Friday 25 January 2008

JAM @ Saarang

Yep! Finally. Ever since I started winning JAM at college level, my aim has been Saarang. I'm sure I won't even make it to the finals, but I atleast wna participate there. JAM's the only event I'm good at and that's the only event in which I can participate at Saarang. Prelims start at 9 tomorrow.

Its not like I'm not confident or anything, check this out, the guy who judged the JAM events at MOP, Ethiraj and Stella has been finishing on the podium at Saarang in JAM for the past 2 years. So imagine competing against a guy who judged an event that you won. Man, its gna be hard. But I'm gna give it my best, I hope I'll atleast make it past the first round of Prelims. Here's hoping for the best. Oh, and just so you guys know, won again at Meenakshi college, EEE dept symposium. And those buggers there wrote Vivekananda College of Engineering on the certificate, no wonder the Principal asked me where the college was! Well, given the prize money, I really wasn't bothered about the certificate! :D

Update: Didn't make it to the finals. :(

Saturday 19 January 2008

Movie and The Beach!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a date with a pretty girl (darn it). Movie was with Rakesh and his friends and the Beach was with a bunch of guys I've not hung around with in a long time. It was my X D gang, the guys from my School JV. It was uber fun to say the least and it was easy to notice that the guys have learnt new ways and means to tease others. It was interesting to see how their failed college/hostel lines were the cause for a lot of Mokkais. :D

So here's how it went, Bheema (a freakingly bad movie sparing Trisha who was gorgeous to say the least and don't even get me started on how old that Vikram man is looking) at 315 in Satyam. Turned up late thanks to traffic on the Anna Flyover (as usual) and then to my surprise, the movie started just as I stepped into the theatre (those guys up at the Projection were waiting for me :P). So after 2 songs in 20 mins, Sappe and I decided to go get popcorn if the 3rd song comes up before the Interval (it definitely would and it did), Murali joined us. Nowadays thanks to the new bottled flavours at Satyam, I've stopped eating Butter Popcorn (yea, it was pretty hard to give it up). I love experimenting with the flavours, today it was Cheddar Cheese and Parmesan (I have no idea what it is) and it turned out pretty tasty. :D

So after the movie fiasco, we all gave it a Standing Ovation, which it so totally deserved. Got an SMS from Free asking me to be at the beach by 6. Went there by 620 (the freaking movie ran till 6) and joined the guys there. An hour later, we were talking to our Xth std Class teacher and that was reason enough to tease Jithu (its a long story). Later, Siddu, Varun, Jithu, Muruga and Ganesh decided to head back home. That was when AP, Hari, Free and I decided to head to Fruit Shop. As usual, change of mind and AP took us to this great place to have Sandwiches, it wasn't some fancy place. Just some local shop in front of a small supermarket. But then the sandwiches over there were so yummy. It was butter, cheese and more butter and cheese all the way. :D

After a couple of sandwiches there, we headed to the old Sethji shop near my place. I tell you, this place serves the best Masala Vadai there is. It costs 2 bucks (used to cost just one rupee, it was a rude shock to learn they hiked the prices) and it comes with freshly cut cabbage and onion and the usual green chutney. Its so so so Yummy. After a plate of some really hot and delicious Pani Puri, the others couldn't handle the heat and they went in search of some juice. I, meanwhile, patiently waited for my Vadais. :D After burning our tongues even more, the bill was settled at just 46 bucks. Is that cheap or what? :P We decided to call it a day and each of us headed back home.

It was super cool to get back with these guys and it really took my mind off from that godawful movie. Sigh.

Wednesday 9 January 2008

WW II Movies

Been watching quite a few World War II movies off late. Schindler's List, The Pianist and The Downfall. Hard to compare all the 3, since they're totally different in all aspects, but I'll try to give you my opinion about these Movies.

Schindler's List

Finally got an opportunity to watch this movie. The first time I started to watch it, it was 4 in the morning, I slept by the time the colour turned to b/w. The next time was minutes before I had to go out. But this time, I made sure nothing interrupted it and I finished watching it.

