tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26653122705995037512024-03-06T06:33:58.173+05:30Sourav's BlogThe Incessant Ramblings & Poems of A Weird GuySouravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-85131772209275839162010-01-19T10:36:00.001+05:302010-01-19T10:38:46.330+05:30Death to the King<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Gi3qw7-Tt9_fCyBDwvZleAJJ2a-mk1jdE-VWGFaGq2KlYbnDb_cqrH0Y2QGAntlop_9vTtR6Uje72VKxLCXHNbpm1FeyFsGcXoTez0WUy2oGgTh5g7BC8I6J3MTQ_7BdqSI9367WWBPz/s1600-h/2307999680_1ac2339509.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Gi3qw7-Tt9_fCyBDwvZleAJJ2a-mk1jdE-VWGFaGq2KlYbnDb_cqrH0Y2QGAntlop_9vTtR6Uje72VKxLCXHNbpm1FeyFsGcXoTez0WUy2oGgTh5g7BC8I6J3MTQ_7BdqSI9367WWBPz/s400/2307999680_1ac2339509.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428313233652232002" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Wasn't it lovely when people would sing,<br />Everyone would shout death to the king,<br />We'd all come out and march down the street,<br />Upon the palace gates we would then beat,<br />When the gate was down we went inside,<br />We caught him asleep he couldn't hide,<br />We dragged him down to the guillotine,<br />He kept shouting, "I am the King",<br />We strapped him down, everything grew quiet,<br />The king was scared, he couldn't hide it,<br />The blade slid smoothly through his neck,<br />His blood splashed down onto the deck,<br />We buried him without a casket,<br />But there lay his head, still in the basket.</span>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-12522544913668002492010-01-18T11:06:00.003+05:302010-01-18T11:15:42.031+05:30Happy Memories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjql7VXaVVZi_olDKz3GbeGsljbS-NqkGWMinHAYIEDENPbbKLHaqb9hA9yCoE53zDiSGh-fo95_77hsglU-wa_0D06wTdO2k6ahZZGjH6irF6ObAAc_LaTvObdw_cdPIcDOwTz7upFzFSn/s1600-h/4054625249_6ec5c8a2d0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjql7VXaVVZi_olDKz3GbeGsljbS-NqkGWMinHAYIEDENPbbKLHaqb9hA9yCoE53zDiSGh-fo95_77hsglU-wa_0D06wTdO2k6ahZZGjH6irF6ObAAc_LaTvObdw_cdPIcDOwTz7upFzFSn/s400/4054625249_6ec5c8a2d0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427951532561477858" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I wish I could turn back time, <br />Turn back to the happy moments. <br /><br />But time didn't stand still, <br />it ran faster than I wanted it to.<br /><br />All I have are memories, <br />Unforgettable feelings. <br /><br />I wish those moments would come back soon, <br />Because there's nothing else that I'd rather like. <br /><br />Am working on a spell right now,<br />To let time freeze somehow.<br /><br />Hopefully with time frozen,<br />My life will enliven.</span>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-71820971901200991652009-11-28T00:48:00.003+05:302009-11-28T00:56:42.190+05:30Review: Modern Times (1936)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50UOB62o5ar0-pUepCYsFa2JF9EY6-Hb5Hu6P39L_C93KXdA_wqNBR5eEReU6IWMLfuj55XiRJbWE9CbHHzae3egZ0eiI2Oh5buNCTrCwPj1IBg3YJTItkV-rAia52basKi0J7Tje4RZr/s1600/modern-times-DVDfiles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50UOB62o5ar0-pUepCYsFa2JF9EY6-Hb5Hu6P39L_C93KXdA_wqNBR5eEReU6IWMLfuj55XiRJbWE9CbHHzae3egZ0eiI2Oh5buNCTrCwPj1IBg3YJTItkV-rAia52basKi0J7Tje4RZr/s400/modern-times-DVDfiles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408866971527530002" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">C</span>haplin’s last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, (The use of sound in films ?) and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital... When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades before the film is out.<br /><br /> Charles Chaplin ... A factory worker (as Charlie Chaplin)<br /> Paulette Goddard... A gamin<br /> Henry Bergman ... Cafe proprietor<br /> Tiny Sandford ... Big Bill (as Stanley Sandford)<br /> Chester Conklin ... Mechanic<br /> Hank Mann ... Burglar<br /> Stanley Blystone... Gamin's father<br /> Al Ernest Garcia... President of the Electro Steel Corp. (as Allan Garcia)<br /> Richard Alexander... Cellmate (as Dick Alexander)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027977">IMDB Link</a><br /><br />Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) is the final film to feature the great actor/director/writer's most easily recognizable incarnation: The Tramp. Here is a character that is so ingrained in the collective conscious of modern film audiences that many recognize him despite the fact that they have not seen a single Chaplin film. Indeed, several iconographic studies have labeled The Tramp (with his worn hat, distinctive mustache, dusty suit, cane, and trademark waddle) as the single most identifiable fictional image in history.<br /><br />Still, the film that perhaps most influenced the creation and thematic realization of Modern Times was not even a silent one. The Jazz Singer, which debuted in 1927, five years before Modern Times began production, is perhaps the most important watershed film in the industry's century-old history. In the film, comic great Al Jolson stands up in front of the audience and...sings. And as Millard Mitchell said in Singin' in the Rain, the public was suddenly in a frenzy for "Talking pictures! Talking pictures!" Sadly, with the advent of synchronized sound and dialogue, the world of silent filmmaking began to slip into obscurity with audiences and studios now viewing it as obsolete and undesirable. Nevertheless, Chaplin continued his passion for the subtle craft by creating City Lights (1931), which many critics and academics consider one of the greatest films ever made, but by the time Modern Times was released, Chaplin was one of the last directors left clinging to a dying art.<br /><br />Modern Times is not an entirely silent film, (there are dialogue snippets and sound effects), but if you look closely, every character with dialogue (excluding Chaplin himself) is being mocked. Even when The Tramp opens his mouth (the only time he ever did so in a film), the words are nonsensical, defying the burgeoning convention that dialogue is mandatory for substance, entertainment, and quality.<br /><br />Despite the film's status as one of the greatest comedies of all-time, it is hard to ignore the political component. In his movies, Chaplin often exhibited a great mistrust for authority and progress, as often embodied through the social elite, the police, and wealthy entrepreneurs. The irony of the film's title, then, is two-fold. It connects with Chaplin's own bitter feelings regarding his moribund art form, but also refers to the plight of the working classes during the Great Depression (long working hours with little job security and meager salary, while the upper classes remain wealthy and bide their idle time) The world was changing fast, and Chaplin foresaw that many of these changes were far from beneficial.<br /><br />As we watch The Tramp struggle through the modern, mechanized world, we laugh at his antics and the absurdity of their results, but we can also feel pain and pity. He is clearly a man who does not belong. Indeed, The Tramp can almost be thought of as a misfit who has passed through a membrane from some alternate reality and unwittingly fallen into our familiar world (notice that he does not have a name or identification of any kind, and as far as we know, he has no friends, family, funds, or history).<br /><br />He takes on assembly lines, feeding machines, department stores, policemen and various other mass-oriented aspects of the industrialized world (all which demand and exhibit sameness and conformity), but The Tramp (and his symbolic extension, the individual) never seem to fit.<br /><br />This is, consequently, why Modern Times is also one of the most poignant love stories ever put on film. The only character who is on the same level as The Tramp is a young, homeless woman who is referred to as "The Gamin" and is played by Chaplin's then-wife, Paulette Goddard. These two are brought together by the fact they have almost nothing except the will to live and continue forward, despite adversity. Both are nameless, neither has a home, and they each have no money or material possessions.<br /><br />It is here that Chaplin makes his most poignant and saddening statement about modern living. The Tramp and The Gamin are the only characters who exhibit individuality and idealism, yet they are also the ones lowest on the social and economic food chain. The conclusion of the film, which most likely reflects upon Chaplin's own emotions, is tinged with sadness, but also a lingering hopefulness that resonates as loudly and clearly today as it did more than sixty years ago.<br /><br />Then there is, of course, the comedy, which is the stuff of legendary status. Some of the most memorable comic images in film history are found in Modern Times. These include The Tramp's bout with an assembly line (and his resulting twitches), his unfortunate encounter with "nose-powder", the moment when he quite literally becomes a cog in the wheels of industry, and his epic struggle to bring roast duck to an angry customer.<br /><br />In my opinion, however, the two standout moments are the scene in a department store involving a blindfold and some rollerskates (the most exquisite moment of comedy in the film) and the sequence where The Tramp is submitted to the mad whim of an out-of-control feeding machine (the most uproarious moment in the film).<br /><br />These are just a handful of moments that make Modern Times the enduring masterpiece that it is. On a personal level, the aspect of the film that resonates strongest with me is its appeal to the idealistic misfit in all of us. In our hearts, many of us long for the simplicity and exuberance with which The Tramp and The Gamin live life (with attention to the bare essentials and an absence of need for materialism and modern trappings).<br /><br />As Chaplin so skillfully shows, however, our modern times make this lifestyle a faded dream, lost among the sheep-like herds of men and women scurrying through a modern metropolis that only Fritz Lang could make seem darker and more devoid of true humanity. Still, the final image of Modern Times refuses to let the film end on an exclusively tragic note and demonstrates that the individual is still alive and may yet find his way in an ever-changing world.