Digitally Exploring the world

Finished reading this memoir by the same name that mum left back on her last visit and watched the film made on it .. and it took me back to the past and lot of old memories.. The last time I saw my father was more than a decade back when he was brought wrapped in the Indian tricolour to the cremation grounds and had the end he would probably have wanted himself, with the 21 gun salutes and all the honour.. The movie is well directed and has jim broadbent and colin firth do a fabulous job . The memoir talks about Morrison, the author trying to understand his father and their relationship and that takes me back to my relationship with my dad whom I never understood. While growing up as a kid , he was away most of the time at the toughest of postings except for 2 family postings he had. I always found him geared towards his soldiers and regiment more than us and was willing to die for them. He never spoke about himself or his childhood but all I learnt was from my mum and his brother...

Having read the book by Khaled Hosseini and loving every bit of it , seeing it on big screen ( I mean a 17 inch computer :) ) meant going in with a bit of prejudice. However, Marc Foster , the director of the film does justice to the actual story and his interpretation on big screen is a must watch. Both the young Afghani Child actors who portray Amir( Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) in their growing up years do a fabulous job. The cinematography is awesome with the hard stark mountains of Afghanistan (for a while I was transported to Spiti and Ladakh in India) though from what I have read most of it was filmed in China. It also has some wonderful village and market scenes and specially for someone from the Indian subcontinent you can live the scenes. Also loved the kite flying sequence. Don't miss the movie, one of the really good ones coming out of hollywood ( dreamworks production) in the recent years. I am not writing about the storyline since I gue...

Watched a thought provoking movie "When Nietzsche wept" the other day based on a book by the same name. It's a fictional piece of work that deals with encounters between real historical figures- Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher, S igmund Freud and Dr Josef Breuer, founders of psychoanalysis. I have always been fascinated by the workings of the complexity of the human mind that has led me to the works of various philosophers and psychoanalysists including Nietzsche, Freud, Jung etc. I haven't read this fictional book, but nevertheless, I loved the movie script that was taken from Nietzsche's books. The story delves into the lives of these personalities and the director must be credited for doing a wonderful job in portraying a difficult subject . The story starts with Nietzsche, one of the greatest philosopher's of all times, on the brink of suicidal despair, while the renowned doctor, Breuer, is in the midst of a mid-life crisis that plagues man wit...

Just a couple of days back I came across a letter addressed to a German Director Herzog. The letter fueled an interest in his films and more so because his new film "Encounters at the end of the world" was on Alaska which seemed like the next best film to watch after ' Into the wild . The more I read and the more I discovered about this creative,passionate genius of a film maker, his documentaries/films on vast and varied subjects I wanted to watch his films. 'Grizzly Man' was my first introduction to his works . It's about Treadwell, who spent 13years in the wilderness as a self proclaimed protector of Grizzlies and had a tragic end at the very place and in the hands of the very animal he was protecting. The movie doesn't try to pass a judgment on whether Treadwell was right/wrong in his choice of heading to the wild and opting to protect the Grizzlies but it was made more as a reflection of what lead him there or why some people choose to take a di...

I have been hooked to the music from the film since i got hold of the CD.. The lyrics,music and the soulful emotional rendition of the songs by Eddie Vedder fits perfectly into the film. Hope to be able to play them on my guitar(still learning!!) very soon. Some of my favs... 'End of the Road' 'Guaranteed' 'Rise' 'Society' Find all the lyrics from the Film here Related Post

" Into the Wild . By Jon Krakauer " - This is one of those book's that has had an everlasting impression on me. It was probably about a decade back when I first read it when my mum lent it out from the library. I had never heard or read about Christopher McCandless till then. It was really difficult to get a copy of the book those days, but my mum did surprise me with a copy of the book in the coming days,something I treasure till this day. Chris, was an intelligent young man ( He graduated in June 1990 from Emory University in Atlanta, where he distinguished himself as a history/anthropology major and was also offered membership in Phi Beta Kappa, but declined it, insisting that titles and honors were of no importance) . He was also an accomplished athlete, and a veteran of several solo excursions into wild, inhospitable terrain. After graduating he donated the entire amount of $20,000 in his account , to Oxford Famine Relief Fund. Then, without notifying any friends ...

