Have you had the opportunity to ride the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang roller coaster yet. If you have, I salute you and if you have not - make it the next movie that you rent/buy because it is a movie well worth it's money.
Robert Downey's constant rambling, Val Kilmer's dry as gin humour and Michelle Monaghan's spunkiness are packed in with perfect coordination alongside the glitz glamour and pizazz of LA. Fast paced, witty and absolutely hilarious - Shane Black's directorial debut is a masterpiece.
(Just a note to all those designers out there - check out the title sequence - worthy of a special mention)
30.12.06
4.4.06
Trippin
While on the subject of tripping, I have been on one great one lately. She's called Janis Joplin. I demand to know why did I never got a personal introduction to her earlier?? I protest! All these years, Joplin-less, my soul just aches for the togetherness we missed out on.
Have you heard the raw passion in her voice????? Her scruffy melodious strains don't just tug at every one of my heart strings. They yank each string out, wring it around my neck an fasten it to the rear of a speed boat. Listening to her in my dingy office on repeat for the past week, I am transported to her era, when these songs were conceived, with the air pregnant with unsure, rebellious and downright confused ideologies.
O, what would I give to be just a fly on the wall in that era?!! Yes, I look for inspiration in my everyday life - from the sparkling tiara in the snow in Central Park to the 4th of July fireworks where I swear I saw a glimpse of Monet's Waterlilies. Her songs, that are definitely inspirational, is one thing. But then, listening to others who wrote songs saturated with her presence, is whole other thing. I felt going weak at my knees when I heard Leonard Cohen sing, in his soulful tenor, about their one night of passion, in 'Chelsea Hotel'. To be a part of a culture where everyone takes from, gives, and simply exploits each other just for the sake of creative passion, is unnervingly seductive to me.
I hear Bono and Mary J. Blige collaborate and sing one of my favorite songs "One" at the Grammy Awards this year. I think U2 is a terrific band and I think their rendition of "One" was credibly comparable to the original. Mary belted out the song like she felt the pain in each and every word.
But then I hear Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix perform "Summertime" live on stage and realize I was born a few decades too late....
Have you heard the raw passion in her voice????? Her scruffy melodious strains don't just tug at every one of my heart strings. They yank each string out, wring it around my neck an fasten it to the rear of a speed boat. Listening to her in my dingy office on repeat for the past week, I am transported to her era, when these songs were conceived, with the air pregnant with unsure, rebellious and downright confused ideologies.
O, what would I give to be just a fly on the wall in that era?!! Yes, I look for inspiration in my everyday life - from the sparkling tiara in the snow in Central Park to the 4th of July fireworks where I swear I saw a glimpse of Monet's Waterlilies. Her songs, that are definitely inspirational, is one thing. But then, listening to others who wrote songs saturated with her presence, is whole other thing. I felt going weak at my knees when I heard Leonard Cohen sing, in his soulful tenor, about their one night of passion, in 'Chelsea Hotel'. To be a part of a culture where everyone takes from, gives, and simply exploits each other just for the sake of creative passion, is unnervingly seductive to me.
I hear Bono and Mary J. Blige collaborate and sing one of my favorite songs "One" at the Grammy Awards this year. I think U2 is a terrific band and I think their rendition of "One" was credibly comparable to the original. Mary belted out the song like she felt the pain in each and every word.
But then I hear Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix perform "Summertime" live on stage and realize I was born a few decades too late....
30.3.06
23.2.06
Making a connection
Sitting in a deserted subway save a sleeping homeless on my way to Manhattan from Queens, it was quite natural for me to look up to the woman who was at the door when the train stopped at 45th Street, Courthouse on the V line. She was attractive: caucasian in her early-mid thirties, dressed warm but sexy for the weather, hair casually pulled back, makeup there but seemingly not. The aura about her was very carefully careless.
It was not pheromonal attraction that made me gaze at her. It was her more than a handful of shopping bags that she was trying to carry. The Brown Bag was there repeatedly in all the sizes, the bags carrying shoes were quite conspicuous, and of course the compulsory Victoria's Secret pink bag for all the female shoppers. She looked like she could use some help as one bag decided to break free from her clutches. I leaned forward to grab the bag, but she got it before I could be of any help. She did not say anything but looked at me and gave me a smile that said - thank you but I got it.
I returned her acknowledgment with a smile. Who said New Yorkers were abrasive?
When I was getting ready to get off at Union Square, I realized that the woman was painstakingly making her way towards the door in a now quite crowded compartment. As she found her place beside me, she leaned over to me. I was going to protest her thank you's, since, after all, I really did not do anything to help. But she, in a very husky voice, almost whispered in my ear - Was it just me, or did we make a connection there???
I bolted Bambi-eyed as the doors started to part. Usually full of smart alec retorts, all I could think of while making it to ground level was "making a connection" was definitely over-rated!
