Monday, February 27, 2006

FMMMMMMM...

not Finance Minister but the radio city, FM rainbow and 102.9 kamapananka ..
Why cant they do without RJs. Vasanthi .. arghhhhhhhhhhh..
101.3 and 102.9 ..my goodness .. I dont even have an idea how can they be selected. Probably AIR chief's relatives are given a chance ..

btw, anyone tuned into 101.3 and 102.9 there were some lovely kannada songs played today... amrutavarshini, halu jenu, jogi, NMH etc etc ..

Orkut and Brazil

Initially, I thought the name "Orkut" had to do something with "OR"acle Connections or something like that. I came to know that Orkut was designed by a guy named Orkut Büyükkökten. working in google (as a small independent project).It seems google encourages its employees to work projects of personal interest. (And ofcourse employees do that....because, they are that good )

But recently Orkut = Brazil.

Related links :- 1 2

The orkut community has been watching a large surge of Brazilian users registering on its service. The number of Brazilian orkut users has reached approximately 73.25% of the total of users, followed by United States, with about 9.93%. Then we have Iran and Pakistan.

Hence the deault language of Orkut may be changed to Portugese!

Vasco Da Gamma ki jai ....lol !

PS:- I have re-entered orkut. I went out for some shady reason, and I am back again.


Current Music : Vengaboys - Brasil

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Decline ?

Well , yesterday as I drove along with the radio on, a question was posed to a good Kannada film director called Mohan. I have listed the GIST of what I heard.

Ofcourse, i have paraphrased the gist of what I heard :-)


Interviewer :-
Dont you think , the audience for Kannada movies is on the decline ?

Director :-
Yes of course.

Interviewer :-
Why dont we have great literary figures and poets , like we had Yesterday?Why dont we have Chi.UdayaShanker ?

Director :-
Look, nobody is born a great literary figure. They become great literary figures because of patronage. You give them encouragement, they'll do well.We know that there is a good market for Kannada movies. But the scriptwriters cater to the "audience" which PAY their money to actually GET UP and COME to the theatres.Your urban Kannada audience is lazy to come to a theatre and watch the movie.


I agree with the guy completely.Instead of bathing on past glories like Gejje Pooje or Masanada Hoovu, we gotta lend our time and extend patronage on a movie industry which kinda looks doomed .This may not be possible for people who are outside Bangalore or Karnataka.But people who are still here, can actually do that!

When I ask my cousins or friends (ofcourse , the ones who speak Kannada), to come for Kannada movies, their expression is :-
Thuu....Neeenu idakella hogtya ? Nange nodakke patience illa....

As far as reading books are concerned, I was never good in reading Kannada.I still take a lot of time to read one full sentence intact.So, I have kind of given up on that.But movies...I dont mind watching a Kannada movie with a black ticket.

Any audience wants movies which they can identify with.Right now , most of the movies we have is for the en machi audience. 18 year old punk rebel boys who are pissed off to attend their college (which is usually , not your elitist college).These 18year olds are usually the so-called "rural class". This was mentioned by the director also . And ofcourse, we have the cult movies for the autodriver audience. (A big percentage of autodrivers are Kannada speaking people)

So what happens to the "urban" Bangalore boy ? Ofcourse, the Bangalore boy who is brought up fully in the city, finds himself more comfortable watching movies which have a John Smith driving a Newyork Yellow Colored Taxi cab , than watch a movie which has ByreGowda riding a tractor carrying cowdung. I dont blame him either.They watch movies where the word "homicide...lieutenant" is used more than "kollay.....circle inspector".Dont you think so?

The movies which make money right now are Hodimaga, machchu, longu audience.....

But the TV scene in Karnataka is making BIG BUCKS.The urban Kannada audience and the uncles and aunties prefer to sit and watch TV teleserials. The teleserial "Mukta" is REALLY good. The director had organized a dialogue to discuss the future plot of the serial. He has been doing that everywhere in Karnataka.Just a few weeks ago, he organized a dialog in Mumbai.I mean, to draw a packed audience in Mumbai about discussing the future plot of a KANNADA teleserial is not a joke. And have a viewership of more than 30 lakh is not a joke.Kudos to him.