<br /><br /> * Supposedly was to be Charles Chaplin's first full sound film, but instead, sound is used in a unique way: we hear spoken voices only when they come from mechanical devices, a symbol of the film's theme of technology and dehumanization. Specifically, voices are heard from:<br /><br /> o The videophones used by the factory president<br /> o The phonographic Mechanical Salesman<br /> o The radio in the prison warden's office<br /><br /><br /> * The singers in the restaurant are also heard, and some scenes include sound effects.<br /><br /> * The Little Tramp's last words before his final fade out after more than 22 years as a screen icon: "Smile! C'mon!" (it is easy to read Charles Chaplin's lips at the very end of the film).<br /><br /> * Charles Chaplin allows the Tramp to speak on camera for the first time during the restaurant scene, but insisted that what the Tramp says be universal. Therefore, the song the Tramp sings is in gibberish, but it is possible to follow the story he tells by watching his hand gestures.<br /><br /> * Paulette Goddard's character's name is Ellen Peterson.<br /><br /> * The film originally ended with Charles Chaplin's character suffering a nervous breakdown and being visited in hospital by the gamin, who has now become a nun. This ending was filmed, though apparently only still photographs from the scene exist today (they are included in the 2003 DVD release of the film). Chaplin dropped this ending and shot a different, more hopeful ending instead.<br /><br /> * This was one of the films which, because of its political sentiments, convinced the House Un-American Activities Committee that Charles Chaplin was a Communist, a charge he adamantly denied. He left to live in Switzerland, vowing never to return to America.<br /><br /> * A full dialogue script was written for the film, as Charles Chaplin had intended to make a complete talkie. According to a documentary on the DVD release, Chaplin went so far as to film a scene with full dialogue before deciding instead to make a partial talkie.<br /><br /> * Discounting later parodies and novelty films, this was the last major American film to make use of silent film conventions such as title cards for dialogue. The very last dialogue title card of this film (and thus, it can be said, the entire silent era) belongs to The Tramp, who says "Buck up - never say die! We'll get along."<br /><br /> * Co-star Paulette Goddard actually made significant story contributions.<br /><br /> * France's Tobis Studios sued Charles Chaplin for plagiarizing the conveyor belt sequence from René Clair's À nous la liberté (1931) but dropped the suit when Clair declared himself honored by the tribute, saying, "I have certainly borrowed enough from him."<br /><br /> * According to a fall 1935 issue of Variety, Charles Chaplin was expected to run behind schedule on the release of the movie as he tweaked the soundtrack. He also wanted to chop over 1,000 feet of film from his then existing cut.<br /><br /> * According to Paulette Goddard, Chaplin was deeply and profoundly involved in the recording of the musical score. He spent days upon days in the recording studio writing themes, and only left when Paulette begged him.<br /><br /> * In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #78 Greatest Movie of All Time.</p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-62149920467191370402009-03-24T12:53:00.003+05:302009-03-24T13:51:21.905+05:30Those were the days !!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Dkt96pA6sSK2hCh15u3Kb6XGW2of5zLsbVer-eyKtrkSHEBJnjrYnMEIhqlffvJjmqdCOmejav-BVweAGfkhg5P6JZZMc5n97PvbjRN2ONlgkU4xXhvk2TxlERv0ROLnf2HSQUTEmrV8/s1600-h/sports.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Dkt96pA6sSK2hCh15u3Kb6XGW2of5zLsbVer-eyKtrkSHEBJnjrYnMEIhqlffvJjmqdCOmejav-BVweAGfkhg5P6JZZMc5n97PvbjRN2ONlgkU4xXhvk2TxlERv0ROLnf2HSQUTEmrV8/s400/sports.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316664487063348898" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">M</span>ost people look at us and don't really understand what we're about. We all smoke and swear. We drink too much coffee and drink socially. We've all have had sex and lots of it. We hook up inside the group with our friends' sisters and ex's best friend. Some of us smoke pot and others smoke rocks. Some don't do drugs and they go to church and are in the choir.<br /><br />We're a lot of different people from a lot of different places brought together by one common goal: to get the hell out of P.E.S. College alive. We all know each other through a friend of a friend. We met on the smoke deck or in the cafeteria. Some of us went to high school together and others we picked up in class. We've got preps and gamers. Singers and ravers. Hip-hoppers, beat boxers and a couple of good, clean, and wholesome suburbanites.<br /><br />We talk about sex and life and politics. Abortions and movies and music. We have plots to take over the world and who will be in charge of our league of elite warriors. You name it, we've discussed it. We're smarter than your average college student. We're open to new things and we try whatever we can. We're not scared of the real world. Most of us live in it. We've all had our fair share of hard times and good days.<br /><br />We haven't slept, haven't eaten, haven't moved in days. We've got errands to run when we get out of school before we go to work. We study and cram before tests and take all of the same classes with all the same teachers. We help cheat from old notes and give tips to each other. That teacher is awesome. "This class is too hard, you should take the other one instead."<br /><br />We all work to pay bills we shouldn't even have yet. We still live with our parents or brothers or sisters and some like me live alone away from my family. Working one or two jobs. The student loan and financial institution office knows most of us by name. We still hang out in the summer and have wild parties, chill parties, small little get togethers. hide and seek at the park in the middle of the night.<br /><br />We call each other to check in. Everyone knows everyone's business. Even if you don't know that they know. News travels fast when you're sick... expect a lot of phone calls.<br /><br />We have groups within groups within groups. These people talk all the time, but those four talk more together and the two out of the four are best friends. We all get along, but we all dislike some of the others. We don't like to cause problems, though, because everyone choses sides.<br /><br />No one knows why. We're all so different. Some drink, some smoke. Some curse, some toke. We've got Hindus and Christians. Muslims and Parsis. Athiests and Jews. Game players, sooth sayers, and some watch the news. We have politicians, sex fiends and drug addicts. We're all coffee drinkers and aspirin dependants.<br /><br />Opposites attract and we're birds of a feather. We don't even know how we all jam together. Some of us came and some went. Some stayed and just can't get the hell out. English, Business and Science majors.<br /><br />I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad and proud to be able to say that I know you people and that I can call you my friends.<br /><br />I really miss those days spent attending college in Bangalore even though I hardly ever attended theory classes after the first 2 months. I love the fact that sent a fake letter to my principal making it appear as if my father sent it saying that "In order to continue his studies, he needs to work to support himself and therefore unless you kindly allow him to skip the theory classes, he wouldn't be able to get his degree." The effect that letter had was that I could only attend the practical labs and while away my time during the theory classes. <br /><br />It really was fun. Looking back, I had one hell of a time in College. I wish I could relive those days again !!!</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-54835007505848678992009-03-24T12:18:00.003+05:302009-03-24T12:38:12.277+05:30Sheltering Wings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgPtrzpojtrBBwisBr39HwNZdEgblDJ6FXTRixPHk74BY6vdu3OZSDQhEtlSWLCxGlIyoSfqa3ovf9ESTKDLpy4-wdQZAqC1H0oAa9sn8sjybO-OMgNMHzuRzvV5TDW3zc76Xj9oUoO6D/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgPtrzpojtrBBwisBr39HwNZdEgblDJ6FXTRixPHk74BY6vdu3OZSDQhEtlSWLCxGlIyoSfqa3ovf9ESTKDLpy4-wdQZAqC1H0oAa9sn8sjybO-OMgNMHzuRzvV5TDW3zc76Xj9oUoO6D/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316646952925003154" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The lonely, rippling tides,<br />Creating wake through one's integrity.<br />Arose the lonely demon from which resides,<br />In his unaccompanied, blackened soul.<br /><br />He glides over the earthen terrain as if he were aloft,<br />In the meadows admist the eternal blue skies.<br />But by embedding oneself under the sheltering wings of the Protector,<br />One will be safe.<br />All will be safe.</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-27836190533136080212008-11-13T00:07:00.004+05:302008-11-13T00:42:17.850+05:30Is Being Attractive The Main Deciding Factor?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaqViV1fK2Yts04195AIoeP-yjglW8lV8yce3rjIsyajF4axipz0RW3nMM1VFNlmgZgKEmLqqqXBbUcRwSKvn3TAvsTaeNNhjxceJJWGWrL4fgZDrXs5x4eTbW2kJzrSPgb5HOLsiqnn6/s1600-h/2185431028_c4c3713404_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 378px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaqViV1fK2Yts04195AIoeP-yjglW8lV8yce3rjIsyajF4axipz0RW3nMM1VFNlmgZgKEmLqqqXBbUcRwSKvn3TAvsTaeNNhjxceJJWGWrL4fgZDrXs5x4eTbW2kJzrSPgb5HOLsiqnn6/s400/2185431028_c4c3713404_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267846694147943362" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">D</span>o you think being beautiful or sexy - just by itself - is a surefire way to guy's heart? How many "beautiful" or "sexy" girls do you think are really loved by their man?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Fact:</span> These attributes may matter for a fling but in a soulmate, a man looks for something else.<br /><br />The Sexy girls are often "torpid" in bed: That very often is an open-secret among men (unless, of course, they visit one of the "Gentleman's clubs" where being sexy or beautiful alone doesn't work!). The beautiful girl expects the man to do all the work! That may go well with him at first but in a true mate he looks for a two-way exchange. And that's where good old Mary wins. She touches, she plays and the man sways! Men love that and more so when they are just looking for a perfect wife.