It was not pheromonal attraction that made me gaze at her. It was her more than a handful of shopping bags that she was trying to carry. The Brown Bag was there repeatedly in all the sizes, the bags carrying shoes were quite conspicuous, and of course the compulsory Victoria's Secret pink bag for all the female shoppers. She looked like she could use some help as one bag decided to break free from her clutches. I leaned forward to grab the bag, but she got it before I could be of any help. She did not say anything but looked at me and gave me a smile that said - thank you but I got it.
I returned her acknowledgment with a smile. Who said New Yorkers were abrasive?
When I was getting ready to get off at Union Square, I realized that the woman was painstakingly making her way towards the door in a now quite crowded compartment. As she found her place beside me, she leaned over to me. I was going to protest her thank you's, since, after all, I really did not do anything to help. But she, in a very husky voice, almost whispered in my ear - Was it just me, or did we make a connection there???
I bolted Bambi-eyed as the doors started to part. Usually full of smart alec retorts, all I could think of while making it to ground level was "making a connection" was definitely over-rated!
31.1.06
Manhattan Moments
(This blog is taken from an email I had written a few months after moving to NYC)
Well.... so its been almost 3 months since I moved up here. Seems like forever. It was omninously rocky initially. I started working from November 14th, a day after Mom left. Just to keep me 'going' until I found something meaningful, I 'went' for almost anything I could lay my hands on. From working as a photographer on Times Square to a cashier at a Dollar Store in Queens. Then there was the pharmacist job at a Natural Medicine/Whole Foods place. Was working over to 70 hrs a week.
That period does NOT seem to be merely 2 months ago. I want to start this story with ".. once upon a time, in the twilight zone..."!
Then I happened to chance upon a friend of a friend of a friend. It was a total stroke of luck when this lady saw me waiting for the bus and decided to give me a lift to the mall (I was going over to look for other possible seasonal jobs - uhmmm - what was I thinking?). I had met her once when I had come to NYC in the summer of 2004. Well, she said that her husband had electronic retail stores all over New York and was looking for a web designer. I handed her over my card (I made these business cards and have been handing them over to anyone who makes eye contact with me). I got a call within the next few days. This guy was tired of managing all his very successful stores and wanted to shift his business online. He wanted a team to help set up the website. I was the first person he had called.
I joined his company within a week. Gave notices to all my other 'jobs' except the Natural Medicine/Whole Foods place. I liked the owner, a French lady who loves to talk Homeopathy with me. Moreover, Central Park West is right round the corner. Walking on the virgin snow there one fine afternoon was enough to get my emotions rattling to stick on to the place. O yeah... they keep shooting Law and Order down the block as well. Maybe oneday, while I am stocking up herbal alternatives to viagra, some big producer will notice how cute I am and cast me in his next Hollywood blockbuster. Just a thought....
So working as a no-nonsense designer during the week and as a laid back, granola-kind, natural medicine 'shaman' during the weekends. Still working 70 hr weeks. Plan on doing so till the Central Park stops looking so darn beautiful......
Well.... so its been almost 3 months since I moved up here. Seems like forever. It was omninously rocky initially. I started working from November 14th, a day after Mom left. Just to keep me 'going' until I found something meaningful, I 'went' for almost anything I could lay my hands on. From working as a photographer on Times Square to a cashier at a Dollar Store in Queens. Then there was the pharmacist job at a Natural Medicine/Whole Foods place. Was working over to 70 hrs a week.
That period does NOT seem to be merely 2 months ago. I want to start this story with ".. once upon a time, in the twilight zone..."!
Then I happened to chance upon a friend of a friend of a friend. It was a total stroke of luck when this lady saw me waiting for the bus and decided to give me a lift to the mall (I was going over to look for other possible seasonal jobs - uhmmm - what was I thinking?). I had met her once when I had come to NYC in the summer of 2004. Well, she said that her husband had electronic retail stores all over New York and was looking for a web designer. I handed her over my card (I made these business cards and have been handing them over to anyone who makes eye contact with me). I got a call within the next few days. This guy was tired of managing all his very successful stores and wanted to shift his business online. He wanted a team to help set up the website. I was the first person he had called.
I joined his company within a week. Gave notices to all my other 'jobs' except the Natural Medicine/Whole Foods place. I liked the owner, a French lady who loves to talk Homeopathy with me. Moreover, Central Park West is right round the corner. Walking on the virgin snow there one fine afternoon was enough to get my emotions rattling to stick on to the place. O yeah... they keep shooting Law and Order down the block as well. Maybe oneday, while I am stocking up herbal alternatives to viagra, some big producer will notice how cute I am and cast me in his next Hollywood blockbuster. Just a thought....
So working as a no-nonsense designer during the week and as a laid back, granola-kind, natural medicine 'shaman' during the weekends. Still working 70 hr weeks. Plan on doing so till the Central Park stops looking so darn beautiful......
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