healthy to take once in a day so no problems

3. Kiss your wife when she least expects it and say you miss the good old times - now relax on the sofa and let her make herself useful

4. Tell the children gifts may not be so easy to get this year with the economy recession - show them photos of worried Wall Street execs on the newspaper - they will be too sad to make noise and demand playtime

5. Tell the wife she does a great job and how you could never nurture the plants or polish glass/ wood to such perfection and how you can't even make a boiled egg or bowl of cereal. Then Thank her. Then pretend interest in how she does it and let her do it while you watch the gardening, cleaning, cooking from your favourite couch

Avoiding Housework - for Women :
1. Say you love another woman

2. Say you want another baby so that your hubby can rediscover his Love for parenting/ playing with children

3. Say you are so helpless without "a Man around the house"

4. Wear a revealing lacy dress and say you are too tired for the chores but maybe if they got done "we could spend some quality time" - then go to sleep while he is busy working his butt off with the chores

5. Pretend to cry due to overwhelming work - but ensure there is no beer or other alcohol in the house - then he can't run out on you and can't get drunk at home - compromise and make him promise to do half your chores for at least a month

Now take a deep breath and feel the Languid Nirvana fill your soul.

ZZZZZzzzzz

Copyright 2008 Ujjwal Dey

Death of the Cast Iron

2008-10-28T15:30:00.000+05:30

Death of the Cast Iron
By Ujjwal Dey

It will be a sad year in 2008. In 2007 Royal Enfield stopped production and sale of 500cc Cast Iron fully loaded Bullets. Previously they had stopped Machismo 350 Cast Iron and turned the brand name into Machismo AVL 350 and then added Machismo AVL 500 (in 2007). Outside India due to various regulations AVL, lean burn and UCE and twinspark are the norm for export Enfields with the stupid left side gear shift. But India, the home and temple that idolises Enfields and particularly Bullets (cast iron is a Bullet, everything else are weird things imitating Bullets) too will see the demise of Bullets.

Bullet Electra, a top selling design and brand of Royal Enfield, is almost dead. No new stock of this cast iron Bullets (neither 4s nor the 5s) is being shipped or sold in metros such as Bombay. Just as they stopped and destroyed Machismo cast iron, they plan to make all future Electras in AVL only. These new Electras will be AVL twinspark similar or same as the Thunderbird 350cc AVL twinspark.

Grab whatever stock remains of 4s Bullet Electra cast iron before they too become ancient history. I don’t know why idiots who don’t understand Bullets buy them and complain to Enfield company about the various problems known to every cast iron owner. Them and the pathetic management of Royal Enfield are now eradicating all cast irons. Std 350 Bullet has survived everything for a long time now, but probably its future is also bleak.

I love my Bullet Electra 4s and I don’t want to be some legend who is an exclusive owner of a classic bike, I want everyone to be able to buy and enjoy it.

Where is the love and passion that kept the Enfield flag flying? I think it will be easy for foreign brands to sell cruisers in India as soon as the Government regulations are relaxed. Bullet is no longer a Bullet and I wouldn’t expect its legacy to last very long. I would suggest tourers to wait for Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, etc to ride into Indian market rather than submit defeat to the scoundrels killing our Bullets.

Free Online Movie on Lycos

2008-10-23T11:02:00.002+05:30

Social Networking website is reaching new heights now with Lycos getting you closer to your friends through an Online Cinema Hall. The concept is fascinating – friends miles away watching the same movie at the same time, with you getting the remote control and enforcing who all are allowed into your cinema hall. Presenting the Lycos Cinema Community.

http://cinema.lycos.com/

This website has good bandwidth and loads fast enough. There is a wide choice of Movies and even TV shows. These are not major blockbuster movies but ridiculously entertaining nonetheless. There are many free movies listed here. The paid ones have a ticket as low as USD 1.99 and discounts on 5 and 10 seats (5 seats – USD 3.99). So the more indeed the merrier. But there are many free movies to keep you busy.

AND ALL THIS IS LEGAL – no piracy.

The “Social Scene” menu allows you to join “Public Parties” You can update your profile and make new friends who enjoy your choice of movies. Live Chat is also enabled. Even Documentaries are listed on the menu.

