Life, the Universe and .....

Red sex, blue sex!

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:41:19 GMT

".... the reactions to it have exposed a cultural rift that mirrors America’s dominant political divide. Social liberals in the country’s “blue states” tend to support sex education and are not particularly troubled by the idea that many teen-agers have sex before marriage, but would regard a teen-age daughter’s pregnancy as devastating news. And the social conservatives in “red states” generally advocate abstinence-only education and denounce sex before marriage, but are relatively unruffled if a teen-ager becomes pregnant, as long as she doesn’t choose to have an abortion.. "

- Interesting social commentary from The New Yorker.

Coachella Music Festival!

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:04:34 GMT

Paul McCartney's performance is the headliner act at the Coachella, and the obvious highlight of the 3 day festival. The moment those monster screens appeared and Paul showed up, I knew this is going to be different. And indeed it was. In a three hour plus set, where the fireworks came midway, and with 3 encores, each encore running into three to four songs, it was really an experience.

Other highlights:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs!
Lykke Li
Thievery Corporation
Leonar Cohen
Franz Ferdinand
Morrissey

Slide show of the artwork and other bands!

Master Sauce Approach!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:23:11 GMT

"The unique superiority of French cooking for the next hundred years depended on the invention of the cooking associated with the name Auguste Escoffier. Escoffier's formula for food was in essence the same as Jasper John's formula for dada art: Take something; do something to it; then do something else to it. It was cooking that rested, above all, on the idea of the master sauce: A lump of protein was cooked in a pan, and what was left behind in the pan was "deglazed" with wine or stock, ornamented with butter or cream, and then poured back over the lump of protein. Escoffier was largely the creature of courtiers and aristocratic patrons; the great hoteliers of Europe, particularly Cesar Ritz, sealed in place the master sauce approach that remains the unchallenged basis of haute cuisine."

- "Paris to the Moon" by Adam Gopnik

Not At The Multiplex!

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:55:49 GMT

Moscow, Belgium (named like the Paris, Texas, but feather light in comparison) is a city-romance, that's funny in parts, and makes a tiny impression despite not having much of a plot, thanks largely due to its lead actress. You won't be disappointed, if you see it with low expectations.

Medicine For Melancholy, the movie I mentioned earlier while talking about In Search of a Midnight Kiss (the black and white movies with a city as a character, the movies in which two characters keep talking while walking through a city), is finally getting a limited release. Even though it's playing at only one theatre in LA, the crowd turnout on a Saturday night wasn't bad.

This time, the city is San Francisco (All lovers of The City, take note). The characters are black. (Tangent: Is San Francisco really the least black of all american cities, as the movie puts it across? I would have thought Seattle or Portland would be the least black among major cities. But for a city that's considered to be very liberal, what does this say of its acceptance of diversity? Then again, does diversity mean only including black?)

I felt this movie is more coherent than In Search of A Midnight Kiss, and better. Though I wish the filmmakers haven't chosen to overexpose certain frames in the movie.

Here you go, three cities, three movies.

Manhattan,
Medicine for Melancholy,
In Search of a Midnight Kiss.

In that order, if you want a theme.

Coming of age film for Bollywood!

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:20:43 GMT

Here is one movie that's screaming to be noticed, and I am almost shocked to see that none of the blogs(at least in my friends' list) are talking about it.

Love it, hate it, preferably the former, but, go and watch it..

For the record, three folks sitting in front of me muttered "Kitna Ghatiya film hai" and left ten minutes into the movie.

Now, I am trying to download "No Smoking!" ( beatzo, your moment of vindication)

Four Movies!

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:43:42 GMT

Before David Lean - yes, the David Lean of epic scale visually stunning movies - became world famous, he made many little British movies that are known for nift story telling, the movies in which the editor David Lean is crafting his technique, playing with lighting and sets as he did so excellently in "Great Expectations." You may remember "Brief Encouter" from this period, which is the most well known.

