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Aug

The “Me” Tag

Raj 3 Comments

Categories: Lists and Tag

I was tagged by Preeti recently and since I did the last tag an year ago, I thought I’ll do one now!

So here it goes:

Last movie seen in a theater:
Hancock

What book are you reading?
Its common knowledge that I read “To Kill A Monckingbird” recently and will be reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” next.

Favorite board game:
Scrabble

Favorite magazine:
Men’s Health (The only magazine I read!)

Favorite smells:
The smell of coffee in all the cafes, all of my favorite fragrances, the smell of Maggi etc.

Favorite sound:
The sound of great music, raindrops falling on the roof, crickets chirping at night etc.

Worst feeling in the world:
Let’s skip this question!

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
It’s morning again! Do I have to go to work today?

Favorite fast food place:
Subway

Future child’s name:
I’ll cross the bridge when I get to it!

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”
spend some of it on myself and my family and invest the rest

Do you drive fast?
Only as fast as one can in Indian cities. Still, not as fast as some maniacs.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Fortunately, no!

Storms - Cool or Scary?
Cool if you’re home sipping a cup of hot tea/coffee, scary otherwise!

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
I am not a big fan of it but yes, I do.

If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
Dark Brown.

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in:
Kanpur, Lucknow & Bangalore.

Favorite sports to watch:
Not a big sports buff but Cricket and F1.

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you:
A free spirit who’s full of life. (What a way to force someone to say good things about you!)

What’s under your bed?
Hopefully, nothing!

Would you like to be born as yourself again?
One life is enough, I think! I’d like to experience living a different life if I were to be reborn.

Morning person or night owl?
An anytime person but I prefer getting up early in the day.

Over easy or sunny side up?
What does that even mean?

Favorite place to relax:
Home!

Favorite pie:
No pies for me.

Favorite ice cream flavor:
Butterscotch and Fig & Honey.

You pass this tag to:
Anybody who wants it!

Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?
The one who picks it up first?

Feb

What I Love About Me

Raj 11 Comments

Categories: Lists, Music and Life

Yesterday was Valentine’s day and its a day dedicated to people we love. But do we ever stop and think about loving ourselves. Its no secret that I love myself and I don’t mind being called a narcissist once in a while. In fact, I believe that self-love is important. A famous quote goes “Love yourself, for if you don’t, how can you expect anybody else to love you?”. Why depend on others for love? Just love yourself! Also, listen to the song “Love You” by The Free Design. Its a nice, upbeat song and is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Now, like I’ve done many times in the past, I list few interesting/weird/boring facts about me:

I often run late in the morning and have to run half the way to the stop to catch the office shuttle. As a result, while walking back home in the evening, I sometimes feel that walking is too slow and boring and so I run at least for some distance even in the evenings.
I like well-illuminated plants and trees at night.
Almost every time I try to help a stranger in a “random act of kindness”, I never get any thanks or even a smile from the stranger help. Even though I help them!

Jan

My Top Movies of 2007

Raj 8 Comments

Categories: Lists and Movies

By now you must have read dozens of “Best Movies of 2007″ lists. I deliberately delayed publishing mine. In any case, I don’t say that these are the best movies rather the ones I liked the most.

So amongst all the movies I saw last year (and I saw enough!), the following emerged on top:

1. Hot Fuzz

2. Grindhouse

3. Pan’s Labyrinth**

4. Superbad

5. The Simpsons Movie

Closer home, the following Hindi movies did it for me:

1. Johhny Gaddaar

2. The Blue Umbrella

3. Chak De! India

4. Jab We Met

5. Manorama Six Feet Under

**The movie was officially released in December, 2006 but I saw it only in 2007 so I decided to include it.

Dec

Best Music I Discovered in 2007

Raj 11 Comments

Categories: Lists and Music

I am aware that all of these artists have been around for years. Its just that I happened to discover them this year.

1. Stars: They are a Canadian indie pop-rock band.
Found them through: the song “Calendar Girl” on last.fm.
I like: the fact that they are one of the few rock bands with many great duets thanks to the two lead singers, Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell. Love their music and wordplay as well as experiments with electronica.
Favorite work: Almost half the songs on the albums ‘Hearts’, ‘Set Yourself on Fire’ and their latest release, ‘In Our Bedroom after the War’. My favorite tracks are “The Night Starts Here”, “The Big Fight” and “Look Up”.
File next to: Rilo Kiley, Broken Social Science.

2. The Postal Service: They are an electronic rock band.
Found them through: the song “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” on last.fm.
I like: their sound. Its all about the sound! The lyrics, though mostly good, come second.
Favorite work: I love all the songs on their only album, ‘Give Up’ but “Clark Gable” and “Brand New Colony” are the ones I like the most.
File next to: The Shins, Frou Frou, Death Cab for Cutie.