The Movie Genres as of now are:
1. Action & Adventure
2. Animation
3. Comedy
4. Documentary
5. Drama
6. Foreign
7. Horror
8. Independent
9. Family
10. Music
11. Mystery
12. Sci-Fi & Fantasy
13. Thriller
14. Western

Then there is the “National Lampoon” Studio and a list of “Award Winning Movies” which include some available for viewing for free.

The TV Menu includes all of the above genres plus “Mixed Martial Arts” and has the “National Lampoon” Studio along with “Classic TV”. This classic TV will bring to you: the laugh riots - Groucho Marx & Lucy and also Alfred Hitchcock and Andy Griffith.

Lycos has a delightful tagline for their website:
“Bringing People Together...One Flick at a Time.”

So after the long lasting and preferred services such as Tripod.com and Angelfire.com, now Lycos has taken a big leap from webhosting to social networking. I wish them all the best and congratulations to their team.

This will not be the end of Torrents and Rapidshare though. But if you want a legal torrent, go for movies which are in Public Domain. This refers to old classic movies which are no longer bound by Copyright Acts due to their “age”. You get to watch classics such as “Nosferatu” and “Flash Gordon”.

http://www.publicdomaintorrents.com/

So keep watching and stay tuned.

Bullet Classic – Royal Enfield

2008-10-12T17:14:00.000+05:30

So the new gig after the success of Machismo 500 and twinspark Thunderbird is here. Well no, it’s not actually here but more on such disappointments later.

The UCE or the death of AVL era is much welcomed by everyone who wants to see Enfield brand live to fullest again. I still wish they would continue work on the original cast iron engine though. Not just tradition – that’s what a Bullet is. Unfortunately people now buy Thunderbird and Machismo and call it a “Bullet” and why not? The company is calling these aluminium uglies a Bullet. Well it’s not technically a Bullet and does not feel like a Bullet when you ride it. But they sure are an improvement and are good motorcycles in their own right.

So now instead of the racket of rattling AVLs we have a better UCE engine. And then, hopefully, a twinspark in 500cc category. People said no one would buy a motorcycle priced above one lakh rupees. And there is supposed to be a car coming out from TATA group cheaper than that. But Machismo 500 has sold out in all its dealerships (never mind the left hand side gear shift). So Indians have the money, the attitude and the fondness for Enfield.

Then we hear of Bullet Classic, http://www.bulletclassic.com/
It is a beauty ain’t she? And every specification and feature makes you drool. Almost enough to make you forget all the tradition you so much value in the honourable title of “Bullet”. It does not declare it is aluminium but it is. It is powerful and beautiful and it makes you remember all the good times of Enfield’s glorious past.

But then the “Contact Us” section of this Enfield website mentions Indian office address and goes on to declare:
“The Bullet Classic has been developed to European requirements and available for Sale in Europe Only”.

Yeah “Made in India” but not for Indians. Well Eicher is not an Indian company and it owns the Enfield brand. But with all the benefits of our booming economy, the love for the cult brand and the stronghold of Enfield India factory that still survives all obstacles – why don’t Indians deserve this bike?

So just as the UCE came in to India a few years too late but still lived a grand life – Enfield India continues its “export quality” funda to sell good products to the good customers abroad and not to us Indians. Well export is profitable and will ensure Enfield India’s survival. But why do they need to show such open bias against Indian consumers? This exclusivity will again breed the same disgust and dislike as was with UCE and other bikes sold abroad at the cost of Indian customer’s satisfaction.

Special Features:

New 18 inch wheels for better ride and handling
Headlight casing with “Tiger Eye Lamps” for that Bullet look; traditional headlamp with powerful halogen bulb
Speedometer and Fuel warning indicator for the EFI system integrated into die-cast headlight casing; with classic English fonts
500cc single cylinder 4 stroke, spark ignition, air cooled, OHV engine produces 41.3 Nm torque; features the unmistakable Bullet “thump”
Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) system to comply with Euro III norms
Finely crafted tank with post-war era graphics and thigh pads for a vintage look
Toolbox with classic design
Aesthetically designed short silencer for the 1950’s look; optional accessory for offroad use
Single saddle seat with springs
Classic mudguards with stays for that authentic look; deep and wide design for splash free ride
Air filter with classic styling; vintage tail lamp assembly with classic design

It has a maximum power of 27.2 BHP (20.3 KW @ 5250 rpm), 499cc engine, electric start, 5 speed gears, 12V 14 AH battery, front disc brake, rear drum brake, and a tubular steel frame.