Ten of his early movies were restored recently towards end of 2008 and were circulating around the cinematheques of the world (check your local calenders). I caught four of them on two different days at UCLA Film and Television archive.

"Hobson's choice", the movie I haven't even heard about before, is my favourite, closely followed by "Great Expectations". All you Noel Coward fans and film historians, excuse me, but I thought "Blithe Spirit" didn't age well. "Oliver Twist" couldn't live up to the great expectations set forth by the namesake movie that preceded.

I would still recommend "Brief Encounter," if you were to see only one movie from this David Lean's era, and "Hobson's Choice" if you happen to record it on TCM and have an idle weekend afternoon to kill.

Products!

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:09:48 GMT

Bumble and bumble seaweed shampoo in hair, conditioner afterwards, regenerist micro thermal peel on the face, shower gel on the body - 4 products in the shower; straightening cream on the front hair, texturing cream on scalp, moisturizing sunblock on the face, antiperspirant under arms, body lotion on the knees and elbows, and aftershave - another 6 products after the shower - I am a walking cosmetic factory!

But, hey, I smell nice!

Whatever happened to bathing with Lux soap, and mom running after you to apply coconut oil, and Saturday bathing with kunkudu kayalu!

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Los Angeles : Wolfgang Puck :: Seattle : Tom Douglas.

W/P is recognized brand in LA; on TV, and on the streets, which amuses me when I observe and compare with how things are in India. We don't celebrate chefs in India. In fact, many newly established restaurants loose their reputation one fine day because the chef(s) responsible quit suddenly, and the patrons don't even know.

Celebrated chefs here own a stake in the restaurant, and sometimes in the entire chain, design the menu, and make sure the items are prepared the same way.

Not endorsing any way of doing this, just observing the differences.

Village Theater

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:28:13 GMT

The Village is a historic landmark here in Westwood, where many red carpet movie premieres happen. The theatre itself is very old school, brilliantly maintained, the old-fashioned architecture clashing with modernity in top of the line digital projection and surround audio. It's a treat to watch movies here.

The iconic building with its tower, that can be seen from long distance if you are in this region, along with Bruin theater right opposite, is the epicenter for activity in Westwood village.

Mistaken!

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:48:16 GMT

And I thought Amy Winehouse is all christina/britney type pop idol music!!!

"As American as Apple Pan!"

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:14:28 GMT

The Apple Pan is a west-side institution in LA that specializes in "doing simple things exceedingly well," similar to the the californian idea that founded Mc.Donalds eventually. The Apple Pan stood alone as the wheel turned around, refusing to be franchised, serving only two burgers - Hickory burger, their best, and Steak burger - around the now legendary U-shaped counter, where you always have to stand in line to get a seat, unless you arrive there single, like I do, in which case your chances of getting a seat are high, as nobody likes to sit sandwiched in between two couples crooning over the each other, with stuffed burgers in their mouths (just imagine!). (I don't care though).

Apple Pan serves apple pies as well (duh!)

You need to have the sweet pie (a sugar bomb) with coffee (no cream and sugar, preferably) to neutralize the excessive sweetness of the pie.

You also need to be a David Lynch, churning out Twin Peaks scripts while having your pie and coffee. Or at least act like one.

Los Angeles Public Library

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:38:18 GMT

A curious map at the maps exhibition - L.A Unfolded: Maps from Los Angeles Public Library - at LAPL. If you want to read the regional drink names, look closer here. What's that empty balloon over India? :P An exhibition like this is only possible from established libraries like LAPL, the nation's third largest, which collect books and all things associated with books, which under the weight of many years become memorabilia and eventually works of art carrying history with them.

A 5 hour wait to collect the passport from Canadian Consulate yesterday turned into a nice little walk in the financial district of LA downtown, the area I never visit. I didn't stray beyond Grand and Hope Streets, however. Actually, I spent most of it, just circling around the library and inside.

