Tag Archive for 'fun'

Among other things

Published on July 7, 2010 in Good things, Lee and Life as it happens. 19 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Another July, another humid summer. A new baby and an almost forgotten dog. 2010 has been a hectic year. And as a friend on Facebook reminded us, half the year is already over (insert as many exclamation marks as applicable here). I have been home since February and finally joined work this monday. The transition was painful . It still is since this is only my second day back to a dusty desk and a rickety chair, which was okay when I left, I know for sure.

It is so humid. It is so hot. On a plus side, I liked being back in the classroom after one whole semester. I even started teaching the very first day of college (roll eyes as applicable here again). As we all know the rules of teaching, no one takes the first class after a long vacation. At least thats how they did it back in my alma mater, Calicut. I thought it was AICTE approved a general rule or something.

The baby is now 5 months old today. She smiles and laughs and coos and aahs and cries at will and makes me want to quit my job and be a stay at home mom. Little Lee’s started to roll over these days although she lacks the necessary hand to leg coordination for crawling… so she just sprawls on her tummy and goes *waahh* for help. Once I even caught her dozing off to sleep on her own. Such independent streak already! The mommy in me, suddenly finding herself being redundant, couldnt help but wake her up and put her to sleep myself again.

Sigh. I could have gotten used to being on maternity leave for life.

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Do’s and dont’s to die for

Published on December 27, 2009 in From here & there, Musings and No good. 15 Comments Tags: , , , , , .


Update: This post was selected by BlogAdda for this week’s ‘Tangy Tuesday Picks’ Dec 29, ’09 :)

Becoming a parent is easy when you have such clear instructions; found at this site which I dont know if they’re really serious or just want to make everyone’s day for a change:

Apparently, you cannot lift a baby by its head. If you didnt know that already. You could try but be aware of the red triangle with the exclamation mark. Dont go by the baby’s neutral and almost-pleasant expression.

This is for the dads-to-be. Remember – if you burn your tongue over too-hot milk, you have only yourself to blame for!

This is for the mum-to-be. Remember – a chicken leg does not equivalent a feeding bottle. No matter how happy you are to feed your baby this way!

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Why I liked WANTED

Published on September 30, 2009 in Moo-vies. 6 Comments Tags: , , .
wantedwantedwanted
wantedNo, I am not a Salman Khan fan neither have I watched any film of his in years. Yes, I did have a week long vacation and after a bit of research (if you can really call it that) online, DBH ultimately got slammed and Wanted was apparently a ‘must watch’.
So these are the reasons why I liked Wanted:

wanted

No, I’m not a fan of Salman Khan neither have I watched a film of his in years. Yes, I did have a week long vacation and after a bit of research online, Dil Bole Hadippa apparently got slammed and they said WANTED was in a much better position. So WANTED it was eventually.

It was hard not to like the movie. Mainly because:

1. Salman Khan has come a long way from his over-the-top, comic (if you can call it that) performances where he acts pretty goofy and squeaks in a high tone for much part of the movie. Imho, he was in this movie – much like Shah Rukh Khan was in Chak De! – a brooding guy, who effortlessly convinced us he was the ultimate bad guy. I am impressed with Salman Khan. I may also have turned into a fan of his, you never know.

Another reviewer called WANTED Salman’s Ghajini. And I must agree. He is pretty much a one-man army in this movie. But then again, which hero isnt a Superman in our bollywood movies, eh?

2. Mahesh Manjrekar as the evil cop was realistic, even though he’s kinda being typecased as the bad guy in recent times. I mean, the guy can direct as well as act. What a package. He fully misuses his powers as a cop and does some terrible things that make you want to get sick but I like him. Oh all right, I am a fan of his from now onwards as well.