It all looks very good and we can only wish they would have the sense to test the Indian market along with their privileged European customers.

I will also have to update my old article on Buying a Royal Enfield
http://www.bikernet.com/roadtests/PageViewer.asp?PageID=1502

Enjoy dreaming !!!

Soulmate

2008-10-12T04:38:00.000+05:30

Where is the love? The love that is found in old romance novels and mushy modern movies. A love that inspires youth, incites passion, ignites hearts, condemns misfortune, splendid glorious all conquering love. A love found once in a thousand sunrises, once in a hundred friendships, once in a lifetime. Love that enables, a love that makes everything possible, a love to endure all of the world’s wrongs – that right kind of loving. Who finds this love, if anyone? Where are all these lovers hiding? Where are their wings and why can’t we all fly the same flight? When does it come and who will find it for us? Am I blind or just heartless? Or maybe foolish to dream of a love meant for me in the darkness of this crowded city? Love will find a way they say but how long do I wait? The love of innocent beauty, in a candid smile, a touch of humanity, a love that’s true and blessed.

Solitude of loneliness, a nightmare recurring till death. Everyday I wake up positive that I am ready to receive the signs. But they don’t light any bonfires, they don’t beat any drums, they don’t sing me a song and they sure don’t call me by my name. Alone I wander – through the crowd, through the work, through “hellos” and “howareyas”, and through the silent sheets of bed. When the clock strikes 3, I wake up and see I am alone. I sleep again the sound sleep by ignorant heart’s mead. There will be another dawn but the final dusk is coming soon. My soul is a millennium old and yearns for a companion. They don’t see me and I can’t trace them from their depths. A million souls haunting alone in thought, they never will meet as they scream in their agony; too far away the ears of Cupid lays and we don’t know his prayer.

Recite the words of poets and musicians jazz a beat. The posters ask you to go along and the grey clouds gently weep. Chasing never helped as we are obese with guilt. The pain of past relations burdens the empty seeds. You can’t grow a tree when you are playing with weeds. Tomorrow is yet a lonely day but today I wait for thee. Love may be hard to get but it has to lay its head someday. The cushion of my desire may very well be kept as the home ahead. But when you escape my eyes, come again to grace my life because you complete my vision.

“Somewhere Over The Rainbow”

Google screws up your life

2008-09-29T19:19:00.000+05:30

Google Pages was the best thing for creating a free webpage on the internet – no ads, simple HTML, 1 GB space, customisable, free, etc, etc.

Well it was too good to last. Google Pages is no longer supported with the same tools as before. You can’t sign up for the service either.

http://pages.google.com/

The idiots who have screwed up this great web tool is Google itself. They have launched a useless service called Google Sites.

Google Sites allows no customisation and no HTML coding or coding of your images. It is so complicated that you need to be qualified enough to be employed at Google to use it. It is ugly, with unusable menu system and destroys all your HTML coded GooglePages.

Google Sites is the most user-unfriendly website builder I have encountered on the internet.
http://sites.google.com/

If they close down the Googlepages, then it would be a sad demise for a valuable webtool. As it is various features such as changing page template and deleting page URLs have been removed by Google on Googlepages.

I will have to now go back to Geocities but I am glad Yahoo is not a stupid dumbass like the IT developers of Google who work and run business websites on their whims and fancies.

If you hate Google Sites as well, blog about it and tell the idiot management of Google how pathetic their new application is.

Pulp Fiction book

2008-09-26T13:50:00.000+05:30

The Highwayman's life is such, too many people and too few relationships. These tales from distant roads describe with a pulp flavour the men on the run. They run from the law, from conformity, from daily grind, from love and from themselves. Indulge yourself in a fantastical world of adventure and possibility.

Ujjwal Dey writes fascinating variables of Pulp Fiction, shifting from loner to posse riders and from murder to romance. His style is unique, voice murky and words playful. His protagonists battle small goons to organised crime syndicates. The female characters are daring lady-luck and baring their heart. Change of times, change of roads, change of heart – you will go through all as you revel in the raw tales of chance and fortitude.