3. Camera Obscura: They are a Glaswegian indie band.
Found them through: the song “Houseboat” on last.fm.
I like: their unique timeless, country sound and Tracyanne Campbell’s voice.
Favorite Songs: There are just too many! “Tears for Affairs”, “The Last Song”, “I Don’t Do Crowds”, “Happy New Year”, “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” and “Country Mile” top the list though.
File next to: Belle & Sebastian.

4. Nitin Sawhney: He is an English musician who is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian underground music in the UK.
Found him through: the video for “Koyal” on music channels though I knew about him even before that.
I like: his eclectic, soothing music, trippy music.
Favorite Work: Almost all of ‘Philtre‘ and the songs “Nadia”, “Breathing Light” and “Spark”.
File next to: Talvin Singh.

5. Talvin Singh: They are a Canadian indie pop-rock band.
Found him: because of the Nitin Sawhney connection though I had seen the video for his song “OK” years ago.
I like: his ambient, fusion music. Its almost magical.
Favorite Songs: “The One”, “Its Not Over”, “Butterfly” and “Abalonia”.
File next to: Nitin Sawhney, State of Bengal.

6. Agnee: They are an Indian rock band.
Found them through: their video for “Sadho Re” on music channels.
I like: their unique (for Indian bands) sound and strong vocals.
Favorite Songs: “Shaam Tanha” and “Kuch Ankahee”.
File next to: Strings, Junoon, Pentagram.

7. Interpol: They are an indie post-punk rock band.
Found them through: shared music on the office network.
I like: their hazy sound. It sends me into a vortex. (Okay, that made no sense!)
Favorite Songs: “Obstacle 1″, “Evil” and “PDA”.
File next to: The Arcade Fire, The Shins.

8. Jack Johnson: He is a Hawaiian singer/songwriter/musician/surfer.
Found him through: a friend.
I like: his relaxed style of music with clear guitary sound which is rare to find in most of today’s overproduced music.
Favorite work: The songs “Better Together”, “No Other way”, “Banana Pancakes” and “Sexy Plexi”.
File next to: John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz.

Feel free to share any new music that you might have discovered recently!

Jul

Here We Go Again

Raj 11 Comments

Categories: Lists, Movies and Life

In my last post, I mentioned my life’s rules and just yesterday, I received a forward from a friend titled “Life’s Little Instruction Book”. Now, I don’t know how popular this forward is or if everyone knows about it but I thought I would share some of the points. My comments are in italics.

Points that I agree with and practice:

Always accept an outstretched hand.
Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
Give people a second chance, but not a third.
Don’t allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It’s there for your convenience, not the caller’s.
Think twice before burdening a friend with a secret.
When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go. – Of course, otherwise it gets awkward.
Take charge of your attitude. Don’t let someone else choose it for you. - Absolutely
Once in a while, take the scenic route. – I do this as often as possible.
Remember that 80 per cent of the success in any job is based on your ability to deal with people.
Wave at the children on a school bus.

Points that I don’t agree with or can’t practice:

Whistle. – I’ve tried, I can’t.
Avoid sarcastic remarks. – Oh come on, I might as well stop talking altogether.
Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all that they have. – I think false hope is just not worth it.
When playing games with children, let them win. – Why? Nobody let me win when I was a kid.
Be modest. A lot was accomplished before you were born. – Not gonna happen.
Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them. – Its difficult for some people.

Points that are very interesting or I might want to try:

Make it a habit to do nice things for people who will never find out.
Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. – I think I might be that already.
Begin each day with some of your favorite music. – I try to.
Show respect for everyone who works for a living, regardless of how trivial their job.- I know I should but some people themselves make it hard to respect them
Become someone’s hero. – Who knows, I might already be someone’s hero.

Moving on, I’m sure everyone must have heard those people on TV going all nuts about the new superman movie. Apparently, they would explode into thousand pieces of Kryptonite if they see anyone other than Christopher Reeve playing the title role. I mean, it’s been a long time since then and I didn’t see any of those movies so who cares! I saw Superman Returns last Saturday and it was pretty good. I honestly never expected it to be that good given all the okayish reviews. Brandon Routh is excellent as Superman. There’s James Marsden aka Cyclops in the movie too. Kate Bosworth though is not very good. She looks more like an overworked mother than a fiery journalist. Or maybe I’m too used to watching Teri Hatcher play Lois Lane. But the movie was awesome. It made me take a superhero seriously for the first time and that’s not a joke even though I am laughing and it sounds totally ridiculous.