3. This movie has a bit of romance, comedy, drama, action – you name it. The crowd in the theatre laughed and laughed, while I gaped at the lady next to me who was trying to stop laughing, talk to her kid on the phone and capture the seat handle on my side, all at the same time. I bet she enjoyed the movie best amongst all of us.
4. Prabhudeva as a dancer or a director? I’ll take both. He shakes a leg at the first opening song, Michael Jackson style and that was the only song in the movie that I wanted played a little longer so that he could do a mean moonwalk as well – but that was not to be.
5. I have always heard that Salman Khan needs very little excuse to lose his shirt.  And after watching this movie, I can vouch that this is totally true! He does have a totally hubba-hubba-hubba body so I guess no one’s complaining.
In retrospect, there were certain not-so-interesting areas for example:
  • A little too many songs popping in out of nowhere, which I guess is sadly inevitable in a Bollywood movie.
  • Salman does a James Bond in this movie and has a – wait for it – license to kill. He can apparently finish off anyone and get away with it.
  • The story twists and turns with some unexpected events unfolding at the end but that doesnt stop the audience from whistling and clapping in open admiration. They loved the film so no need to rationalize things too much, I guess.
All in all, WANTED was an interesting movie. Havent watched a commercial Bollywood movie like it in ages. Dont miss it!

The F word

Published on February 20, 2009 in Music and No good. 25 Comments Tags: , , , , .

pentagram

Pic courtesy: http://pentagram.in

The F word? I know we’re offended by it. Most of us, including me, dont use it on a regular basis. But making a big deal out of it at the end of a rock show is ridiculous. Wait, its more than that – its fucking ridiculous. Especially when that band was Pentagram, made famous by Vishal (of the Vishal-Shekhar duo who’s making sappy bollywood songs compared to this band’s music, I now realize)

I’m not a major Pentagram fan, I admit. Because I havent really listened to them much before. But I like music concerts even though to my sorrow, I live in a concert-starved place unlike some of you lucky people living in the metros.

So when a local college invites a prestigious national band to perform in their fest, I usually hunt down my friends working there and extort passes from them each year.

The show kicked off by Vishal saying:

I know you guys are respectable professors (crowd booing!) and shit but at a Pentagram show, no body sits down. (I cheered) So you have two choices, either you guys can – (quick rethink) – I humbly request you to please stand and join this party with us!

The concert was fun. The band mostly played their original compositions some of which I’d never heard before but it was tremendously interesting watching them perform. Vishal rocks! I think I love him.

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What does it take to be a Roadie?

Published on January 20, 2009 in MTV Roadies. 21 Comments Tags: , , , , .

You’ll probably have to be:

1. A loud, fight-loving vixen who would offer to thrash others in the very next minute. Should be able to gesture like mad, flailing arms and point fingers at the other person’s face continuously till her opponent walks off. Should latch on to one guy and make him a body guard of sorts.

2. Cute guy who should want to forever be at the vixen’s side. Should aim to mediate her fights with other girls and come between the two warring parties so that no one actually gets beaten up in the bargain. Naturally, this will cause the other girls to dislike him immensely and put him on the spot light whenever a particularly nasty task has to be performed. Ouch.

3. A rainbow coloured peacock with makeup to match. To be the group air head with vacant expression and blank smile. Should dress horrendously to suit weird personality. Will be one of the first people to be wanted to be voted out but will probably stay till the end because “she belongs to no one”.

4. Several bitchy girls whose main aim will be to gossip about the others, plot and scheme and basically act infuriatingly catty. Side with like-minded personalities and form groups among each other. Pick a couple of guys who’d probably like them but not so much that they’d sacrifice themselves for the girls in the end.

5. A real stupid guy who wears shoes that hasnt been released in India till now and whose accent goes awry after a couple of sentences. Should be able to embarass himself thoroughly on national television. And talk poor english such as I got 3 shots in the middle of my both legs. Maybe mistake Roadies for the grand circus, in all probability.

There are so many freaks and confused souls on MTV Roadies 6 this time that I’m beginning to wonder if this is really Roadies I’m watching. And since reality shows this time around means painful humiliation and absurd tasks, I for one am not missing even one episode.

With all the cat-fights, name-calling, abuse-flinging adventure ride in store, I would recommend you not to miss the show either. This time seems to be Hell Down Under indeed, much pun intended after the last task!