<br /><br />The beautiful girl expects royal treatment: Why not? She is cute, attractive and with choices - apparently. Good old Mary looks for a soul-to-soul connection and a deeper bonding. That's what the men really want deep inside - care, love and involvement.<br /><br />Good old Mary believes in true love and the Bombshell triggers the "survival of the fittest": So is Mary a loser? Men often look at beauty as a mystery - it ceases to exist when unfolded. So the sexy girl does pretty well till the aura of beauty and her mystery remain.<br /><br />Good old Mary wants to have a happy family and beautiful girl, a happy face: It's beauty that is her survival mode but men are just grown up boys. At the end of the day, they look out for nurturing love. And good old Mary is always a shoulder to cry on when things are not just right. She gets her man since she knows what he really looks for in mate.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">This is what I feel and have heard time and over again from other guys who I have talked to. You all are free to give your point of view which might lead me to write another post about this.</span> </p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-5048390846910009502008-11-10T16:49:00.005+05:302008-11-10T18:23:15.630+05:30Are Sex-Scenes Mandatory In Movies?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkmrszpMa_jAvbZweb_dO_QtEae1Rq-dTcpAMnGRxfBn64EMO3fnCfjnQ9MpAOtysgyfx4XjcN2OEzX85Jt0sXBCvxjyi5VDGqOOzpC5Eb4-jdqkzGWUo9LRT0AwWaJBDigC71FLxKBKi/s1600-h/42024879_fb58c982f7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkmrszpMa_jAvbZweb_dO_QtEae1Rq-dTcpAMnGRxfBn64EMO3fnCfjnQ9MpAOtysgyfx4XjcN2OEzX85Jt0sXBCvxjyi5VDGqOOzpC5Eb4-jdqkzGWUo9LRT0AwWaJBDigC71FLxKBKi/s400/42024879_fb58c982f7_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267010296459152386" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">P</span>eople say the humidity pushed me over the edge. Things here to the east are different, a little crazier, a little more corrupt, a little closer to coming undone, because of the constant choking humidity. That sweltering heat. Indoors, you shiver in Antarctic air conditioning, the machines perched on your windowsills spitting out ice cubes and penguins, but you steam in your own juices like a lobster in a microwave the instant you walk outside. Everybody from the East is naturally a few steps closer to a psychotic meltdown than, say, their Southern countrymen. After years of having all the oxygen sucked out of your brain every time you step out your front door, something bad happens between your ears.<br /><br />All the above factors conspired to make me write about a discussion I had with a friend of mine recently about why film-makers feel the need to have sex-scenes that didn't belong and were gratuitous. It got me thinking about which sort of scenes do belong and are necessary for the narration of the movie and what makes them necessary.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Here's my point of view:</span><br /><br />I personally think that there is only one time that a film-maker can get away with sex for sex's sake and that's when the characters do it for the first time. Then, I feel you have the freedom to make scene(s) as long and as involved as the film-maker likes. After that the sex-scenes should have a purpose other than to show that the characters are just having fun again. <br /><br />There are movies can be exempted from this like "9 Songs" which primarily is a film which shows the decline of interest in a couple over time related to physical intimacy if there is no emotional feeling(read love) involved. If that's the theme of a particular film then definitely the film-maker has the justification for multiple sex scenes. Directors like Catherine Breillat, Pedro Almodovar, Jean-Luc Godard, etc. have had multiple sex-scenes in their movies but no one calls them obscene and they are all award winning and critically acclaimed directors.<br /><br />Then there are those compulsory "turning point" sex-scenes, where a character realizes as they are having sex, "Oh, this person isn't just another one-time-sex partner". This can happen in two different scenes in the movie or the same one but it depends on the characters and whether or not one of them is farther along the emotional journey than the other. It also depends on the producer and the quality of sex-scenes that they prefer.<br /><br />One can also make an epilogue-type sex scene that shows the characters engaging in sex in which the film-maker can make a great-to-do about how even better the sex is now that they are married or engaged or bonded or whatever.<br /><br />I can't think of any more reasons but if you, i.e. the readers can think of any then please mention in the comments.</p><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Links to:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/11/10-movies-remembered-primarily-for-a-sex-scene/">10 Movies Remembered Primarily for a Sex Scene</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.spout.com/2008/08/14/10-movies-sold-on-their-sex-scenes/">10 Movies That Sold due a Sex Scene</a><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-68085048074561099802008-11-08T08:21:00.004+05:302008-11-08T10:22:25.453+05:3027 Years Of Walking On Earth.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Piu1Zin8DC50Xqnbjw-Lh7Mvf0ZJ_v2y1jJKET0MUV1ppGI5Mu95TF8LldZls-L7RN-4ppo4v2p7AL3WeWjNmDgc7NSFV0Zxg-63wPqcNdKHnUy_PNHOAoFJ-QzBL_W0VFl9q-JIvVSX/s1600-h/12323434545.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Piu1Zin8DC50Xqnbjw-Lh7Mvf0ZJ_v2y1jJKET0MUV1ppGI5Mu95TF8LldZls-L7RN-4ppo4v2p7AL3WeWjNmDgc7NSFV0Zxg-63wPqcNdKHnUy_PNHOAoFJ-QzBL_W0VFl9q-JIvVSX/s400/12323434545.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266138193893017522" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">P</span>robably you know that I’ve been walking around this earth for roughly 27 years now and have come to learn a bit about this world. I never claim to know everything & I don’t really like it when people assume they do. Even if one knows a lot, one still has a lot to learn, even about the things one “knows". I’m not certain where this is going to lead but I just wanted to list a few things that I understood recently:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">I love having a conversation about old shows on Doordarshan we used to watch as kids.<br /><br />No one is more vulnerable than when they are defecating in a public bathroom that has no latch.<br /><br />The more devoid of colour a beverage is, the more likelihood of it being very alcoholic.<br /><br />A small dog frightens one way more than a big dog will.<br /><br />Voting makes one feel really good right after one does it and makes one feel very small once the results are in.<br /><br />I am no longer self-conscious when I’m by myself in public and smile because something very funny or inappropriate just popped into my head.<br /><br />The untidyness in my surrounding life parallels the clutter in my mind.<br /><br />I find that making out can vary from casual to intimate; the only difference is one's intention.</span></span><br /><br /> All-in-all I’ve made several goals for myself this month. They include reducing at least 5 kgs of body fat, buying a vaio laptop, getting a titanium credit card, visiting as many cities as I can before terrorists destroy them, and learning to find more and more time to write. A lot of these goals are very simple, which is great. These aren’t all officially on the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Before 28</span> list, but I’ve become a product of list making and I can see the benefits in making them. I got a message from someone that said that I write like a programmer. To illustrate the differences I will write the entire next paragraph in actionscript code:<br /><br />//start<br />var Sourav:Workaholic = new Workaholic(); <br />Sourav.workEthic = 100;<br />for(var i:Number=0;<7;i++){<br />Sourav.workEthic -= 10;<br />}<br />if(Sourav.workEthic < 50) {<br />Sourav.emotionalState = “lazy”;<br />getMotivated();<br />} else if(Sourav.workEthic > 100) {<br />Sourav.emotionalState = “over-worked”;<br />relax();<br />} else {<br />Sourav.emotionalState = “balanced”;<br />}<br />function getMotivated(){<br />getURL(”http://www.google.com”,”_blank”);<br />//type in inspiring words<br />}<br />function relax(){<br />sleep();<br />}<br />//end<br /><br /> Here's my present situation. As you may or may not know I’m constantly in touch with my friends through phone, sms or through the internet but the city I am in right now has no one who I can actually call a friend. Now I rarely mind this state of being; I think being alone is what I need right now because it helps me re-group and re-organize life's goals. That being said, I sometimes do get a bit lonely, and how could you not? Now I don’t actively go out trying to find someone to hang out with; I always find that doing that can actually make one start disbelieving that one can have real good friends and not "Fair-weather" ones. Instead I'm better off relying on my current social network to assist in finding new friends who can just be interactive without being judging and bitching behind my back. I find that making the most of life is fairly easy to do when you don’t have very many expectations. Think of it this way: If you expect something to go great and it doesn’t, then you feel bad. If you expect something to go bad and it goes bad, then you feel bad. If you don’t expect something and it goes bad, then it’s ok cause you didn’t really expect it to be good. If you don’t expect something and it goes great, then it’s always better because you didn’t expect anything and ended up with awesomeness. I feel like I’ve professed this to many people but I really do think that this thought process is the key to keeping one smiling. Expectations come from prejudice of a situation. And while a healthy dose of prejudice is fine… too much can restrict you. I’m a big proponent of limitlessness; I’m aware (and so is my spell check) that it’s not a real word but so what. You at least ended up on this page.