Now these stories are collected as a paperback A4 size book and PDF ebook.
Order yours today at http://www.ujjwaldey.com/ by visiting the Writer's Portfolio section.
Pulp Fiction and Biker Fiction have never been so intriguing and entertaining. Get a copy and begin the adventure.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

2008-09-22T00:15:00.001+05:30

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
>> Movie Review

It stars:
Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Wally Brown, James Cagney, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Charles Laughton, Charles McGraw, Fred MacMurray, John Miljan, Ray Milland, Edmund O'Brien, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, and Norma Varden.

Steve Martin is in the leading role as detective Rigby Reardon supported by Carl Reiner(also the director), Rachel Ward, and Reni Santoni.

I picked up this movie not knowing this stellar cast. I was out hunting for VCDs that were marked down from the original price and bought this one at full price on a hunch – I am happy with my luck. I never had heard of this movie and I took a chance on Steve Martin knowing his work never lets me down.

The story starts with a murder. A beautiful gal comes to detective Rigby’s office and hires him for USD 10 a day to find out who is the killer as she suspects her father’s death isn’t just a car accident. From here on, the story goes through awesome spins and characters portrayed fabulously by the incredible cast of actors who were huge in the 40s and 50s.

When the titles rolled at the beginning I was amused to see black and white images; then when the movie started Steve Martin in black and white surprised me. It made me wonder how old this actor is to have made a comedy movie lacking colour technology. Then came the superstars! Rigby (Steve) hires detective Marlowe, played well by Humphrey Bogart, to help him in his investigations.

Well I will stop messing with your head and let you in on their secret. The cast of these superstars is made possible through an incredible editing of footage from old movies merged in with the newly shot black and white scenes starring Steve Martin.

This is homage to the noir films and a parody of them as well. It also ends with a dedication to Costume Designer Edith Head since it’s her final film. Composer Miklós Rózsa had to rescore the music of some films he did back in 40s for this film, his last movie as well. With the end credits you get to see the stellar cast and the names of their movies from which the scenes were taken.

This is not a collage; it is a complete movie with a storyline and a goofy, sincere plot. All those of you who don’t recognise the names of the cast I mentioned in the first paragraph won’t even blink; the movie is that well directed and edited. Even though the old movies had film that ran at a different speed, you won’t even be able to point it out here.

Watch this mind-blowing movie and make it to the "enemies of Carlotta" list.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083798/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Men_Don't_Wear_Plaid

Steve Martin

Enjoy !!!

Letter Writing and emails

2008-09-20T15:52:00.000+05:30

Web based communication is, by its very nature, cold and curt in all correspondence. When you punch down the keyboard and send in an instant your thoughts, opinions, and comments to someone miles or oceans away – you are indeed making good use of technology. But then the personal touch and the warmth are always somehow missing.

This is because, when you put pen to paper you are essentially more involved with the subject matter and hence letter writing is considered an art form by many. Famous authors from H.P. Lovecraft to Jack Kerouac have essentially written hundreds of letters (the former in thousands), simply because they considered it a very essential form of human interaction. It was a way to know someone far away through a detailed description of their daily lives. When you get that snail mail in your mailbox, you know someone has taken time and effort to be in touch with you, share their lives with you and essentially want to be close to you. This is a feeling only a letter brings. You never jump for joy over the 20 forwarded emails from friends. But that one letter on your birthday makes you feel special.

But emails serve their own purpose. No one has the time or patience on the internet to read a lengthy discourse on personal activities. However it should never be considered as a substitute to letter writing. Emails are just a complementary addition to communication. It can not, with any amount of digital graphics or fonts or colours change the fact that it is a brief response probably done in lunch hour at office.

A letter on the other hand takes more practice and effort on the part of the writer. He starts off with the pleasantries and then delves into his experiences and vivid thoughts. The writer knows that this need not be less than 200 words. His reader will spend time reading his skilled handwriting and appreciate the gesture. The writer thus feels free from boundaries of time and space to truly pen his emotions and reach out to a friend or family member, telling them he still thinks of them and hence is taking the time to communicate via such a medium.

Even though we all know how wonderful sending or receiving a letter can be, we are human and vain enough to succumb to the temptation of “instant Karma” technology. The generation of today believes in instant gratification and thus emails have eroded a culture of penmanship and authorship. It is fast and cheap and hence has pushed aside tradition in this consumer-based capitalist culture. A letter may be a dying art form but it is a medium that brings the reader and writer to life.