Why I liked Ghajini

Published on January 11, 2009 in Moo-vies. 16 Comments Tags: , , .

ghajini

Before I watched the movie, I read a really scathing review in a friend’s blog. So I was all prepared to dislike the movie and start finding its faults before I had finished my popcorn. The only glaring one I unearthed was that Jiah Khan girl with her irritating demeanour and nosy ways. She should stick to doing item numbers and I agree with my friend completely when he said that someone should have killed her instead at the end of the movie!

So these are the reasons why I liked Ghajini, the movie:

  • I dont watch a lot of Bollywood movies but I dont remember a film ever before being named after the lead Villian! Now how often does that happen? Yes, people who havent watched the movie (if there are any), Ghajini is the nasty villian who hacks Aamir’s girlfriend to death. Its interesting because most Indian film makers tend to label their films with the hero’s names only. This was refreshingly different.
  • Aamir Khan looks good even at his age. Now for someone who’s scared of growing old and dreading turning 30, this guy is quite an inspiration. And of course, I dont need to tell you how good an actor he is and how much fans like the rest of us wait for his once-in-a-year movies.
  • The lead actress, Asin really holds her own against Aamir Khan. For a debut performance, she didnt let herself be overshadowed in the mighty performance of her co-star. In fact, by the intermission – I was feeling quite mutinous myself and understanding why Aamir would want his revenge for the murder of a life so vivacious.
  • You know how Bollywood movies are all so preachy and have this little moral at the end of it? Well, this one’s got one too and it is this – No good ever comes out of being helpful and kind in this world. After all the girl does get killed for doing the right thing. At least, the movie has an honest theme and is anything but preachy!
  • Mr Ghajini for inventing the golf swing as a new way to murder people. Also, he endeared himself (to me at least) for pronouncing ‘short term memory loss’ as shot turm memry lass! He was the ultimate bad guy and I cringed inwardly whenever he yelled on screen.
  • The movie enthralled the audience, for sure. Three ladies sitting next to me oohed and aahed and cursed Aamir for leaving his cell phone in the car while his poor girlfriend is calling him for help. The whole audience gasped collectively when Aamir was being bludgeoned to near death. They all laughed out loud at the funny moments and drew sharp, breath intakes at the climax. And yes, the cinema hall was full even after two weeks of release.

Of course, there were certain pitfalls like songs popping in out of nowhere and how long the movie was and so on. But these were nothing compared to Aamir’s rippling muscles flexed while he was in the gym! Overall, a paisa wasool movie. Go watch it, if you havent already.

Have you voted yet?

Published on November 29, 2008 in Good things. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Now I dont believe in excessive propagation of thine own blog. But if I could nominate my own posts for these popular blogging awards, I can ask my faithful readers to vote for me as well.

Avant Garde Bloggies Awards is this really fun thing wherein you get to vote for your favourite posts in various categories. I had a lot of fun going through the posts that made it to the finals and believe you me, there are some seriously interesting bloggers flaunting their stuff.

I got nominated for two categories, Best “About Me” and Most Interesting Tag Post.

Did I tell you to vote for me already?

The prize for the best posts are these nice badges that one can put up in their blog. Which is why I for one cannot understand why this guy’s ranting about a judge being nominated over 20 times and all that jazz.

Its all in good fun and one should participate in good spirit, knowing that winning isnt everything.

Or is it? ;)

If you’re wondering which posts are nominated but are shy to ask, here’s my post for Best “About Me” – 28 things about me. This one is for Most Interesting Tag Post – The A to Z’s of me.

I should have asked you to vote a long time ago since the contest closes on 6th of December and the results will be out by the 11th of December. If I dont win, I’m blaming it all on my preference for procastination.

I had a great time reading some very cool posts. And I hope so will you.

Why the 30 year old had a bad morning

Published on November 10, 2008 in Musings. 18 Comments Tags: , .

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One of my best friend turned 30 today. I gave her a wake up call and asked her how to feels to be THIRTY. She in turn called me mean and said something about not having a heart. I gloated about being 29 while she already turned 30, hahaha. How does it feel to be on the old side of the age and so on.

She has promised to get back at me when my turn comes. Yeah, right! As if her old grey cells would live to tell the tale!