<br /><br /> That all being said, I’ve made a new awesome friend Fritz, he's 22 and he writes fiction which I do too and hence, I get to discuss things that run through my head with him. I’ve been meaning to do that for a while now; yes both make a new friend and have a meaningful conversation with a person who can listen and give another point of view to my weird thoughts. As he has come to India for the first time (He's from NYC, U.S.A) and intends to stay for 10 long months, I can surely look forward to some exchange of thoughts and talk about cultural differences and some debates about stuff on which our views differ. All of the most talented people are now my friends so that’s very good! It’s great to keep talent around to inspire you and kick your butt a bit to push the boundaries and make one strive to do better.<br /><br /> By the way, I wanted to touch on traveling. I had a great time in Gangtok and Mandarmani but I haven't been travelling much for the past 1 year. I like that in all of those places I was able to seek peace and quiet whether it be the snow-capped mountains surrounding Tsongo Lake in Gangtok or the vast expanse of clear blue sea at Mandarmani. I feel like this whole month as well has been about reconnecting long lost bonds. Just the other day I talked to my school friend Parijat after 8 long years but it never felt any different than it was 8 years ago when we met everyday in college. It’s true what people say about friends: Even if you aren’t in constant contact with them, true friends can pick-up and continue on right from where they left off. I’m thankful for this. Only a few more weeks left till I can apply for leaves from my new-job. That’s going to be a great holiday.</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-69003104347003130002008-11-06T08:08:00.003+05:302008-11-06T08:20:14.649+05:30Why?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q4OCGBHhKI123R4MzVemf0CVr3Zfb69eFbFZ7V8k7MxvF_DflDHpYL3vbvEDmYTp27iyyTTf0vetKHEV-0DEJLDPaNXn6HVcTI7gVxZOPmnljkOoBZVwbaEfSMxjBuEX3FV6E3ac05Oc/s1600-h/224729484_2737e0410b_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 276px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q4OCGBHhKI123R4MzVemf0CVr3Zfb69eFbFZ7V8k7MxvF_DflDHpYL3vbvEDmYTp27iyyTTf0vetKHEV-0DEJLDPaNXn6HVcTI7gVxZOPmnljkOoBZVwbaEfSMxjBuEX3FV6E3ac05Oc/s400/224729484_2737e0410b_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265370491038438914" /></a><br /><br /><br />Why is it so hard for you to understand,<br />I don't want to be with you anymore,<br />You gave me only your hand, <br />You didn't give yourself and I demand war, <br /> <br />You betrayed me and I am falling apart, <br />You said you loved me but you hated me, <br />You weren't any longer my guard, <br />Being my enemy is what you wanted to be, <br /> <br />While I was crying the pain hurt everytime like hell, <br />It didn't stop, it was your way of loving someone, <br />How come you don't know, tears are what you sell, <br />Don't you understand the damage you have done, <br /> <br />I still love you, I don't know why, <br />First I was afraid to stand up and tell you how I felt, <br />Now I am afraid, I don't know anymore if I'm still standing high, <br />I shiver when I think about how you yelled, <br /> <br />But I still long for your touch, <br />And as I'm imagining, <br />I still love you very much, <br />From your love I could sing, <br /> <br />I think it's wrong, <br />Desiring a woman who always wounded my soul, <br />But I've been with you for so long, <br />I don't want to speak, everyday you desperate call, <br /> <br />I don't understand why, you first desert me, <br />And then you only want to be with me, it's the, <br />Question why, I am so depressive and still love you, <br />It doesn't make sense, Oh why, why, why, why do I still want you? <br /> <br />Why, why, why, why, why, I keep thinking, <br />I realize, in your love I'm sinking.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Not my work. One word modification from a poem written by Charley.</span>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-18817833684043880382008-11-04T15:58:00.002+05:302008-11-04T16:19:41.039+05:30I'm not a NERD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2qEDaeVcvAZ7tDm3X43tJSHVCskAWzl9uS9qfupMxGo5lIjU8NpHPFhNFTMEPGirUhjR3rwDEGwF8NhgL6QiYKludJXW0_yVkTL7lLZYHa-e6b7EIdZzfXIEymGDYPZF4FDiUoQ15EFB/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2qEDaeVcvAZ7tDm3X43tJSHVCskAWzl9uS9qfupMxGo5lIjU8NpHPFhNFTMEPGirUhjR3rwDEGwF8NhgL6QiYKludJXW0_yVkTL7lLZYHa-e6b7EIdZzfXIEymGDYPZF4FDiUoQ15EFB/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264752473074201186" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My hands are always moving and my fingers never still.<br />The monitor is my ink. The keyboard is my quill.<br />My guitar is in my speakers and a disk holds all my drums.<br />The key to my eraser is now beneath my thumbs.<br /><br />My paintbrush is my mouse and the bristles are the cords.<br />My programs built my house. The tool bar hung the door.<br />The Internet's my city, state, and country. It's my globe.<br />Google is a map when I cannot find my Home.<br /><br />I fall asleep at some sites and wake up in others lost.<br />I'm addicted to blogging and I don't care what it costs.<br />Every Sunday I get up and go to church at AMD.<br />It takes confessions while pretending not to sleep.<br /><br />I keep up with correspondents at night before bed.<br />"Yahoo!" "You've got mail!" Or whatever it may have said.<br />I log off and go to sleep. I dream only in words.<br />I may not be cool to you, but in MY world I'm not a nerd!</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-42020718918936098782008-11-04T15:39:00.003+05:302008-11-04T15:53:21.687+05:30Strength<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvYKnABgZVXaSSGc93P1-D45b7eLQmHiEOaFDF3ao2IWDUMPARFNztAUUpf3EK2EajegcgmrKvmIULXJtCot_P_UFPYmaIIdEfhlr20fexUX-SKR8GX8MY8aMAIbjV1hZrJAA-1EFdZ8-/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvYKnABgZVXaSSGc93P1-D45b7eLQmHiEOaFDF3ao2IWDUMPARFNztAUUpf3EK2EajegcgmrKvmIULXJtCot_P_UFPYmaIIdEfhlr20fexUX-SKR8GX8MY8aMAIbjV1hZrJAA-1EFdZ8-/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264745935542872658" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A mind so strong<br />Cannot be owned<br />This life I live<br />Is mine alone<br />As it has been<br />And still will be<br />Until the time<br />That death ends me<br />I am myself<br />And on my own<br />To deal with hell<br />My strength has grown<br />The stress forged will<br />I wield has shown<br />No link as weak<br />Or piece as lone<br />Within these walls<br />Of mental shields<br />I live at peace<br />As torment yields.</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-16167226442536259032008-11-03T20:18:00.004+05:302008-11-04T01:55:56.950+05:30Living In Fear<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cFfO5qd1LNLdMl8xm3HNFzLcLQvgvXFQjtCay0pIsUKYkzs-x4bLzrZFnNDYDUrMN0wOctuk9_0-fffQY2cRsD45CKpeUFUaZ7dN18TTqR76J7-Pllh_gg4xavKfF9uZ4B3mx5f_GiYQ/s1600-h/N19847.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cFfO5qd1LNLdMl8xm3HNFzLcLQvgvXFQjtCay0pIsUKYkzs-x4bLzrZFnNDYDUrMN0wOctuk9_0-fffQY2cRsD45CKpeUFUaZ7dN18TTqR76J7-Pllh_gg4xavKfF9uZ4B3mx5f_GiYQ/s400/N19847.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264448742176512962" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Time resumes to the taste of glass<br />As slivered dust fades away<br />Realization hits as an aftershock<br />Death has never been closer<br />Twisted forms of flesh and steel<br />Lie still now, rid of motion<br />Reeling from the forces involved<br />That bend both metal and the mind<br />Through a skewed door<br />I see the fast lane frozen<br />From my place in the middle<br />Standing, stopped as i was<br />Such an eerie pause surrounding<br />This vein of travel clotted<br />Calmly invades me<br />As wounds bleed in my eyes<br />These tears of red are shed for scars<br />That touch the bone and leave my sight<br />A grateful fortune for I'm thankful<br />Marred my face with marks so painful</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p><br /><br />P.S. --- Tribute to the people who are still braving it out there even after losing their near and dear ones. I lost three friends in the blasts. Swapan, Neog, and Nirmala, you would always be remembered.Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-43243404037540003802008-10-21T18:27:00.001+05:302008-10-21T18:31:03.534+05:30Could That Ever Be?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCe1Wk6VSQ7F5BhxFLCd3AX_h-enlFvDxjnwq1DICyotxhgwPQ6FJ6EGYfVszf_wATreuU2dUwupFLyXevGAQlJvrdzDZ4HJxdsiDMxbEw2-KRozf7dfElJVMy6AoLB3-j52PAoLPzOttd/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCe1Wk6VSQ7F5BhxFLCd3AX_h-enlFvDxjnwq1DICyotxhgwPQ6FJ6EGYfVszf_wATreuU2dUwupFLyXevGAQlJvrdzDZ4HJxdsiDMxbEw2-KRozf7dfElJVMy6AoLB3-j52PAoLPzOttd/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259591389254779842" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Emptiness inside me<br />Something is missing for sure<br />Broken poems and laughter<br /><br />Does this sound complete?<br />Recording my feelings<br />Does this mean anything?<br /><br />No one understands me<br />That is the usual statement I am sure<br />Does anyone want to know me?<br /><br />Does anyone really care?<br />Questions I ask<br />Answers I never find<br /><br />Would it be too much to ask?<br />Another question I am sure<br />I'm a ghost with no answers<br /><br />Does this sound right to you?<br />All I am asking is for you to be in my life<br />Could that ever be?</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-42881603675684239362008-10-21T18:17:00.001+05:302008-10-21T18:23:54.701+05:30I Care<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSO3PGtCfKeCiSlMIucxwL5Mme90s4SdV-tBfb3ZNeAUBrd8ublc23XsMowRcAYMPVwqzovagx5draDi137RMqVHYszQ0KpthLhGde95-PzU02m98KpzQAamT92GABVjYyDsGacclkN0hn/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSO3PGtCfKeCiSlMIucxwL5Mme90s4SdV-tBfb3ZNeAUBrd8ublc23XsMowRcAYMPVwqzovagx5draDi137RMqVHYszQ0KpthLhGde95-PzU02m98KpzQAamT92GABVjYyDsGacclkN0hn/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259589372411985250" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I want you to know how much I really care<br />The way things are make it difficult to share<br />The way you look at me I can't help but stare<br />Your eyes are so beautiful that no one elses can be compared<br />From the day I met you I have always been aware<br />That all these feelings are there<br />Months have passed by and these feelings I bare<br />I am just wondering how much do you care?