2 Days in Paris
I saw
2 Days in Paris today and it is a nice little quirky film. It was thoroughly entertaining and Julie Delpy really holds the movie together - as an actor as well as the director/editor. I also played badminton for the first time in 2 years and it was grueling but fun at the same time - I held up pretty good - no muscle pulls and no injuries except for a blister on my right palm which was the reason I lost the second set.
Thats me for now
Till later
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Movies
An Inconvenient Truth
Fever is gone (I think!!!). Sleeping through most of today did me some good.
Saturday was a good game of badminton but I had to leave before our 2 hour period ended as I felt the fever coming back. In the evening, caught up with a friend who has come up from Wellington and managed to catch '
An Inconvenient Truth'. It is a compelling movie and I would say is highly recommended for everyone to watch - especially the skeptics who think global warming is a whole load of shit. Irrespective of what your political inclination is I think it is extremely important to rise above the petty politics and think about the planet. As a movie - it is not perfect, it has its flaws. - like intercutting the subject matter with Al Gore's personal life didn't make much sense. It definitely cut off the flow of the movie at times but it is still a compelling watch because of the science behind it. Global warming is a reality and I think we are definitely inching closer to the 'point of no return' faster than we can imagine.
I got out a new lot of books from the library and this time instead of picking up books that interest me I just picked up the first 3 books on the recommended read shelf. I started reading '
Shut Up & Sing' by Laura Ingraham and by the 3rd page I was getting frustrated by the author's pig headedness and wanted to close the book. But it is unfair doing that to any book - so decided to finish the first chapter and see if I wanted to continue any further. By the end of the first chapter I had only one thought in my head - if this is what america's socially conservative, middle class americans believe in then that country is really fucked. When a book starts off in a defensive counter attack on ideology then you know that the author is nothing but a pure hack. I skim read some pages across the book and it has the same problem - the author really is dillusional and divorced from reality.
I put the book away and started reading '
Natural Born Cyborgs' by Andy Clark and it is proving to be a fascinating read.
Watched '
The Aristrocrats' and it was a great documentary. It's tagline is 'No Nudity. No Violence. Unspeakable Obscenity'. And I would say that it is an understatement but it was hilarious seeing some of the best comedians tell the same dirty joke. A must watch and definitely a game you can play with strangers and friends alike and watch them squirm. (:-)
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Books, Global Warming, Movies
Strike!!!
I went to the supermarket yesterday to get 2 AAA batteries but to my surprise the supermarket was sparse and so were the shelfs. I knew that there was a strike by the distributors who wanted a hefty 30% pay rise but didn't know that things were
this bad. I think the matter does need to get resolved quickly as it will impact on everything - I got my 2 AAA batteries though (for now). On a positive note the petrol prices went down by 15c/litre - which is a considerable downslide considering that gas prices only keep going up. Alternately - this could be the sign that gas prices will definitely hit NZ$2/litre by Christmas.
I couldn't sit my practical driving exam as my right indicator and brake light inexplicably stopped working - so now have a new date for the exam. I went to the mechanics to see what the problem was - the unit on which the 2 lights are fixed had slid down into the boot (possibly while closing the boot). While I am at it - I have decided to get the dent in the car door fixed as well so that it doesn't give the driving inspector a reason to complaint and fail me on my practical again.
Today has shaped up to be an extremely busy day - I got woken up around 4.00-4.15 AM by someone laughing - not sure if I was dreaming or actually heard the laugh but I couldn't go back to sleep after that. So I spent the remaining time reading and as soon as it was sunrise - I got ready and drove over to David's place (which is in the Waitakeres) so that we could go hiking and look at the location we want for filming 'Five'. The hiking trip was lead by Christina (David's wife) and on the trip were David M - the scriptwriter, Abigail & Rawiri (David's kids), Ala (David's dog) and me. It was an awesome trip and the location was fantastic - it captures the mood and feel of the movie really well - it is a 45 minute walk from the nearest road and it would be a great location for filming...now keeping fingers that we are able to secure the location on the dates when we want to film.
Labels: Badminton, Five, Pre-production, Random
Full On
It has been a hectic weekend and satisfying to say the least. Friday evening was a couple of hours of badminton with Dean and Becks. Saturday was housekeeping and sleeping for most part of the day and went indoor rock climbing later in the evening.