But it irks me when shitty somberi urban Kannada audience are glued to their seats and dont bother to watch any Kannada movies.

And to be very frank,I am doubtful that Kannada TV serials can build a "culture". Sitcoms in India have always remained an inferior step-cousin to movies and will continue to be like that for some time to come.

A Sitcom is like a wonderful Saaru anna/ Chapathi. You enjoy it for the moment, later it is forgotten. Because you eat it everyday.

But a movie is like an exotic dish you have someday. Which can actually make an impact.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Justice?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1428964.cms

Investigating officer in Jessica Lall's murder is 'transferred'.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Album covers - Abbey Road

If any one of you get this album Abbey Road , almost all the songs of this album are simply FANTABULOUS.That is word.I love all the songs of this album.However, the most interesting aspect of this album is the album cover.When you type "Beatles" on Google Image Search, you get it.

beatles

Check out the cover of the album (bigger pic) here.

It just shows four men in different attires crossing a road.However, there are many interpretations for this cover.This one was told to me by my friend.

John Lennon,is dressed in White. He is supposed to represent Jesus.
If you have heard his music , you will actually know he is a god

Ringo is dressed all in black.He is supposed to represent the priest who is supposed to do the funeral rights.

Paul , doesnt wear shoes, and has a cigarette in his hands. He is supposed to represent a dead man to be carried to a funeral.Lead by Jesus and the priest.

George Harisson is in Jeans and he is supposed to represent an undertaker.

Wow! wonderful album cover.

Some album covers are too hard to decipher.How do you decipher...... Nevermind (Nirvana's breakthrough album)?

Other death metal bands bring out inhuman covers.....with no respect to human dignity showing the blood, intestines and all....Very negative image.But people (like the spooky guy carrying a camera in the movie American Beauty) might actually enjoy that....You got to keep an album cover simple yet artistic.

Sidenews :-
Meanwhile, I have started to practice keyboard.I hope, I will soon graduate to piano so that I can sweep an attractive woman wearing a silky gown and drinking red wine off her feet. "Riders on the Storm" is a great way to start off my keyboard experiments.Ray Manzarek is my newest role model.The song is awesome expecially in rainy afternoons.....Hope I'll learn to play it.


Current Music : Aerosmith - Dream On

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

arcelor .. or arse e lore ..

Too much of Arcelor stuff :(, infact more than the Danish controversy. GRRR
Mittal is on NDTV, CNN, AAJ TAK, CNBC and soon you will see him on E-tv, udaya and Sun TV too.

Here is another NRI (still with an Indian passport) going for an all Indian support for an European deal. Should the govt of India support his cause ?? and I yes Y ??
Why should the PM burn his ass out to clinch a deal for Mittal ?? Why cant we just look for civil nuclear facilities and aim at getting discounts for the Air buss .. or even try and get Air bus open their factory here ...

Mittal suddenly is hoisting the "Global India flag". He has also mentioned about the French CEO slamming the phone in a TV interview. Mittal is fighting business through politics .. Well really its an issue with "arse e lore "

Suddenly GD has become insane .........

Monday, February 20, 2006

Toon controversy and our minister..

this is the quote by the minister of minority welfare in UP in rhetort to the cartoon controversy..

"Any person who chops off the head of the cartoonist from Denmark who dared to make a caricature of Mohammad Sahib and bring it to me shall be rewarded Rs 51 crore in cash and given gold equivalent to his weight,"

Hail India and its leaders .. Whats the secular congress doing ?
If he could spend those 51 crores on welfare .. tch tch tch ..

this is heights of vote bank politics ..

add to this Mayawati's statement ..
" India should terminate all ties with Denmark and get the Indian ambassador back" phewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.. what else shall we do ?

there is absolutely no rationale is damaging the public property of the country in name of religion .. we had the babri masjid , godhra , and now cartoon controversy ..

