Up Close & Personal

Reading this sent shivers down my spine. This is the kind of dialogue that today's technology makes possible. Bringing humans together. Israeli people and their Lebanese counterparts in debate and question-answer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5276272.stm

Blogging for Truth

Excellent and succinctly explained article on Bloggers and/or journalists.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/comment/0,,1854562,00.html

12 Year Old "Specialist"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6017381,00.html they should hire this guy as a senior consultant for airport security!

Post Modern Times

Noticed in Wired - the impact of dropping Chaplin into Spielberg Sci-fi

http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/#1537819

and here's the link to YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkITesFhfVo

I am individually convinced that creativity is not positively correlated to "content protection", or "amount of money to be made" - scale and size and the creation of an industry around it probably is... though.

Will Someone Please Tell MNS?

The headline for the FT Review reads: "Lovely special effects, shame about the plot" By Nigel Andrews . Here's what the reviewer thinks "My theory is that M. Night Shyamalan makes films from ideas Stephen King thought too silly"

Weekend Reading

Catching up on the mountains of newspapers and magazines lying around... here are some of the ones that caught the mind, and where I was able to find the online versions.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2300407.html - scary story of a stalker. What would yu do?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2300320.html workspace bullying. Over compensated or under represented?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2300301.html Felix Dennis' advice on Entrepreneurship.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2300521.html Just so you know that there is such an organization as "The Noise Abatement Society" and some of their findings about noise levels going up.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2300574,00.html - what one of the 9/11 plotters was doing in the British library for 5 years. Also, how easy it is for somebody to enter the UK completely helpless and get a flat and a study grant. Also, a reminder of what it's like in a society where the difference between doing well and doing badly is on the decline.

Poor MNS - even the Times has it in for him. Really time for him to take a break, recharge his batteries and comeback with more.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14931-2305608,00.html

I Told You So!

Here's a review I wrote in disgust after seeing Shyamalan's Signs. Disgust because I genuinely liked Sixth Sense and Unbreakable as well.

Signs... but of What?

And here's the Guardian Review on his latest... Lady in The Water.

Going dark
If only M Night Shyamalan would give it a rest. John Patterson's sixth sense foresees an extended career break

I told you so!

And here's some hardworking chaps putting up the poster to release the movie on an unsuspecting public :)

July Thoughts.

1. this was the hottest july in London since they started recording temperatures - average temp through the month was some 19 degrees with the hottest ever day temperature in England also being recorded at 36.5 centigrade. We sweltered, struggled and woke up soaked in our own sweat. Wishing we could run away to cooler places (like in India).
2. Al Jarreau concert with the parents and Nanu was pretty good! Started with Fourplay. Al Jarreau turned out to be surprisingly entertaining. "If they were Fourplay, I guess that makes me the climax". His vocal rendition of Take 5 had me gasping.
3. Work continued apace. I've taken to spending 2 hours reading every morning. It's like going back to school, except that i'm usually doing it tucked in bed with my laptop. Otherwise, working at home is proving to be in equal measure invigourating and enervating.
4. Movies: Superman Returns was worth the watch. Preserved the mythic value of Superman, the original, the real thing. Maqbool, vaguely adapted from Macbeth was well acted with a stellar cast and well shot as well. It's a Bollywood mixes Macbeth and Godfather with a dash of Goodfellas. Clearly Bollywood has taken to both Shakespeare and Godfather in a big way. I also saw Sarkar recently, and thought as a remake/adaptation of Godfather it was quite good. The Mumbai-zation of the story was particularly good. "My Wife's Murder" - with Anil Kapoor had a good build up, but as a narrative it lacked a plot or a twist. As a personal portrayal, it lacked the close up of say "Leaving Las Vegas" and had too much story. Sort of fell between the stools. Tried to see the Hindi Othello remake but the theatre was shut due to a power outage. Sigh.
5. Books: have just started Nick Mason's "Inside Out" - the autobiographical story around Pink Floyd and it promises to be brilliantly funny.
6. Restaurants: Imli on Wardour Street had interesting and nicely themed Indian food. Went back to Busaba and wasn't disappointed. New Thai home delivery "Tip Top Thai" has been a welcome addition to Kovalam, who continue to impress with their consistency (Youssuf has shaved his moustache). Galangal, which I tried with Mathew and Gay was pretty good. Also went back to Ping Pong - had to wait almost 45 minutes to be seated.
7. Sport: Tom Friedman should write a sequel - the World Cup is Flat. Though we still sat glued. And went from Sport overkill (World Cup, Wimbledon, Formula 1 and Test Cricket on the same day) to a complete vaccuum. (Ashley Cole's wedding as the main sports headline. And greedily devouring transfer goss).
8. "My body is a temple" department: gymming has been off and on, and it's still showing. Though the new Swiss Cottage community centre promises to be an excellent alternative to the hugely expensive Esporta.