Here are two movies for sportslovers that shouldn't be given a miss. The first one's about a motorbike the 2nd about a cycle(bike). It's also about human beings struggling against all odds-monetary,health and aspiring to set a mark and break the world record times. Both based on real life stories and inspirational heroes. "The worlds fastest indian" is based on a real life inspirational story line and has a wonderful performance by Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro . It's about Munro's fearless devotion to his lifelong love: speed racing, specifically on his re-conditioned 1920s-era Indian motorcycle.Though plagued by a heart ailment, Munro soldiers on, modifying his ancient Indian motorcycle using nothing more than junkyard parts and with almost no money , makes his way half around the world to race at the Salt Flats of Bonneville in Utah. Today I watched another wonderful film and this time it was about cycling and it wasn't about Lance Amstrong but O...

Heard this tune after aeon's. A simple tune that one can whistle and lingers on!! I never really looked into the creator and history behind this famous song until today. I always thought it was from an old classic film 'Bridge on the River Kwai' . 'The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881-1945), a British military bandmaster who was director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Since at that time service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives outside the armed forces, Ricketts published "Colonel Bogey" and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford. Supposedly, the tune was inspired by a military man and golfer who whistled a characteristic two-note phrase (a descending minor third interval) instead of shouting "Fore!". It is this phrase that begins each line of the melody. Bogey is golfing term meaning one over par.' Details here The...

Watched this beautiful and thought provoking Spanish film. Its based on a true story of Ramon Sampedro, a Spanish mechanic who became quadriplegic after a diving accident and fought a court battle for 28years to legalize euthanasia and to have the right to end his own life. What a performance by Javier Bardem !! The sea inside makes you wonder about life and the freedom most of us experience and take for granted. It also reminds you of the one truth we all know but try to avoid and think of i.e DEATH. Its also about the sea within us , the questions the unknowns , the search for something! It also opens up a topic that one can debate about forever-euthanasia . I also believe that people should have the freedom to choose death by euthanasia if the situation/circumstances arise and the concerned person has ample time to figure out that he doesn't believe that life is worth living. Most of the laws passed are by able bodied folks who have never experienced what it is to have their f...

Here are some links to the documentary on Tagore by Satyajit Ray : Part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqqcPe1xekw&e Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5wqnSsIrLk Part 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oJ17bes_cc Part 4:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0OHcWrOAxo Part 5:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36t5rSaJBWE I incidentally share the Birthday ( going by the Indian calendar i.e Paachishe Baishak) with Tagore.

I have admired very few people from the corporate world, steve jobs is one of them!! Guess he is not the usual corporate junkie ! Bumped into this Stanford Commencement Speech. Quite Inspiring - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish! I guess all of us know him now only coz he is so famous . He never followed the conventional path but there could be so many more like him out there trying the unconventional route but struggling it out there. Speech

Watched a thoroughly enjoyable animated film after a very longtime. Its the best I have seen in the recent years, guess the best one since "The incredibles" . I am looking forward towards the next one from Brad Bird & Pixar !! The story is nice , nothing exceptional but I guess it passes on the message that if one wants to do something and is good at it , one should give it a try even if the journey is turbulent sometimes. So go do what your heart yearns for !

Would love to watch this film "Tintin and I" ,a posthumous autobiography of Hergé. Here's the link of the movie trailer on google video: Tintin and I . It's going to be a hard one to find , here in India!! I looked at the PBS site and looks like its not yet been released on DVD. Some more about the making of "Tintin and I " : PBS Page "Tintin and I" Interview of Anders, Creator of this documentary

Watched this wonderful and poignant film recently. It took me to a different world, into an old Italian Fishing village tucked away in time. Mario( played by Massimo Troisi ) , a young lad who has no intentions of following the usual fishing job in his village , takes up a temporary job as a postman and meets the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda on his trips delivering letters. Massimo's performance is one of the best ever seen on screen, its perfect to the 'T'. The relationship between the postman and the poet grows and postman learns to love poetry and also with Pablo's help and his poetry is able to communicate his feelings for to young woman he meets. The story is just perfect and takes you to a old world which still exists in villages today, where time stands still , where relationships are built and one can ponder about so many aspects of life. As the film progresses, Pablo moves on but Mario still rememebers their times together and waits to hear back from Pablo...

If you haven't yet watched the movie, go rent the DVD .. You will surely love it!! devotchka (means young girl in Russian) :I came across this relatively unknown band after watching the movie.Just love the kind of music they play! here's a song by them for "Little Miss Sunshine" additional stuff: Critics speakup about the movie Music from the movie Listen to Devotchka - El Zopilote Mojado (Curse Your Little Heart EP) Listen to Devotchka - How It Ends Official site devotchka