Angelique , Darryn, Benji and me went indoor rock climbing. Angelique gave it a go as I was looking for a climbing partner and Benji gave it a go as he felt a little more comfortable with Darryn as his partner. It turned out to be heaps of fun - it took us all about 15-20 minutes of beginners lessons before we all got started on the main beginner's wall. My forearms are aching slightly from the climbing but overall feels great. The trick is to use your lower body to do the climbing and use your arms and hands just for balancing and support. After climbing the beginner's wall a couple of times, I thought I would give the intermediate wall a try but it was hard to get started on that- just couldn't get a grip - maybe will give it a go the next time I go rock climbing.
Darryn climbing while Benji is the B-Lay (partner)
Benji gives it a go as Angelique becomes the B-Lay
Angelique climbing the wall with me as the B-Lay
Me looking on while being the B-Lay
After the rock climbing session Angelique, Benji and me came back to our place - had dinner and a long conversation about politics, the state of world, oil, life and everything in between. Later Benji and me watched '
Lord of War' which turned out to be a pretty good movie. Real dry humor and is a poignant look at the state of world arms trade. A really well executed satire, which does not preach - just shows things as they are.
Today was the first read through for 'Nowhere to Love' and it was exhilarating, exciting and exhausting at the same time. It was great to see the words come to life and actually get a sense of the story as it would play out. What was even better was the feedback/analysis session we had after the read through and the stuff which came out of it was invaluable. I am still digesting all that information and will probably start getting it back into a cohesive format soon.
The read through session in progress
Rich, Richie T, Andrea and B
Jordan Blaikie, Ismay and Andrea
I just finished watching '
Manhattan Murder Mystery' - another movie by Woody Allen. It was funny and I think I really like Woody Allen's sense of comedy and pacing and focus on characters.
Anyway - I think I will retire for now - preparing myself for another long week at school.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Adventure, Badminton, Movies, Nowhere to Love
Baddy
Today was the last day of term-2 at school - another term flies away and it is going to be a really busy break with 3 short courses to run: one in each week and there is heaps more stuff happening in post production department. So no downtime between the terms really.
'
Chasing Amy' is a magnificient little movie - not because it has any fancy camera moves or flashy editing but because it tells an unusual story in a sensitive and tender way. Kevin Smith's dialogue is as funny as usual but it moves the story forward. It is shot as simple as possible with the camera staying on the characters to follow their emotional journey instead of trying to do anything flashy. The editing is totally invisible and does not feel the need to cut to a scene up into a zillion little places just because it is the convention - it rather stays on and let's things play out so the characters become the main focus of attention. The movie is eloquent.
I just got back from playing a couple of hours of badminton and it feels great. I might try and do some indoor rock climbing tomorrow as I am tempted to try something new. I am signing off for now - leaving you with a couple of pics from the game today.
Craig and Marrisa v/s Dean and Becks (far side)
Becks in action
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Movies
French Toast
'French Toast' has been the magic word for the past 2 days now. I haven't had french toast for 3 and half years now - mainly because I have been lazy at breakfasts; never found clean dishes when i felt like having breakfast and I never feel like staying at home for long in the morning - so I ended up skipping breakfast for the past 3 years. My breakfast has been a glass of choclate milk - yes I do start off my day with choclate. So to my surprise i found some clean dishes and cooked some toast and omlette on sunday - and I was thrilled with that, so decided to go one step further and decided to cook myself some french toast - which is one of my favorite breakfast dishes after 'alloo ka parantha' {which i had for a good part of my life}. The outcome - yummmmmm.......having french toast in the morning has been simply fantastic and I am a happy-chappy.
Sunday has been relatively relaxed with me doing cooking and later on in the evening having a game of badminton with Dean, Becks, Craig and Marrisa. It was great. It always feels good working up a sweat. Monday had a major meeting with regards to the movie and it shaped up to be really productive. Now I am just trying to workout when I can start doing the acting workshops from - definitely excited about that. I think I am close to finalizing another couple of smaller parts for the movie, which should give us a well rounded cast.
My laptop has now got a new motherboard. Some bits and bobs had stopped functioning properly and since my laptop is still under warranty Dell guys came across and fixed it by replacing the motherboard.
So yeah that is the update from my side...
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Computers, Food
Saturday
It is a long weekend on account of the 'Queen's Birthday' on monday - a welcome change after a couple of hectic weeks at work. Yesterday evening - played badminton with Becks, Dean and Mark after a long time. The game was easy on account of Mark, as he was just learning, so haven't had any body aches and stuff.