</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-29931940514325679892008-10-21T17:21:00.002+05:302008-10-24T19:27:25.138+05:30Fading<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GGRZRh_x86RUsK35sZR4lXWnUX44Oq_30PCrvy-OW9cY-tvmCIgO6viVW4zQum4DNPzKHMjhkSaPye-YGwUGFsLyIHJXpx2HPUbN288o5VnbLYO0YZYXjjTYZHJDxRNPrZM-sl9i3ZN_/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GGRZRh_x86RUsK35sZR4lXWnUX44Oq_30PCrvy-OW9cY-tvmCIgO6viVW4zQum4DNPzKHMjhkSaPye-YGwUGFsLyIHJXpx2HPUbN288o5VnbLYO0YZYXjjTYZHJDxRNPrZM-sl9i3ZN_/s400/Clipboard01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259576874093430578" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fading like a flower<br />Flooded like the streets when it rains<br />Dark as my room when I lay there all alone<br />As broke as my heart when denied your love<br />As broken as ten thousand mirrors<br />But nothing compares to the way my love seems<br />Stronger than any force that has ever been<br />Undying like a thousand anthems played</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p><br /><br />P.S. --- I didn't realize my poems were worth copying. Check the link out and see that this person copied it and submitted it for a poetry contest.<br /><a href="http://www.poetry.com/dotnet/P7772678/999/1/display.aspx">Link to Poem copied from here</a>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-14640106168338158832008-10-06T17:35:00.004+05:302008-10-06T17:42:45.333+05:30Broken Dreams<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFEsCNyH1_IoxE_KIkDpdd2Hs5UZPL9tU_iBsAWEcbj_2RzQTgK-5CCIgzfLJ7D7wuj0hpbOEAmcVZUq1aRIcuTqT0y-GQgOk55OefUG3s2vhZpHxduvxfXuOWopLTYNpvy0agK8lDMzw/s1600-h/2903676684_bedd60ff3d.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFEsCNyH1_IoxE_KIkDpdd2Hs5UZPL9tU_iBsAWEcbj_2RzQTgK-5CCIgzfLJ7D7wuj0hpbOEAmcVZUq1aRIcuTqT0y-GQgOk55OefUG3s2vhZpHxduvxfXuOWopLTYNpvy0agK8lDMzw/s400/2903676684_bedd60ff3d.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254012214912769362" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Have you ever had your dream broken, <br />Hope left completely unspoken, <br />Found you had no chance, <br />To go another round of the pin-head dance, <br />Lost your way wandering in a trance, <br />Nothing left to say, <br />Just another day, <br />Burning for the lie? <br /><br />No place to call home, <br />Chips crashed all alone, <br />All for one brings on the fall, <br />'Cause no one's ever for us all, <br />The system is completely broken, <br />Each of us made just a token, <br />Just another way, <br />Of burning for the lie. <br /><br />Tell me to work hard, <br />For my just reward, <br />But it all rolls uphill, <br />Never our dreams fulfilled, <br />I'm shaken and I'm chilled, <br />It's a horse-sized bitter pill, <br />All the edges fray, <br />Burning for the lie. <br /><br />My belief is somewhere, <br />Under the floorboards the bank is going to own.</span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-78039067521589797222008-10-03T21:27:00.003+05:302008-10-03T21:42:06.241+05:30Where is the next blast going to be?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GqGuGsZBRT7bi1LPFkeaCV3lP7iUyf7OCeGpNaTc0Ap5_PKpM61Gw52SwbHPUhKFAL9PNwLlCFlI7i-RczOaEkd4T8I1V9OsPz45auNcplatmIZYw48lK_B2QkCjrvudeh6C-SLli918/s1600-h/z9cm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GqGuGsZBRT7bi1LPFkeaCV3lP7iUyf7OCeGpNaTc0Ap5_PKpM61Gw52SwbHPUhKFAL9PNwLlCFlI7i-RczOaEkd4T8I1V9OsPz45auNcplatmIZYw48lK_B2QkCjrvudeh6C-SLli918/s400/z9cm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252958261956779842" /></a><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">B</span>omb blasts have become a regular feature in India, especially in 2008 with blasts happening in 7 cities and we can assume that there are more to come. There was a time when we considered life in Jammu & Kashmir to be dangerous but today is there any town or city in India which can be called safe from terrorism? Terrorists have spread themselves to every nook and corner of this country and therefore we can never know where the next blast might happen.<br /><br /> Where is this country headed? Terrorists are sending e-mails and contacting the country’s security forces or the media threatening or challenging them to do whatever possible and they have been largely successful in causing terror in people’s minds about the condition of internal security of our country.<br /> <br /> All the blasts have been executed in a very planned manner and they have crossed every limit of humanity. This time around, the terrorists even targeted hospitals and timed the blasts so that they took the maximum number of lives by timing them exactly when the blast victims were being rushed into the hospitals. This inhuman act speaks a lot about their intentions and that they don’t value human lives. None whatsoever. <br /><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can,"</span> This was the statement given by a group calling itself the "Indian Mujahideen". A small bunch of anti-social elements which deviated from SIMI challenging the world’s largest democracy ? What is the Government of India Doing ?<br /><br /> India has been the target of repeated terrorist attacks attributed to Islamist terrorists. Experts say the vast majority of those attacks in the last few years were carried out by SIMI with help from outside India, chiefly Pakistan. Till now, SIMI has been responsible for most of 1,193 deaths attributed to Islamic terrorists in India since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a New Delhi research firm.<br /><br /> Are we getting habitual of these blasts? That is the quintessential question. Do we have an answer to this question? I don’t have any answer to it yet. What kind of future are we going to give to the next generation? A seed that was bowed during partition has now grown into a big tress, and unfortunately today this tree is fruiting products like Indian Mujahideen, SIMI, and foreign terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba. Bomb blasts are heinous crimes on humanity. The people who are doing so are puppets controlled by the hands of masterminds sitting away at safe places but these puppets work away methodically like machines without asking questions. <br /><br /> Hope that the scene changes soon and that we wouldn’t be seeing such gory pictures as the one above in the days to come. Here I am wishing for a better and terror free India.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Chronology of Major Bomb Blasts in India</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• October 1, 2008:</span> Blast in Agartala, Tripura killed 2 and injured 100.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• September 30, 2008:</span> Blast in Malegaon, Maharastra killed 4 and injured 70.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• September 27, 2008:</span> Blast in Delhi's Mehrauli flower market killed 1 and injured 23.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• September 13, 2008:</span> Serial blasts in Delhi killed at least 24 people and injured more than 100.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• July 26, 2008:</span> Serial blasts in Ahmedabad killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• July 25, 2008:</span> Nine explosions in Bangalore create terror killing 2 people and injuring 12.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• May 2008:</span> Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 dead and over 150 injured.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• January 2008:</span> Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills 8.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• October 2007:</span> 2 killed in a blast inside Ajmer Sharif shrine during Ramadan.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• August 2007:</span> 30 dead, 60 hurt in Hyderabad 'terror' strike.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• May 2007:</span> A bomb at Mecca mosque in Hyderabad kills 11 people.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• February 19, 2007:</span> Two bombs explode aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• September 2006:</span> 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• July 2006:</span> Seven bombs on Mumbai's trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• March 2006:</span> Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20 people.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• October 2005:</span> Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 people and injure hundreds.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• August 2003:</span> Two taxis packed with explosives blow up outside a Mumbai tourist attraction and a busy market, killing 52 and wounding more than 100.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• September 24, 2002:</span> Militants with guns and explosives attack the Akshardham Hindu temple in the western state of Gujarat, 31 killed, More than 80 injured.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• May 14:</span> Militants attack an army camp near Kashmir's winter capital, Jammu, killing more than 30, including wives and children of soldiers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• December 13, 2001:</span> More than a dozen people, including five gunmen, killed in an attack on parliament in New Delhi.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• October 1, 2001:</span> Militants storm the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly complex, killing about 35 people.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">• March 1993:</span> Mumbai serial bombings kill 257 people and injure more than 1,100.</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-32568387097339214392008-05-13T13:24:00.006+05:302008-05-13T14:34:09.202+05:30Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven<strong>Listen to the following by clicking on both "Play Forward" and "Play Reverse" and decide yourself what Zeppelin tried to create.</strong><br /><br /><embed pluginspage=" http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://souravdeb.googlepages.com/Zepplin1.swf" width="490" height="370" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-40139671349473645382008-03-29T12:03:00.001+05:302008-03-29T12:04:45.119+05:30Going InsaneBroken and afraid,<br />There's no place to hide.