The pyramid tower, the square block design, the story of LAPL, the arson fires, the reconstruction are all part of the LA folklore which I need not repeat. The atrium design with it's use of natural light through glass ceilings is probably studied by others since then, particularly by the designers of stellar Seattle Public Library, I'd think.

Spring Awakening!

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:25:02 GMT

Spring Awakening is the Jude Apatow production equivalent to high brow broadway entertainment, it felt to me. I haven't seen many musicals, and so I am not qualified to say anything about the show. (It's my second show, the first being The Phatom of Opera I saw in London)

I loved the music, the live experience, and the mad rush to get to the venue in the rush hour traffic on a Monday night.

Happy Go Lucky!

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:49:42 GMT

Q: Which is a better reviewed movie than Slumdog Millionaire this season?
A: Happy Go Lucky!

A cute little film about an annoyingly happy girl, her life, the sad characters around her. The movie has a few dull moments, but you will ignore them in all the amusement and the chuckles.

Go watch it, before it's off the screens.

I've loved you so long!

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:19:10 GMT

Here is a quiet film, with a predictable denouement, not necessarily disappointing, anchored by good acting.

Going by the number of people who turned out for Friday evening show for a French movie in it's third week, I think, the movie is gaining popularity. After all, it has Kirstin Scott Thomas in the lead role, that darling of critics who rave that she could play both French as well as English roles, and that English Patient actress for the rest of us.

Like you, I am excited about Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's new film, and it's 91% rotten tomatoes rating. Last such well reviewed movie I remember from recent past is Wall.E. Unfortunately, I can not see it until I get back to LA. I missed its preview screenings and its early Wednesday release.

May be the soundtrack will release by the time I get around to seeing it. After all, we all need one more AR Rahman album to brighten up our days.

And Now For Something Completely Different!!

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:35:10 GMT

Red color ✓
Blonde/Caramel Red Hair Extn ✓
Skull Graffiti Vans ✓
Wayfarer glasses with a black rim and day glow yellow arms ✓
Piano Tie ✓
Rainbow bullet belt ✓
Tight jeans ✓
The bad-ass '80s look ✓

Prep1

Prep2

The end result!

I never thought I would actually get dressed like this and go to the Vanity Fair Portraits Exhibition cum Halloween Muse ball at the LACMA.

Signature drinks for the night: Absinthe cocktails.

The Daily Pint!

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:26:54 GMT

Five minutes before midnight, I was trying to get into The Daily Pint, and I was IDed as usual. Only this time, the bouncer had a fancy device in his hand, and he swiped my drivers license on the tiny yellow device. He swiped two times and muttered, "This is supposed to work."

On the third trial, the reassuring digits -- "28" -- appeared on the display, for one last time.

And I walked in, not with a sigh, but with a faint smile.

The immigrant experience - in writing

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:48:44 GMT

1. Yiyun Li, Jhumpa Lahiri's chinese doppelganger, has been writing about chinese experience in America, American Chinese experience in China, for a while now. Most recently, one of her stories - Gold Boy, Emerald Girl - appeared in New Yorker. Her earlier stories are compiled into "A thousand years of good prayers," two of which are adapted by Wayne Wang into two companion films - the first one, muted and very subtle, titled after the book, is in theatres right now; while the second one, The Princess of Nebraska, is released on YouTube Screening Room. If you are reading your entertainment business news regularly, you would have read articles about how online distribution is the new niche thing, mentioning Princess of Nebraska as an example.

YouTube reps are actually marching into every major film festival these days, hunting for low budget indie movies to get content for their Screening Room. I wish them luck. May be, one day, instead of linking IMDB, you will start linking movies off YouTube directly to share with friends. Amazon, are you listening? Oh, right, you don't care, because you encroached into eBay arena and happy about it.