Some cartoons on letter writing :-p

Letter writing at school

Write to me :-)

Girl, Interrupted : the movie review

2008-09-14T17:30:00.000+05:30

I first saw this movie back in 2002 on a free VCD I had got. I remember buying it simply because Winona Ryder was in it, not knowing anything about the movie at all. At that first viewing it was pretty shocking and I put it away not to see it for a second time until today.

It is a wonderful movie, describing the anguish of a group of females in their youth, in a mental institution; particularly that of the narrator and protagonist Susanna Kaysen. She is in here because she had a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. She wasn’t suicidal, just had a headache and so disagrees with the opinion of being in a mental institute for this act.

In here she meets a group of misfits, women young mostly with whom she interacts and befriends. Apparently she did not have many young friends in school and is the only female in her class not going on to college. She wants to be a writer and I personally could associate with her trauma relating to the world and the way people chose to identify with this world. If you liked movies about troubled youth such as Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester or Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind, then you would certainly appreciate this masterpiece and the story is true.

Yes, during the end credits I noticed that the movie is based on a novel by a person named Susanna. Then I looked at my VCD cover and saw “Based on a True Story” stamp on it. So now I am hunting for the novel version which seems more interesting than this movie, which I don’t know whether that’s possible. Anyways, this story is not about youth or a boring lecture on mental healthcare. It is about Susanna and her diagnosis and how she deals with it. She becomes good friends with a few of the characters in the mental ward and also with one nurse Valerie who is played well here by Whoopi Goldberg. The author Susanna criticised the movie though for fictional scenes added to the movie, but as a movie it is quite thrilling to watch as it is. But it has made me curious to hear the original tale as told by the author Susanna in her novel of the same name.

All in all a refreshing movie and quite possibly the only one starring Angelina Jolie that I have liked. She won many awards for this role, all the top 3 – Academy, Screen and Golden Globe.

I can’t imagine any other actress than Winona Ryder in that role as Susanna and she really should have got more recognition than she did for this and other movies.

Quote: “Crazy isn't about being broken, or swallowing a dark secret. It's you, or me, Amplified...”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_Kaysen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Interrupted_(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Interrupted

Enjoy !!!

Great Beginning: Lemony Snicket review

2008-09-07T18:16:00.000+05:30

It is sad to read some of the pathetic one star reviews on Amazon. These adults seem to not understand the book at all. Which does not mean it is not a great crossover book to be enjoyed by adults and kids alike.

First of all the entire premise is delightfully original. You get hooked in knowing all the misfortune that haunts the Baudelaire children. Lemony Snicket tells you it is not something you want to read if you like sugary happy endings which makes me wonder why the idiots who gave it one star wouldn’t heed this good advice.

Compared to the dull snoozefest that is Harry Potter, this is very much more entertaining, engaging and well written.

He has a way with words and with every book in the series using alliteration in the title and every one with 13 chapters to form the 13 books in the series, makes you more curious about it all. I especially enjoyed his way with explaining some words and phrases to the young reader – noteworthy being – difference between “literally” and “figuratively” and the word “standoffish”.

Bad things indeed happen to these young ones and as in all children’s book the adults don’t seem to understand the evil plot until it is too late. All children’s book from Enid Blyton to any book of today shows kids as the brave, enterprising, adventurous and witty ones. It is sad that some adults find this insulting but these protagonists are the “heroes” of the novel and if there is an adult hero in some novel, no one complains about the kids being portrayed as stupid.

The Bad Beginning starts with very bad news indeed. And the orphans now seek peace of mind in various ways. Children could learn humility, kindness, adventurousness, being polite and also grace & modesty in adversity. These kids are resourceful and stick together and know how to deal with negative and positive influences. There is a lot to learn here for kids and adults alike (especially the one-star rating adults).

The movie version is a very different story from the book but Jim Carey plays Count Olaf by the book.

You will enjoy this book and like me probably collect the entire series. I got all 13 on a Sale at USD 2 each at a local bookstore chain. All hardcover printed in Italy it is a bargain of a lifetime I pulled off.

The wonderful Baudelaire kids with the pretty inventor Violet and the thoughtful all reading Klaus and the cutest baby in literature – Sunny, make for wonderful light reading and I bought these 13 books yesterday and am already into book 2.