<br />Lost in the mind,<br />Beg and scream,<br />Pain so keen.<br />But can anyone understand,<br />That you don't mean to demand?<br />Bleeding from the eyes,<br />A way out we're trying to find.<br />Tears fall to the ground so hard,<br />Arms have become so scarred.<br />Get through this nightmare tonight,<br />And maybe in the morning we'll be all right.<br />Memories flood the brain,<br />Completely going insane.<br />Curl into a ball,<br />And into madness we'll fall.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-27604059053110976992008-03-29T11:53:00.002+05:302008-03-29T12:03:06.350+05:30Darkness & My DoomDarkness is my saving grace,<br />The light of day I shall not see<br /><br />I will never know,<br />Just why you have forsaken me<br /><br />Silenced by your choice,<br />For my screams you shall never hear<br /><br />Condemned to my death,<br />Unable to conquer your fear<br /><br />Pain I must endure,<br />As I am severed from your womb<br /><br />Darkness is my only saving grace,<br />A plastic bag my only tomb<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-83189121128313468732008-03-28T01:04:00.002+05:302008-03-29T00:16:57.869+05:30Atheism<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ui7r2zx-MeMCljEgbrd_QZ_TJDgdU9Lq46tOhJ-fXVZOa7xB9HNKj1ezE5PehBoG0AUKTir-xNJTJcQ4Rede6qluFtBBGt0IbDpth0Y-v4SnPXvwcTvjDVHRIRILf4jK-rdHkz9cBt9G/s1600-h/709px-Atom_of_Atheism-Zanaq_svg.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ui7r2zx-MeMCljEgbrd_QZ_TJDgdU9Lq46tOhJ-fXVZOa7xB9HNKj1ezE5PehBoG0AUKTir-xNJTJcQ4Rede6qluFtBBGt0IbDpth0Y-v4SnPXvwcTvjDVHRIRILf4jK-rdHkz9cBt9G/s400/709px-Atom_of_Atheism-Zanaq_svg.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182865720539151474" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">I</span>’m a canonical person who is sometimes bordering on the verge of insanity as some people around me will aver. So, as I tattle about me being an atheist, no one needs to take heed. I don’t want to bore you with my perpetual lecture about Atheism. Anyhow here goes aught.<br /><br />Someone today brought up the issue which got me thinking again about HIM i.e. GOD. I always assay to ascertain why I bother to waste my invaluable time to think about HIS existence or non-existence (According to me) ? It’s been a hell lot of time since I last spared HIM a thought! Those of you who are still reading this and aren’t bored to death will tend to think that I’m sacrilegious.<br /><br />For those unworldly beings who doesn’t know what Atheism Means: The word ‘atheism’ comes from the negative ‘a’ which means ‘no’ and ‘theos’ which means ‘god.’ Hence, atheism in the most base terms means ‘no god.’ Basically, atheism is the lack of belief in a god and/or the belief that there is no god. By contrast, theism is the belief that there is a God and that He is knowable. I need to mention that most atheists do not consider themselves anti-theists. Most consider themselves as non-theists. I've encountered many atheists who claim that atheism is not a belief system while others say it is. Since there is no official atheist organization, nailing down which definition of atheism to use can be difficult. Following are some definitions offered by atheists. ·<br /><br />"An atheist is someone who believes and/or knows there is no god."<br /><br />"An atheist lacks belief in a god."<br /><br />"An atheist exercises no faith in the concept of god at all."<br /><br />"An atheist is someone who is free from religious oppression and bigotry."<br /><br />"An atheist is someone who is a free-thinker, free from religion and its ideas."<br /><br />Which ever definition you go by, atheism denies God. There are two main categories of atheists: strong and weak, with variations in between. A strong atheist actively believes and states that no God exists. They expressly denounce the Christian God along with any other god. Strong atheists are usually more aggressive in their conversations with theists and try shoot holes in theistic beliefs. They like to use logic and anti-biblical evidences to denounce God's existence. Agnostic Atheists, as I call them, are those who deny God's existence based on an examination of evidence. Agnosticism means 'not knowing,' or 'no knowledge.' I call them agnostic because they state they have looked at the evidence and have concluded that there is no God. But, the interesting thing with them is that they say they are open further evidence for God's existence. Weak atheists simply exercise no faith in God. The weak atheist might be better explained as a person who lacks belief in God the way a person might lack belief that there is a green lizard in a rocking chair on the moon; it isn't an issue. He doesn't believe or not believe it. Finally, there is a group of atheists that I call militant atheists. They are, fortunately, few in number. They are usually highly insulting and profoundly terse in their comments to theists, particularly Christians. I’ve encountered a few of them and they are vile, rude, and highly condescending. Their language is full of insults, profanity, and blasphemies. Basically, no meaningful conversation can be had with them at all.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>But indeed I think GOD is a theoretical conception contrived to ply psychological back up to people.</strong><br /></span><br />Atheist positions seem to fall into two main categories. The first is the lack of evidence category where the atheist asserts that the supporting evidence isn't good enough for him to affirm God's existence. The second is the category where they believe that the idea of God existing is illogical and contrary to the evidence at hand. To simplify, one says there isn't enough evidence to decide and the other says there is evidence contrary to God's existence. For those atheists who simply lack belief and exercise no energy in the discussion, neither category applies because they are not involved in the debate. A typical argument posed by an atheist to show why God does not exist is as follows: God is supposed to be all good and all powerful. Evil and suffering exist in the world. If God is all good he would not want evil and suffering to exist. If He is all powerful then He is able to remove all evil and suffering. Since evil and suffering exist, God is either not all good (which means he is not perfect and not God), or he is not all powerful (and limited in abilities and scope). Since either case shows God is not all good and powerful, then He does not exist.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">Some Basic Tenets of Atheism</div><br />Presuppositions are important to us all. We look at the world through them. The atheist has a set of presuppositions, too. Though there is no definitive atheist organization that defines the absolutes of atheism, there are basic principles that atheists, as a whole, tend to adopt. They are listed below. Please note however, that not all atheists assert all of these tenets. The only absolute common one they hold to is that they do not believe in a God or gods.<br /><br />1. There is no God or devil.<br /><br />2. There is no supernatural realm.<br /><br />3. Miracles cannot occur.<br /><br />4. There is no such thing as sin as a violation of God's will.<br /><br />5. Generally, the universe is materialistic and measurable.<br /><br />6. Man is material.<br /><br />7. Generally, evolution is considered a scientific fact.<br /><br />8. Ethics and morals are relative.<br /><br />For the Christian, atheism clashes with many aspects of our faith. Some atheists openly attack Christianity citing apparent contradictions in the Bible, perceived philosophical difficulties related to God, and what they consider as logical evidences against God's existence. But the atheists' criticisms are not without answers. Hopefully, this information will help answer some of their claims and give reasons for believing in God.<br /><br />We sometimes tend to think otherwise that there indeed is something out there which we have no clew around but what if it’s a legerdemain? What if there is nothing at all?<br /><br />These are questions to which I haven’t been able to answer but I can surely say that which I can’t see, feel, hear or touch, I don’t believe.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Can Atheists be ethical?</span></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="left">The answer to this question is a definite, "Yes." Atheists are people who, whether they like it or not, have the law written on their hearts. They are subject to the same laws of our country (and other countries). They have a sense of right and wrong. They must work with people and being unethical in society would not serve them very well. It is practical and logical for an atheist to be ethical and work within the norms of social behavior. Atheists, generally, are honest, hardworking people. Nevertheless, some Christians raise the question, "What is to prevent an atheist from murdering and stealing? After all, they have no fear of God and no absolute moral code." The answer is simple: Atheists are capable of governing their own moral behavior and getting along in society the same as anyone else. At the risk of labeling the atheist as self-centered, it does not serve the best interests of an atheist to murder and steal. It would not take long before he was imprisoned and/or killed for his actions. Basically, society will only put up with so much if it is to function smoothly. So, if an atheist wants to get along and have a nice life, murdering and stealing won't accomplish it. It makes sense for him to be honest, work hard, pay his bills, and get along with others. Basically, he has to adopt a set of ethics common to society in order to do that. Belief in God is not a requirement for ethical behavior or an enjoyable life. </div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><strong>On the other hand </strong></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Atheists' morals are not absolute. They do not have a set of moral laws from an absolute God by which right and wrong are judged. But, they do have a legal system with a codified set of moral laws. This would be the closest thing to moral absolutes for