2. Wife and Husband team have released two new movies simultaneously. The divorce apparently is a publicity stunt, the cynical would have you believe. While the trailer of wife's movie - Filth and Wisdom - had me curious (who could ignore the Madonna name tag?), the movie is trashed by critics. Mostly. The husband apparently is back to form, and his movie is getting lukewarm reviews. Form is enough for me, ad nauseam or not. I could use another "Snatch" for this weekend.

3. Who would have expected that the Broadway Deli, nestled among the mall type stores on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, is not a tourist trap, but actually a good deli that can serve a half decent Pastrami Reuben?

I didn't. I stand corrected.

4. Sidewalk dining, while reading a magazine. I walk to Johnnie's almost every day these days for lunch.

Either I must love their barbecue chicken salad with cilantro topping or have a huge crush on the cute waitress. I can't decide which.

5. Quiz question that should have been asked four years ago: What's the hit television series whose pilot episode is directed by Bryan Singer with an addictive theme by Massive Attack? (Or more obtusely - Connect P.G.Wodehouse and Bryan Singer)

I love LA!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:01:16 GMT

A maid comes to our house every alternate Wednesday, robs my roommate and me of 60$ each, and leaves a spotlessly cleaned house behind.

I love coming home on Wednesdays.

I am caught in a flux of LA's high culture life, involving impromptu trips to nearby places on weekends, watching movies, mostly revivals, with odd ball past-weekend releases in between, if I could manage time, reading New Yorker stories, and Sunday NYTimes (Sitting in LA, I read NY-centric magazines), the recipes on the end section of Sunday Magazine, the food chit-chat that goes with it, other gastronomical delights (sun dried tomatoes - yum yum!), thoughts about next Big Travel (Istanbul? Prague? Buenos Aires - only cities, not countries).. the list goes on.

With Fall, the activities gathered momentum. "Prison Break" Mondays with The Big Bang Theory, studying Music Theory for morning classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, doing loads of homework for Wednesday's Principles of Economics class, scrambling to take good photographs for the Photography assignments, thinking about getting "Chicken Madras" (I kid you not) from Whole Foods (Whole Foods simplifies the naming - any south Indian dish is named "X Madras") on Thursday nights, and beers on Friday nights at Westwood Brewery (Hoegaarden on Tap, the current favourite), and exploring new food places (Reuben sandwich - where do I get the best one? What about French dip sandwich? Philippes - I am itching to go there), and decadent Sundays with typical LA fare - "swearing is cool" Entourage and Showtime's "I too can do that" Californication.

More TV: How I met your mother, House MD (blazing through season one, wink wink beatzo), Dexter (3rd season just premiered), Iconoclasts, Live From Abbey Road, Weeds. So much TV, no wonder people envison dystopic 1984s. I'm slowly turning into a couchpotato, not so very different from the one addicted to saas-bahu serials.

I'm glad I haven't caught on Bill Maher and others.

The Diptych!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:18:27 GMT

Elegy and Vicky Cristina Barcelona are companion films, if you are a Penelope fan. Both feature Patricia Clarkson as well, if you want to make a connection from that angle. (That High Art and Station Agent girl, if your Sundance cred is strong.)

[ I just noticed New Yorker, quite fittingly, reviewed these two movies together. ]

Elegy neatly fills in the gaps left in Philip Roth's brutal narrative (Yes, I did say brutal, though Manohla said it before me) that concentrates and tries to explain current American sexual landscape. It's a treat to see Ben Kingsley act out the complexity of the Roth's character's mindset, through silences, facial features, and his voice. Apparently, both aging masters (Roth and Updike) are releasing two new novels this fall. Roth seems to be sitting on a high altar and analyzing his observations on American culture over the last 50 or so years, the years he is most familiar with. Something one can afford to do after 60 years of age.

Woody Allen seems to be doing the same in Vicky Christina Barcelona. His musings on the concept of love, the modern perspectives and the contradictions, all neatly wraped in a cute little travel-porn package, populated with beautiful people in it. This would have turned sour in less capable hands. I wish the voice-over were by Woody Allen himself.