It is very disheartening that the percieved notion of people ...
CASTE has a higher preference over RELIGION and RELIGION over country ..

:((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Monday, February 13, 2006

Even I have got really bored of Blogging.
Anyway this will be the last post on this blog.


No more blog posts on alpha-q as far as I am concerned.
Mebbe I will start a personal blog and send the link to anyone who drops by here!
Group blogging just doesnt work


Adios Amigos....All's well that ends well....

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Bhojpuri ?

I didnt know that there was a hindi dialect called "Bhojpuri".
Probably Paresh Rawal speaks Bhojpuri.....(Very Bihari Accent)

Check out these articles on "Bhojpuri Films" which is giving Bollywood a run for its money !

Bhoj

I would love to watch B-grade movies featuring Gaun ki Gories or Gaun Kin Gowries or whatever!



Article on Youthcurry

Article on the great bong

Article on BBC !!!

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Jus imagine

If this genius had still been alive....!

I think the single most greatest loss for the Kannada industry is this guy....

shankar


Why is he so great ?
Or, rather, why am I such a big fan of him ?

His no nonsense narration and extreme understanding of the old mysore style culture made him script and direct some of the best films in Kannada Industry.And his understanding of the expectations of THEATRE actors in movies was good.

1) Utsav ( I was trememdosuly influenzed by this movie....It is based on Shudraka's Mrichakatika...The best part of Utsav is, the story is based on Merchants , traders and commmon man....unlinke many other dramas written by other Sanskrit writers (like Bhasa or Kalidasa or Baanabhatta) which were usually based on Kings....My unfinished script "The Brahmin" ...it will use the same costumes...based on the same era....Hope it will see the light of the day ;-)...Will keep the readers informed abt it ! )

2) Malgudi Days . This is getting telecasted on a channel called "Pogo".

3) Swamy and his friends
(I was a freaking Swamy , in my school days! )

4) Accident (Really awesome movie)

5) Parameshi Pranaya Prasanga (The name may seem very odd and I dunno what it means. But the characterization is brillaint)

6) Sangliyana 1 & 2 + CBI Shankar (His more "commercial" movies. He just had style and the suave looks and a superb voice.)

7) Ondaanondu Kaaladalli (Again an excellent theme)

8) Nodi Swamy, Naavu Irodu Heege.

9)Auto Raja (For actually identifying & establishing a CULT audience in Kannada movies....viz Auto Drivers!! He also created the concept of "Auto Stands" in key areas of Bangalore)

10) And my favorite "Minchina Ota".....I cant stop raving about this movie...And the prisoners are imprisoned in Belgaum !!! Wow ...Belgaum rocks !! ;-)

Shankar Nag....

YOU RULE

Sunday, February 05, 2006

And then, I had been to the Jethro Tull Concert. It was simply awesome!!!!


"One two three FOH"

I simply ADORE the British Accent.....It is simply delightful....And the wit of Ian Anderson......
There were two distinct classes of people attending the concert. The oldies (in their 40s and 50s) who actually knew who Jethro Tull was....And the other class who just wanted to attend a damn concert of "somebody"....HMM WHATEVER...The second class consisted of attractive females and their companions.....So I dont wanna complain :-)

He sang many songs of "Aqualung" and the "Thick as a Brick" solo was really satisfying.....
Ian also performed a Mozart medley in a very Jethro Tull style.....
Ian saved his best songs like Locomotive Breath and Mother Goose ...etc for the last......But the disappointing part was Martin Barre , the lead guitarist of Tull was missing........

And one thing :- Thermal and a Quarter (a "namma bangalore" band which , I didnt like ) has REALLY EVOLVED.....The guitarist (Mani) has improved like hell.....

Check out their new album from this link. It is interesting that they have a license modelled like a GNU Public license !!!!!!!