atheists. However, since the legal system changes (slavery was legal 200 years ago but is not now), the morals in a society can still change. At best, these codified morals are "temporary absolutes." This can be a problem as the norms of society shift and the ethics shift with them. In one century abortion is wrong. In another, it is right. Well, is it or isn't it right? If there is a God, killing the unborn is wrong. If there is no God, then who cares? If it serves the best interest of society and the individual, then kill. This can be likened to something I call, "experimental ethics." In other words, whatever works best is right. Society experiments with ethical behavior to determine which set of rules works best for it. Unfortunately, however, social experimentation is often harmful. </div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><div align="left">There are potential dangers in this kind of ethical system. If a totalitarian political system is instituted and a mandate is issued to kill all dissenters, or Christians, or mentally ill, what is to prevent the atheist from joining forces with the majority system and support the killings? It serves his self-interests, so why not? But, to be fair, just because someone has an absolute ethical system based upon the Bible or Gita or Koran or any other Holy Book for that matter is no guarantee that he will not also join forces for the killings. But the issue is the base and ramifications of that base. Beliefs affect behavior. That is why belief systems are so important and absolutes are so necessary. A boat adrift without an anchor soon crashes into the rocks. The Bible teaches love, patience, and seeking the welfare of others even when it might harm the Christian; in this the ten commandments are a summary. In contrast, the atheists' presuppositions must be evolutionary. Since evolution teaches that life is the product of purely natural and utilitarian properties of our world, survival of the fittest, natural selection, and equating humans to animals as a species are the ontological basis for our existence and living. With this the value of man is lowered. In contrast, it is a very high calling to treat people properly who also are made in the image of God. </div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /> Basically, I do not see how the atheist could claim any moral absolutes at all. To an atheist, ethics must be variable and evolving. This could be good or bad. But, given human nature being what it is, I'll opt for the moral absolutes.<br /><br /> I have read incandescently many theistical and atheistical books but haven’t arrived at a conclusion yet. But will what I am rambling about have any repercussions in those who read it eventually? I doubt it. What good will it do for you to read a lecture on atheism given by a hallucinating 25 year old male? Don’t you think you have wasted a lot of time if you are indeed still reading this? Anyway, if you visualize anything about GOD and want to speak out then do reply and let others know about what your view is !!! Signing off here. Will write again if anyone is duly interested to hear what this crackerball of an atheist has to say.</p><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-15402448344461270792007-12-27T15:18:00.000+05:302007-12-27T15:54:06.187+05:30Tare Zameen Par Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTIc8fNKiLXBKxupHKyZTJf7lw_9y-SdatyAFhGsmm0KcMg1D7Kz_gMk1baD8f2edCt3lo0uALI7EBSpMsWBdU678DxrEzERSBS5JUzI1LRuhZxqTHooZ9yfFfdpWBJBPh3C9JXlcSBUn/s1600-h/still2gn6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTIc8fNKiLXBKxupHKyZTJf7lw_9y-SdatyAFhGsmm0KcMg1D7Kz_gMk1baD8f2edCt3lo0uALI7EBSpMsWBdU678DxrEzERSBS5JUzI1LRuhZxqTHooZ9yfFfdpWBJBPh3C9JXlcSBUn/s400/still2gn6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148596380509186898" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cast and Crew</span><br />Official Website: <a href="http://www.taarezameenpar.com">Tare Zameen Par</a><br />Duration: 2:40 hrs (approx.)<br />Genre: Social, Kids, Family<br />Director: Aamir Khan<br />Story: Amole Gupte<br />Lead Actors: Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary<br />Supporting Cast: Sachet Engineer, Tanay Cheda, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma<br />Music Director: Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca, Shankar Mahadevan<br />Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Plot Summary</span><br /><br />Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) is a dyslexic, but no one around him knows that. Ram Nikhumb (Aamir Khan) puts his faith in Ishaan and helps him work on his weaknesses and enhance his strengths.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Review</span><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">H</span>ow can anyone not love a movie about children crafted with utmost compassion - children with special needs at that? But, is that the only reason I liked Tare Zameen Par? Absolutely no. What I know for certain is that a strong single-line story is narrated in a extremely charming manner. It is truly uplifting when spirit wins and yet, it is not all about the spirit of winning.<br /><br />Tare Zameer Par is about a child who suffers because no one around him conceded that he is a slow learner. The beauty of the narration is that the message applies to all children - learning disability or not. How can creativity not deserve a place in academics? It also points a very subtle finger at how we build conformation in our system right at the roots.<br /><br />The pace of the first half gives you time to think of normal children who are just not academically inclined. The resolution in the second half, however, comes by too quickly compared to the trauma shown earlier. But, I guess, if the point is to show that difficulties can be overcome, you don’t necessarily want to show how difficult it is to overcome them.<br /><br />About 45 minutes post-interval, Darsheel Safary (Ishaan) said a line which made me realize that he hadn’t said a line in the last hour or so. There I was feeling sorry for Ishaan, feeling like yelling at someone to give him a big hug while I fought this lump in my throat that had been there for the longest time. All this based solely on Darsheel’s expressions and body language!<br /><br />Kudos to the director for taking this decision and many such with brilliant confidence. And, finally we have a dialogue writer who knows when not to give the actors a helping hand. There are a couple of verbose, preachy scenes. But, they made the point because they were well written.<br /><br />Aamir Khan’s entry into the movie seemed over-the-top and forced, mainly because it was in absolute contrast with the tone of the movie thus far. But after a little while you realize that you can’t distinguish between the actor/director Aamir Khan and his character Nikumbh. They are both fighting the same cause. Passionately. The other characters serve their purpose as caricatures - stereotypical father, loving mother, understanding sibling, ruthless teacher, and jeering peers.<br /><br />No matter who or what the focus of the camera is, the love it feels towards its subjects shows in each frame. And, in turn, you fall in love with what you see on screen. Compositions, lighting, angles, colors all work successfully together to engross you and very often to enchant you. The lingering camera might have added a good 10-15 minutes to the run-time. But you will be hard-pressed to point out exact scenes which the movie could have done without. Everything is building character or atmosphere or both.<br /><br />The songs too contribute to the narrative. The lyrics are sheer poetry. I know, that’s what they are supposed to be, but can’t remember the last time lyrics brought me to tears. “mein kabhi batlaata nahi” kept me speechless (and we all know how difficult that is!). And rock-style guitar strumming to a kids’ song - that’s what I call creative.<br /><br />Yes, that dash of seemingly inevitable melodrama exists. The side-characters transform for no apparent reason. The climax is exaggerated and is as unrealistic as it could get. However, the aim is to show not reality of life but reality of the condition that this child suffers from. Once you get that, you pardon the make-up a mother is wearing at 6 AM while doing her chores. And anyway, most of this is towards the end, by which time you are willing to forgive. Because, above all else, it makes you think.<br /><br />When did we grow up? When along the way did we forget what it felt like to be yelled at, to be put down, to be ridiculed? And why did we choose the next generation for revenge? Will we recognize the child in us that is struggling to get out? Will the sensation that the lump in the throat created, stay after the credits roll?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What worked</span><br /><br /> * The gutter scene in the beginning, beautifully shot!<br /> * Titles - adorable!<br /> * The manner in which the street vendors were captured in the sequence where Ishaan is roaming on the streets.<br /> * The shudder Darsheel gives when the car starts (at the hostel).<br /> * The way Ishaan’s character has developed. You know he is the kind who would hate showing his tears in public and thus refrains from crying when he is hit on his knuckles.<br /> * Portrayal of how color is sucked out of Ishaan, a child whose only true love is colors.<br /> * The scenes in which Ishaan is shown gazing at the scenery - a breathtaking composition.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What didn’t</span><br /><br /> * How can a school which boasts of discipline allow a parent to interrupt class?<br /> * The principal of the school did not look stern enough to be such a stickler for discipline.<br /> * How come Ishaan became such a sudden favorite at school that he got a standing ovation?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Nitty-Gritty</span><br /><br />This section lists things that I think are not important<br />to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, “we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it”. I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.<br /><br /> * Teachers announcing marks of 60 children in front of the whole class, as if she was taking a roll call. Where does that happen? Marks usually are kept secret. And even if marks are announced they are just of the highest and the lowest scorers.