I loved watching it at one of last remaining independent theatres in LA - The lovely Crest.

Speaking of old masters making commentary on sex/love, there is Claude Chabrol, whose new film - A Girl Cut in Two - eluded me. The critics are, as usual, raving about it.

Mere Anarchy!

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:37:32 GMT

I am starting at the end, at "Mere Anarchy" by Woody Allen, and going backwards, moving on to The Insanity Defence next, Side Efffects, Without Feathers, and Getting Even in the end.

Allan Stewart Konigsberg, 'cause that what his name is, amazes me. (Has to be a "-berg", right?! ) He had been active on TV, writes and directs his movies, selects his soundtrack, writes plays, occasionally writes for The New Yorker, plays clarinet in jazz bands, and screws his adopted stepdaughter. What isn't he capable of?!

Of evenings at UCLA... and of fine Belgian Beer..

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:11:27 GMT

I crash at UCLA lawns, a little hilly and beautifully landscaped (like any top US college, the dissenters might add), to spend an evening hour, most pleasant from 6pm to 7pm, when the right shade of sun filters through the trees and lights up the grass to glow faintly, warm enough to sleep on the grass under no shade, but not too warm to burn after the first 10 minutes.

One could use a book or the New Yorker or an iPod stuffed with Radiohead as ambient little touches, but completely unnecessary. Summer time, very few students, no diversions, not even the chirping birds.

Dull cellphone pictures that fail to capture the typical setting.

===

I am a tourist in my own city. Lucky Baldwin's in Pasadena on a Friday night, where I met one of the people I know from college with her husband, who graciously let me stay over for the night. And that means I could sample more than one belgian beer on tap. I sampled three over the course of the night. There are 63 beers on tap here - many rare to find belgian beers, a few trappist and abbey beers for the beer discerning crowd.

The bar tender recommended me a Le Chouffe, and I pooh-poohed saying "I already had that one before", as a beer-snob would do, and settled for a Moinette Blonde, the first name bartender uttered that I didn't recognize, typical of a fake beer-snobs of my kind. And oh, you are allowed to say "you prefer Belgian Blondes".

And thus, I had my first Leffe, as well.

The following night, I made a beeline for Father's Office, curious to explore my own neighborhood's Lucky Baldwin's after getting a one hour HOWTO lecture from my roommate about making a conversation at a bar ("We don't call it a pub, unless it's Irish, so tell them you went to a bar last night, Lucky Baldwins, and people told you to go here as well", "Don't hold your hands like that, that's closed body language, no, don't put your hands in your jeans' pockets either" and so on). Father's Office, rumoured to be serving the best burger in town, turned out to be a delightful hole in the wall, but yes, it did have some rare beers on tap.

My beer education continues.

That begs the question, psychelone: When are we going on the Abbey tour in Belgium?

In other news, the Whole Foods in Westwood carries two more of The Select Seven trappist beers - Rochefort and Westmalle.

Unique movie experiences - Thin man

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:55:55 GMT

First pick up a copy of Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, with a double l and a double t. It's better if you have heard about this classic whodunnit in your college days and you couldn't find a copy. It's even better if you later find it at a second hand books stall in your city. Savour every page of it. Discuss the clever and urbane relationship between the lead pair - Nick and Nora - with your buddy, who happens to read the novel before you and also recognizes that same aspect about the story.

Then having relished the literary subtleties of the book, you keep your watch for the movie series. You wait. Then years later when the series comes on TCM on TV in a foreign land, you record them all. All six movies. You call in sick, stay home, and pop open a bottle of wine at 10am, after the breakfast, of course, but ignoring the hour of the day, and sit down to see the stars - the real stars of the yesteryears - William Powell and Mirna Loy playing the roles of Nick and Nora.

What a delight! Classic romp! Romp? Sounds pornographic.. but who cares about the description. It's not like you have the dictionary with you to look the up the subtleties of meaning.