Buy the first one and give it a try. Unless you are one of those parents who thinks their kids will become Devil worshippers through something as lame as Harry Potter or are overprotective enough of your kids to bar them from going to a regular school, preferring home education under lock and key – unless you are that type of person - your kids will surely enjoy it very much.

An inspiring story. Better than Dicken’s orphans but not as thrilling as Mark Twain’s orphans.

Degenerate Biker Fiction's Best

2008-09-03T10:58:00.003+05:30

Howdy Dudes and Dolls,

This is by far the longest short story I have written at 5000 words.

DO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF IT - It is offensive and vulgar and full of incredible adventure.

Wayfarer: Death Comes Lately...
The Road Trip From Hell
By Ujjwal Dey with illustration by George Fleming

http://www.bikernet.com/fiction/PageViewer.asp?PageID=2329

The Wayfarer series is coming along nicely and I hope to put out a book length adventure of debauchery for all you whiskey-swigging, womanising, cowboys from Hell.

You can read more fiction and fact in Writer's Portfolio section of http://www.ujjwaldey.com/ - The Lounge of the Lazy Mind

Whimsical Free Verse Poetry - Deux

2008-08-23T18:50:00.001+05:30

Awake By Ujjwal Dey
Like a silent wind
A breeze of fate
The dream of tomorrow
More time in bed
Echo of thousand ghosts
Whispers from talks
Of days long ago
Begone away from me

Anxiety and thee
Stabs in vapid sea
My hunger and pain
Too strong for the sane
Read aloud sometime
The joy of pastime
Frivolous in life
Death do be my wife

New Trip by Ujjwal Dey
The skulls of odyssey
A drunken poetry
Beyond the time and place
Where crime sleeps in peace
Only drug of your mind
Being sick of gentile kind
Kick your self and boots
We are all in cahoots

Death relieves no pain
You are your own bane
Give up your prayers
Cast away thy swears
You know me as thy friend
Mending you in my bend
Killing you to succeed
Crabs of sea of mead

For the Love of a Woman

2008-08-03T00:22:00.000+05:30

Love and staying together of couples could be traced down to the evolutionary benefit of surviving with an offspring. If both parents, male and female, stick around after the seed is planted, there is a better chance for them all in nature's cruel game. There is more to it if you don't want to include historical and/or sociological obligations, which have further firmly installed the loyalty into love.

Man and Woman have depended on each other for varying reasons throughout all human life - ancient to modern.

If we go to the primal need or urge - beyond sexual urges that don't necessitate a long-term relationship - then familiarity, trust, companionship, inter-dependence and the important genetic motivation to perpetuate a family of our own would be the cause of love.

Love - its sickening isn't it - making you the slave of your own mind - serving the fire to keep yourself burning with emotions. Love; I hope to truly feel it myself someday, strong enough to sweep me off in a wave of passion, hopefully not crashing so hard as to cause the ruin of me. No man is an island, for the nymphs of the deep sea call and the devil of solitude is as horrible that you might as well drown yourself in her arms, sinking in bosoms as you be inside her for moments that make you realise why you are a man and why indeed there exists a woman.

Gene Linked to Lasting Love in Voles - the genetic love potion

Hungry for Love - the basic motivation to pursue your love prospect

Must Watch Murder Movies

2008-08-02T17:46:00.000+05:30

Must watch Murder Movies
You think you have heard it all. All the possibilities of crime and human insanity. The extremes of passion and perversion. Well you haven't.

Memento
The man knows only that he needs to exact a revenge on a certain person with certain initials in his name. He suffers from short-term memory loss, remembering fully only what he knows before the incident that changed his life. Before his wife was raped and murdered and now he remembers nothing new. Everyday he wakes up wondering where he is, what he needs to do. He talks to someone on the phone but doesn't remember who. He investigates meticulously to find the murderer. No one can help him. No one can trust his testimony under his mental condition. He leaves hints and clues for himself all day, to ensure he remembers to do what he needs to. This is not limited to notes in his own handwriting and to the polaroid photos he collects of people he meets. He has tattooed on his body things he should never forget.