A major part of today has been spent cleaning up bits and pieces in the house, so it becomes more functional again. 3 guys living under the same roof always means that at any given point the house would never be completely clean. Now with Greg having moved out - I thought it would be a great idea to clean the house up, so that was today.
The other main change that has happened since Greg left is that we have had our Sky TV subscription downsized since neither Tim or me watch that much TV - so no more Sky Movies and Sky Sports. It now seems that we play a lot more National Geographic channel as it has a fair bit of interesting stuff showing. The docos made treat you like an idiot most of the times but it is still interesting stuff nonetheless.
Anyway don't feel like writing much because of my flu. I am sneezing thousand miles an hour, so I better get back into the warmth of the bed.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Badminton
Exorcism
Time loss again!!! It is saturday already. Busy days. School has been extremely busy. I was so tired yesterday that I fell asleep while reading 'Nemesis' - a novel by Issac Asimov. I have a lot of reading to do over the next few weeks and I am looking forward to it, especially since those books deal with directing actors, which is always a tricky business.
I am dreading to go and watch 'Memories' at Rialto incase I am the only one sitting in the theatre. It is stupid I know but I can't help myself in this matter. Just praying that people do turn up to see the movie.
I had a last game of badminton with Lance, Becks and Dean this evening, since Lance is going to UK for a few months to work on a couple of docos. It was a tough evening for me because I had hurt my hip bone yesterday at the gym. It wasn't anything serious - I simply ignored the 'WET FLOOR' sign while taking a shower at the gym and found that it was really a wet floor as it slipped from under me. (:-) So understandably I wasn't as agile during the badminton game but it was still good exercise.
I cooked some Cajun Meatballs today and my flatmates were drooling over the aroma. Yumm...it tasted good. I also watched '
Exorcism of Emily Rose' on DVD and it was an interesting movie. The end seemed tame and kind of anti-climatic as compared to the first 2/3 rds of the movie. Anyway I think I am babbling now...there is exciting things happening with 'Nowhere to Love' and I will update on whats happening on Monday.
Bye for now,
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Books, Memories of Tomorrow, Nowhere to Love
Intrepid Journey
The time passed so quickly over the past 3 days that I might breifly touch on a couple of things which happened over the period.
Saturday and Sunday have been days of going to random parties - saturday evening went to a house warming party of one of flatmate's colleague. I still find it disconcerting walking into a room full of complete strangers and trying to strike a conversation. Those of who know me - know that I am not a party person at all, even though I see the point that it is a good way to catch up with old friends and make new friends. I somehow feel like a fish out of water. So the weekend was bizarre in that way. Most of the sunday was domestic stuff - washing clothes, ironing them (yeah i seem to be doing it often now), cooking, cleaning room, sleeping but later in the evening - I caught up with Lance over a pot of Mussells and a belgian beer at the Belgian Beer Cafe. After that we went to a farewell party of one of Lance's friends at some Jazz bar on High Street.The music was cool and so was the ambience but I was still a fish out of water.
Monday has been busy at school, then a major pre-production meeting with Rich about 'Nowhere' and auditions for the role of 'Roger' later in the evening. By the time I got home yesterday night I was shattered beyond belief and I slipped into deep sleep straight away. The pre-prod meeting was fantastic though - we broke new ground and the momentum is now building up nicely. Richard's magic is at play and Coromandel council seems to be responding and I will be going down there again - this time with Richard to do the finer location reccees and also possibly meet the council people.
I have been catching up with some episodes of '
Intrepid Journeys' on DVD {which I missed the first time around on TV}. It is without doubt one of my favorite adventure travel shows. The ones I watched recently were 'Borneo with Tim Shadbolt'; 'Vietnam with Robyn Malcolm' and 'Syria/Jordan with Danielle McCormack'. The one i enjoyed the most was the journey through Borneo - mainly because of Tim Shadbolt, who is a wonderful person. The one that was most entertaining was the journey through Vietnam with Robyn Malcolm. You should catch it on DVD if you missed the series on TV earlier. I think they have commissioned more series of the programme, which I am eagerly looking forward to watching.
I just got back from playing an hour and half of badminton with Lance. It feels refreshing playing after a long time. Becks and Dean had to cancel at the last moment, so Lance and me played singles all the way through - I didn't know that I could last that long since I haven't exercised for a while. It was real fun.
Off to bed as my eyelids keep closing on their own.
Amit
Labels: Badminton, Food, Nowhere to Love, Party, TV Series