Then you ignore the series fizzling out towards the end of the fourth movie. You don't care, you just finish the bottle of wine, and have a good time.

Sir Ben's shadow!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:21:54 GMT

Ben Kingsley seems to be everywhere this season. He was there in The Love Guru (Don't ask, I didn't see the movie), he was the f'ed up wacko in The Wackness (Watch it, if you can), and was the Russian in Trassiberian (your little indie thriller this summer, recommended for travel junkies), and now in Elegy, Philip Roth's novella - The Dying Animal - turned into a movie.

If you want a spectrum of character acting, there, you have it.

I am going to see Elegy as soon I as I finish reading the book this weekend.

===

If you want to look at it from another angle, Penelope Cruz is going to be there everywhere these two weeks - This week, Elegy; next week, Vicky Christina Barcelona, the new Woody Allen film that's getting released.

===

Wayne Wang introduced his new movie - A thousand years of good prayers - at the sneak preview class last week. Wayne Wang? Yes, that "Maid In Manhattan" guy, if you want to be blunt about it, or that "Joy Luck Club/Dim Sum" guy if you want to be snooty arty-farty about it.

"A thousand years of good prayers" forms a diptych with "The pricess of Nebraska," the latter being released online here in US.

I love companion films. Gives me a sense of exploring.

Yiyun Li, another book on to the stack.

After the movie, I went to Canter's as usual, as I was in Fairfax district, to have my weekly pastrami and hoping to read current New Yorker story, and was surprised to find Sarah Silverman in the diagonal booth. Other than seeing noted celebrities at movie events, this is the first time for me seeing some one at a normal restaurant.

Needless to say, I didn't finish reading that story.

Helm's Alee!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:12:51 GMT

Tacking, Luffing, Jibing, Rigging... I speak the language of a sailor now.

Sailing, for me, is like venturing into a foreign country without even learning to say "Hello" in the native tongue. There is so much of sailboat vocabulary that often I give a blank stare and listen intently to understand what the hell the instructor is saying.

Among the many "something-new"s I poked my long nose into so far, sailing is really something "new". I am still amused at how the boat moves upwind. I hear an ice sailboat can go easily upto 60mph in a 20mph upwind.

Another field that I'd think would be really new (from a vocab angle) is ranching, as Anne Proulx's recent story in NewYorker fiction special issue - Tits-up in a ditch - richly illustrated. Take the title, for instance, if you can get past the mental brakes at the word Tit. It's a western slang to mean: to get stuck in a situation from which you can not get out of.

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Oxymoron: In the early days of blogging, immediately after reading a nice story like "The Great Experiment," I would recognize the mentioning of Alex de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" and connect it with the first time I heard about it, and blog about it. But, in the days of anyone-can-google, I wouldn't.

Summer Sneak Previews

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:33:20 GMT

The "Sneak Previews" class conducted by UCLA at the Writers Guild Auditorium in Beverly Hills, the class I had been looking forward to since I missed taking it last term, has started with a whimper yesterday. The movie screened was - In search of a midnight kiss. Yeah, I know, where is the Michael Clayton you promised me? Where is the little-indie-on-it's-way-to-monster-hit "Juno" you spoke about?

"In search..." wasn't a bad movie (It's mostly getting positive reviews in the indie/festival film circuits). It wants to be the Manhattan, without Woody Allen and Gershwin; all in black and white, with liberal doses of perverted gags that run contrary to the romanticism it wants to evoke with B&W visuals. But, the setting is LA, mostly the downtown I never go to. The city I live in, the city I love, the city many wanna-be stars pretentiously say it will change you as a person.

I hear Medicine for Melancholy is similar with San Francisco as the city behind.

Manhattan, In search of a midnight kiss.. any other similar black and white movies you could think of with the City as the main character?

Let's try this again.

Before Sunset, Before Sunrise, In search of a midnight kiss, Medicine for Melancholy.. Any other movies with two characters talking and walking through a particular city?

Sub-genres within rom-com genre.