<br /> * Ishaan wears a uniform that is two sizes bigger than what he needs. Again, superficial things purposefully used to exaggerate situation and evoke empathy.<br /> * Where did Ishaan get money to buy the gola (ice-candy) and take a bus ride? He used his school bus to go home, why would a third grader have money?</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-69996862462649415002007-11-26T08:13:00.000+05:302007-11-26T08:21:27.965+05:30Cursed<strong>Innocence of day<br />Raped away by night,<br />No way to resist,<br />Powerless to fight,<br /><br />Imprisoned within himself<br />His bloodlust rages,<br />Killing them<br />One by one.<br /><br />He lurks in the shadows<br />Hunting his prey,<br />It must be done<br />Before the start of day,<br /><br />Haunted by spirits<br />He ravages the lands,<br />With a vengence filled heart<br />And bloodstained hands.</strong><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-22611576871438877832007-09-18T14:56:00.000+05:302007-09-18T15:07:11.778+05:30Review: Live Flesh (1997)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjRbbdkDed31omf9F9PDzMcb60Wo5Gm6RkF8a5WzzMumo2xnYvacKFwQe77YCca5i65uw_42S5kvBXurya90cKnt_yFZ0Omu99pMogo8wwBEHrShzgpWFaVk8rTkGBBC1wd_TMIfq8ALO/s1600-h/Carne_tremula.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjRbbdkDed31omf9F9PDzMcb60Wo5Gm6RkF8a5WzzMumo2xnYvacKFwQe77YCca5i65uw_42S5kvBXurya90cKnt_yFZ0Omu99pMogo8wwBEHrShzgpWFaVk8rTkGBBC1wd_TMIfq8ALO/s400/Carne_tremula.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111474647234550882" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">V</span>ictor Plaza (Liberto Rabal), a prostitute’s son born in a Madrid bus -- and on the very day in 1970 that Franco cracked down on personal liberties in Spain -- gets in serious trouble as a young man, goes to prison, and emerges while still in his twenties, eager to claim his personal freedom in a newly energized country. Franco is dead, and the reborn Victor -- the hero of Pedro Almodóvar’s Live Flesh -- has a galvanizing effect on everyone he meets. A lover with dark eyes and a small goatee, Victor is neither evil nor violent, but he’s an inexperienced, hungry young man, and things go out of control when he’s around (Rabal has rough edges that his predecessor in such roles, the handsomer, more skilled but more predictable Antonio Banderas, did not have). Live Flesh, the best movie from Almodóvar since that Iberian screwball classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, turns into a happy joke about passion as destiny, eros as the dominating force in life. Apart from eros, of course, there isn’t much life in Almodóvar -- the world of work and family hardly exists. But this Spanish bad-boy writer-director does the comedy of sexual passion better than anyone else. The entire history of Spanish repression and guilt seems to gather inside the heads of his men and women; they are naturally explosive in ways that Americans, with their lesser sense of sin, their hygienic attitude toward sex, could never be.<br /><br /><br /><br />The story, which has been freely adapted from a Ruth Rendell novel, teases symmetry into an Almodóvarian pretzel. Eager to become the world’s greatest lover, Victor sleeps with the wives of the two Madrid policemen who put him in jail -- first Clara (the great Angela Molina, of the tragic mask), who is much adored by her murderously obsessive husband, Sancho (Pepe Sancho), who loves a woman by trying to dominate her and, if necessary, kill her. Clara cheats on her husband in order to survive him, in both body and soul. Taking Victor in hand, she teaches him some of the more essential points of lovemaking, and under Clara’s tutelage, he becomes a saner and gentler fellow -- a better man, in every sense. You might say he is healed by sex. Live Flesh, which begins and ends on Christmas, is about salvation; Almodóvar is eros’s last true worshiper.<br /><br /><br /><br />Bored with Clara, Victor pursues the exquisite Elena (Francesca Neri), the woman who lured him into trouble some years earlier. It was at Elena’s house that the 20-year-old Victor accidentally shot Sancho’s partner, a promising young police detective named David (Javier Bardem). After the shooting, Elena, the daughter of the Italian consul, a rich girl dabbling in drugs, was so guilty over her own role in the affair that she married David, who had taken a bullet in the spine and was confined to a wheelchair. He’s a dynamite wheelchair basketball player and a thoroughly virile man in every sense but the literal one. So the adulterous joining of Victor and Elena is charged with the many varieties of desire, guilt, and ambivalence. It’s a scene worth waiting for -- certainly the most sensual of Almodóvar’s heterosexual love scenes.<br /><br /><br /><br />Almodóvar’s electric, brightly colored hyperbolic style has always teetered on the edge of camp and pornography. When he’s going well, he achieves a delirious freedom of tone; when not so well, he horses his way into silliness. In Live Flesh, Almodóvar has stabilized his manner somewhat. The movie is not as startling and fantastic as Law of Desire or Matador, but it doesn’t settle into commonplace realism either. For Almodóvar, sexual passion is part of the cruel joke of Spanish guilt and fatalism. Sex is a matter of life and death that drives people into absurd situations; Almodóvar’s most tragic scenes slide into farce (and vice-versa). These men and women seem not to possess “psychology” but only desire; that’s all the psychology Almodóvar needs. It’s a view of character that dissolves social reality. Would an elegant woman like Elena, the daughter of a foreign diplomat, marry a young policeman? Would she leave him for a young nobody? In this movie, such questions are beside the point. Almodóvar embraces the Mediterranean, or celebratory, view of sex, familiar from Boccaccio’s stories, in which eros is a democracy of matching bodies and temperaments. Society, money, status all shrink to nothing. Despite his erotic fixations, Pedro Almodóvar is the cinema’s last true innocent.</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665312270599503751.post-43672094247449953672007-09-18T14:28:00.000+05:302007-09-18T14:48:48.522+05:30Review: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZzknBfF6tCbO82RoUJlTW7ebPON6677BuHBZFtPWzRNwrzymYLaIbZbVTCvCVa23a6Y74pvWNiAPFhcXhwo-j5NXrHrmRHkRX3FExR_yia3Q1J8LA92NLmgqm0Jhv2IH3GcinCFBUzNo/s1600-h/cgr6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZzknBfF6tCbO82RoUJlTW7ebPON6677BuHBZFtPWzRNwrzymYLaIbZbVTCvCVa23a6Y74pvWNiAPFhcXhwo-j5NXrHrmRHkRX3FExR_yia3Q1J8LA92NLmgqm0Jhv2IH3GcinCFBUzNo/s400/cgr6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111470670094834770" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="float:left;color:darkred;font-size:100px;line-height:80px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:5px;font-family: times;">W</span>ho hasn’t felt, when in the throes of passionate love, just a little unbalanced, maybe even not-so-slightly lunatic? And who hasn’t felt a little spiritually strangled, mentally manacled by the obsessive love of another? And which of us hasn’t done something dreadful from which we’ve spent significant psychic energy trying to escape in an aimless journey down the river of denial, perhaps eventually committing to a series of actions aimed at expatiating this perceived sin, all the while secretly convinced of a personal unworthiness of complete catharsis? <br /><br />Hmmm… okay, maybe not. Still, hang with me for a while on this, okay? <br /><br />I guess the reason that Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Spanish director-farceur Pedro Almodovar’s dark sex farce, remains a constant source of delight throughout its 100 minutes, and in the years since its 1990 release is its consistently relevant, deliriously provocative and giddily perverse exploration of the off-kilter and cruel-to-be-kind world of obsessive love. <br /><br />This movie’s focus is almost entirely on the disturbing relationship that develops between recently released mental patient Ricky (Antonio Banderas) and drug addict/one time porno star with “legit” thespian ambitions Marina (Victoria Abril). Indeed, a big part of the film’s appeal is the nature of Almodovar’s fearlessness; he tackles clichés, like those implicit in this Madonna-whore treatment of Marina, in order to turn them on their collective heads and force us to face our own comfortable preconceptions. Ricky, a slightly lunatic Lothario, has become obsessed with Marina, and decides that the best way to convince her to return his love is to kidnap her in her own home then tie her to her bed. “I’ll never love you, ever,” she quite plausibly asserts. “We’ll see,” retorts Ricky. <br /><br />And man, do we ever. See, that is. The “evolution” of their relationship, which challenges the audience’s comfortable middle-class comfort zones with regard to love and sexuality, is as visually exciting as it is intellectually and emotionally brave. The film is explicit, not just in its sex scenes, but its emotional honesty, as we struggle to understand these fragile, remarkable characters caught in an extraordinary love story, whose bonds of love are the ties that bind. Central to this film’s success is not only Almodovar’s uncompromising adherence to this tightrope vision, where he treads delicately between moments of giddy farce and then challenges us with dark scenes that threaten emotional and intellectual revulsion, but also a pair of no-holds-barred bravura performances in the lead roles. The charismatic Banderas, whose Ricky is the definition of dangerous and alluring Latino sexuality, and the pouty and sensuous Abril, whose Marina is both alluring and dangerous, deliver performances that are almost unsettlingly unselfconscious. <br /><br />Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a film that won’t sit easily with a lot of people whose comfortable lives are built around Hallmark-like assumptions about the “niceness” of love. But for the rest of us, the film offers a delightfully twisted romp through the darkness visible in the recesses of our libido.</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/256jw6"><img src="http://tinyurl.com/2l6ty9" /></a></p>Souravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01868173271016198817noreply@blogger.com0