Happy birthday, Rikzing. You’re really and truly old now. I love you nevertheless and please dont kill me if you ever read this.

Dear Karuna

Published on November 2, 2008 in Musings. 14 Comments Tags: , , .

You were my favourite senior in college. I thought you were the coolest girl ever who was so nice to everyone around you. I admired everything about you, be it your linguist skills or your absolutely gorgeous smile.

You know, I discovered the game of Word Challenge in Facebook couple of weeks back. When my friend, Priya had a high score of 9153, I personally thought she was a being of much higher dimension with equivalent intergalactic word powers. The reason being – the first time I played the game, I scored a measly 2000 something which left my ego hurting for days. I felt like a Word Retard; someone who couldnt even unscramble six alphabets to make as many words as humanly possible.

I played the game for days, weeks even – I dont remember. I neglected everything around me and concentrated on getting a better score even if that meant the dog sometimes having to eat her dinner at 12:00 midnight. Yes, I didnt give up at all.

Slowly, my scores improved. I started averaging around four to five thousand and once even made it all the way to eight thousand; a day that my spirits soared and I felt vindicated for all the countless wasted hours, not to mention eyeballs about to pop out of their sockets.

And then it finally happened! The day I had been waiting for a long time. Out of the blue, I managed to score 10112! Oh, you cannot imagine the over extended fist pumps that repeated itself long into the night. Little joys of my life.

That is when I made the mistake of inviting you to the game.

I thought we were friends but then you went and scored 28000. Yes, I did get the zeros right and incredibly so did you. A feat that I thought was Unbelievable.

And as if that wasnt enough, you went on to score 38105. You know something else? The little girl host of the game occasionally pops in to give me this message – Do you know your friend Karuna has scored 38105? I didnt know she had the vocabulary of an Amazing Cyborg!!!

Well, neither did I. I accept defeat. If you’re thinking of scoring even higher than this, oh great Cyborg – our friendship is highly in danger please consider teaching me how you manage to score this high.

With love,

Your envious enemy junior

Rinchen :|

30th All India Governor’s Gold Cup

Published on October 26, 2008 in Sikkim. 23 Comments Tags: , , .

Photograph by: Shital Pradhan

Sikkim’s all about football frenzy. Went to watch the final of the Governor’s Gold Cup yesterday where the match was scheduled between Army XI and Three Star Nepal. I’m not a football buff or anything neither did I watch the earlier games. But I missed last year’s final too so I wanted to watch this time for sure. 

The stadium was packed and the first thing that I thought was – God, I hope no one’s planted a bomb or anything. Yeah, I know I was being paranoid but couldnt help myself. After the cultural programme ended and the match was about to start and I was still alive, I relaxed a bit.

I wasnt paying much attention while the team announcements were made so when the match starts, I dont know which team is which. I nudge my aunt, sitting next to me (who’s The football buff) and she doesnt know either. I dont think she cared much; she was busy cheering most of the time and gossiping with the other lady sitting next to her anyway.

I wanted to ask the other people sitting around me but I think – what the heck, I’ll figure that soon enough once they start playing. And thats how by the time the match reaches near half time, I still dont know which is the Nepal team so I can cheer for them! By this time, its too late for me to ask other people for fear of appearing extremely stupid! I look closely at the blue team and catch the words ARMY on their jersey – then went, aahh… All this when the Nepal team was playing in its national flag colours of red and blue.

In the meantime, a kid sitting behind announces – Mama, I feel like going for toilet number two. I felt sorry for the poor mother who had to miss a most exciting start by obliging to her son’s bowel movements.

Somewhere behind me sat the most negative man in the world. He started cribbing when the Army XI players played very well in the first half of the game. He critisized the Nepal players for lack of ball control, slipping and falling on the grass a number of times, playing out long, drawn out injuries and wasting time and so on.

His best comment was – Surely this player doesnt have to run with the ball so much along the entire breadth of the field!

I was initially partial to the Nepal team, just like any other person there but ended up cheering for Army XI, which I felt was the better team except for one inopportune goal which led Nepal to victory. 

More photos of the match here: http://sikkim-himalayanreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/photo-features-of-30th-all-india.html

 

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