I agree that an eminent star passed away.But then, declaring a state holiday is one thing which can happen only in India. And then after that, people go on rampage burning buses and police vans and damaging public property. I think there must be some political motive as Kumaraswamy blames the BJP government for not handling things properly.

Bangalore brings out its stupidity in times such as these.

Whatever.

I wanted to write a longish post on Vishnuvardhan's movies. But my interest has sapped because of these kinds of riots and the like.

RIP Vishnu

A very good actor and great looker (in his younger days). Two people Ashwath and Vishnu back to back in a matter of 1 day. Definitely, a big loss to the Kannada industry.

I'm planning a bigger post on Vishnu movies.

Avatar

Yes people, who are reading this, would have seen Avatar by now. I liked the movie. It was a good movie, nothing new about the whole movie. But I was interested in the bio diversity aspect. I was able to guess raising the dead part of the movie. But Cameron has a knack of making blockbusters. If there is a sequel to the Avatar movie, I guess the "Data Network of Pandora" will have a major role in the sequels.

One guy has covered the Science Aspects of Avatar. This is worth a read if you are a sci-fi buff. Check out this article : Science of Avatar

The beatles were saying "All you need is love" and then there was Morrison going "Light my Fire, Honey".

Here is a video from the Doors band about how the most famous song of the Doors "Light my Fire" was born. It was written by Rob Krieger. Very interesting analysis and highly recommended if you a Doors fan.

Then they talk about the Ed Sullivan Show stunt which increased the popularity of The Doors as rebels. We did'nt do what they told us. They did not want us to say "higher".

Jim was probably one of the most charismatic singers in a very enigmatic way. Nowadays there are no rockstars. There are just singers who are ruled by record labels and all this twitter, my space , facebook association to music ...Well, I'm sounding old!

The Story of "Light My Fire" by The Doors

small notes to interested people....

This tinyurl thing could become a menace. Email filters from postini , iron port could be rendered useless and all harmful links can be tiny url'ed away to mask identity. One solution could be having email filters fighting harmful urls from the tiny url servers itself. Hmmm....whatever, I try to avoid clicking tinyurls as much as I can. The identity is masked and the urls look like they can harm your computer.

Other than that, met GD gaaru who is in Bangalore for this and the next week. Nice to see him after one year. Had been to Vidyarthi Bhavan (the first time so after 2007). They have changed the look and feel, and it looks more presentable. It was in a terrible shape the last time I had been there. Now with tiles, it looked very cool.

Bird of Prey

Jim Morrison had recorded one of his eccentric/shady "poems" with absolutely no music. Fatboy Slim takes that sample and adds a remix and a really powerful video about war.

Very impacting video.

Fatboy Slim - Bird of Prey

One of my fave directors are ...

The Coen Brothers. I like their Dark Comedies. There are two really good movies which are going to be released :- Avatar (created by the indefatigable James Cameron) and then we have A Serious Man (by the Coen Brothers).

The Coen Brothers have a very distinct comic flavor in their movies. Many people did not find The Big Lebowski - funny. Burn After Reading was good and it was funny, but not great, imo.

Coming back to "A serious man", this will be a must watch. Interesting fact is that they have used a 60s song by Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love.

The lyrics are powerful :-

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want somebody to love ?

and then later

Tears are running down and down and down your breast
And your friends, baby they treat you like a guest
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you...

Check out the pure 60s style music video of Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane with the lead singer dressed as a nun. Imagine the furore it might have created those days. Jim Carrey , the actor has covered this song Somebody to Love by Jim Carrey

Looking fwd for these movies .... Serious Man and Avatar.

More states

is more better or worse ? you can argue on both sides.. people demanding for a new state feel they are ignored.. people resisting resist to avoid the split of natural resources, cross state tensions etc.. there is no one way or the other to support or oppose.. complex issues.. but I am surprised the way and when it happens.. a politician who has failed in the recent past (in assembly and central elections) goes on a hunger strike, students join the protest and 12 days later we have a new state .. supported by the fact that it should have been done 55 years ago .. Why did this not happen for any of the preceding 55 years. Is it okay for the people to be ignored for 55 years, but care for a politician going on hunger strike for 12 days..

now comes a chain reaction, vidharba, bundhlkand, bodo etc etc etc .. we might need double the number of states... smaller regions might lead to more better administration ??

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?670876

The New Generation is here

Ruchira and Sudeep are proud parents to a very very beautiful girl. Congratulations !

Give way, to the New Generation.

A very warm Welcome

Two Indias

India has certain schisms. The most common of which is the Urban India vs Rural India. Many of the Indians who are born/brought up in the Suave cities do not understand the travails of the Villagers. I always find myself amused when someone "Discovers" in their late 20s or 30s about the segregation of societies in villages or lack of lavatories. You almost always chuckle inside. The struggles for the rural Indians are never a priority for the country. As always the 80-20 rule holds good. 80% of people (rural) strive or sacrifice to make the lives of 20% (urbanites) better.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/03220216/Their-farmers-our-farmers.html?h=D