The way Spielberg has handled this character is a marvellous study by its own. Oskar Schindler has power, money, emotion, prestige, courage, sarcasm, appeal, brains and good looks. What more could a guy ask for. Well, the way he's been potrayed, it would make you feel very very conscious about who you are and what exactly you are doing. And at the end of the movie, you'll thank him like you were one of the 1100 Jews that he bought (saved).

The story, the Screenplay (Powerful, Spielberg style) and the Characterization is immaculate.

But where the movie finds itself wanting is when it comes to showing those scenes where the Jews are tortured. I just felt that it was over-shown, I know that's not even a word, but I guess you understand what I mean. If the scene was for say 30 seconds, cutting it down to 25 seconds would've made quite a remarkable change. That's about the only complaint I've got against the Movie.

My Rating: 8.6/10
IMDb: 8.8/10

The Pianist

Ever since I watched this movie about a week ago, I've been searching all over for some good Polanski movies. I can't believe I haven't seen any other movie of his. After IMDbing a bit, I've got Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby lined up. If you've got any suggestions, into the Comment Box.

The movie is really moving and disturbing to a certain extent. I've never realized Adrian Brody could be such a brilliant actor, but I guess such a Director can get that out of anyone.

The lead is a Pianist who plays Chopin (Treat guaranteed for the ear if you're a Western Classical Lover like me, :D) and earns money but is also a Jew. So this is his story of how he escapes the Gas Chambers and how he turns into something similar to a rodent just to survive. And the relationship he shares with a certain German Officer is enough to make you feel sentimental about him. His reactions, when he finds out that the Officer was arrested and how he was unable to help him, are priceless. On the Negative side, I guess the story could've been shorter, guess the depression scenes was way too depressing to be actually depressing, if you know what I mean.

My Rating: 8.9/10
IMDb: 8.5/10

The Downfall

This is probably one of the few movies to approach the War from Hitler's side. This doesn't talk about concentration camps and the genocide, but about the last few days of his life. Its tragic to see that Hitler had to meet such an end. Suicide due to defeat in war was obviously inevitable. But the thought of Hitler being betrayed by his own men when he could've won the War had they listened to him, was pretty disturbing. No matter how bad/evil he was, he deserved to die better.

The lead actor's performance as Hitler is awesome. If only there were Oscars for foreign actors. The occasional bursts of anger, the subtle change in mannerisms as he knows more about the treachery is very very painstakingly perfected. Picture perfect performance if you ask me.

While not talking about the Genocide at all is a good move cinematically speaking, had those scenes been shown on screen, it would've resulted in the audience hating Hitler more and hence feeling more sorry for him during his last minutes. Of course, logically speaking, lot of controversies have been avoided thanks to the Director's resort to talk only about the after-effects of Allies' entry into Berlin. In fact, the movie starts with the Bombing of Berlin by the Allied Forces.

My Rating: 9.1/10
IMDb: 8.5/10


For someone who hasn't read about the World Wars in School History, these 3 movies was certainly an eye-opener. :)

Tuesday 1 January 2008

'07.....'08...

07 was a pretty good year for me. Did lots of stuff and procured more habits that I've never done/had in the past. 07 moved into 08 quite Smoothly, Thank you very much. Midnight was spent at Rapecase's place listening to his bro's takes on Life in the USA.

As usual, here are a list of things I want to see myself doing thru the year:

- Get more Fit (Tired of being the useless slob)
- Try to fix a sleep cycle
- Try eating different food from various cuisines. (Bored of just South Indian/Tandoori/Italian)
- Play some sport, Make it a habit to play it often.
- Get out of the Existential state
- Stop getting on people's nerves
- Be more Approachable
- Learn some more French
- Get back to Karate, somehow
- Get a decent score in CAT and get admitted in a decent college (Anywhere out of Chennai is decent for me)
- Get a life
- Live up to my Nickname (Vetti :D)

Hoping that these things happen or at least start happening, here's me Wishing you all a Very Happy and Vetti New Year! :)