Will he get to get his revenge ? You see it all in reverse chronological order. As each scene ends, his memory ends and you go back to the event preceding it. Joining this puzzle in his mind, you see the unfolding neurosis of a man trying to understand himself. How many years has it been since his wife's murder ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_(film)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
A child born to be abandoned - not just by his mother, who is hanged after his birth; but also by the world around him. From the stench of the sewers of Parisian fish market of his birth to the misery of an orphanage to the slavery in a tannery to learning that scents can be captured. He can smell over a thousand smells and distinguish them. He knows every smell but can't name them all. Destiny brings him in contact with a perfumer and he learns that he can indeed now preserve smells.

As he goes onward in his journey to capture and smell everything beautiful he comes to the city of Grasse and his one murder back in Paris reminds him of the unique scent of a woman. He realises for the first time about himself - about his own scent. His passion and perversion takes to extremes and he cannot be stopped as he has created a perfume so beautiful that no one can declare him anything but an angel. Returning to Paris, he must face his destiny - he has never been loved and can't love - so he returns to his place of birth for seeking the primal truth of his existence and talent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume:_The_Story_of_a_Murderer_(film)

Hostel
As discussed in previous post - horrifying, shocking and quite believable. Very well made movie deserving better slot than pop horror.

Hostel 2
Not as horrifying or gripping as the first movie but entertaining nonetheless. This time the backpackers are females and they are deadlier than the males. I would still say the first movie is far more original, intriguing and engaging. This one is not a good sequel but has good performances by the cast of actors.

Whimsical Free Verse Poetry

2008-07-31T16:53:00.000+05:30

Villain by Ujjwal Dey
Joker is a villain
Joker kills people
I don't like villains
I do like Jokes

My Subscription by Ujjwal Dey
Aeon loves Science Fiction
Aeon likes Magazines
I love Science Fiction
Now I steal Aeon's mail

The Writer by Ujjwal Dey
A writer writes, always
Writers get published mostly
I want to be a writer
I want to get published always

My Idiot Box by Ujjwal Dey
TV has nothing good on it
Good shows get cancelled
I stay up late watching
Nothing good shows up

Toady by Ujjwal Dey
I slapped the toad
He ran away
I slapped the bitch
The bitch stays

{Reference: toady (noun) - A person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage}

Necronomicon Bereaved by Ujjwal Dey
In R'lyeh he exists
sleeping and dreaming with me
Oh Cthulhu I wish for thee
to arise from the sea
The world sleeps and dreams
while the nightmare plays
across vast residencies
they need death to be in peace

Breakdown by Ujjwal Dey
In this, of her deep despair
She yearns for tools and spares
It's a hole in her Soul that
No grease-monkey can repair

The Big Waste By Ujjwal Dey
Another dollar, another day
I will holler, when I have a say
The kitten has slurped the spider
A roadkill past a hard rider

Death they said was the beginning
Unending bliss is too frightening
I cower now under shells of advert
Is cosy yet blissful under her skirt

Hostel : tourism was never more fascinating

2008-07-27T15:09:00.000+05:30

Holy %^@$%^# ! ! !

Just saw the movie "Hostel"

Uptill now I thought that the worst thing to happen to a tourist would be -

stealing his kidneys or
human trafficking in sex trade (for female tourists, only ? )
or hate crime against minorities.

But this is mindblowing stuff.

And it actually seems more profitable thing to do to a tourist than the above three.

Tarantino doesnot disappoint. He has been successful now as Producer for quite some time. I am looking forward to his Biker movie also as Producer - Hell Ride - the trailer is good.

Back to Hostel - of course such a violent movie would never reach Indian shores, at least not in its entirety. So thanks to internet got to see the uncut explicit gore.

I was able to have my lunch right after watching the movie - so maybe I don't believe such a thing could happen or I know its a Fiction Movie or maybe I am just too coldblooded (which is not who I want to be).

But it is a plausible premise - it surely could happen to any tourist in any damned nation such as Slovakia.

True to being an American HERO - the guy tries to save the other victim - cliched but it works well in what follows.

Anyways, I can't wait to see the 2nd Hostel movie.
Eli Roth is known now for making small budget movies that gross millions and millions at the box office - got to applaud the guy for his writing and direction. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Roth )

Certainly not a family movie or something your girlfriend would sit through.

Tips: I think watching it alone made it scarier for me :-(

I am never leaving this country - ever - Damn those Euro trash ! ! ! >:-(

Here is a look at some horror posters all in one page:
http://www.jmshop.net/premium/horror3.html
http://www.jmshop.net/premium/horror.html