Chestnut

Jesus Christ, Sanjay Gandhi, Bruce Lee.

Catherine Viji Jones

I visited a call center in Chennai last month. Listened in on a couple of calls with an agent. The technical term is 'barging in', or so I'm told. The agent whom I barged in on was called Catherine Jones by everyone - her customers, her peers and her supervisors. She called herself Viji.

One caller was a Hispanic lady who had trouble accessing the Internet. Catherine asked her to type out a URL (http://...) in the address bar of her browser. She said,"'H' as in Harry, 'T' as in Tom...". The lady went "Ok. I type out Harry, Tom...".

This isn't a joke. I heard it. Live.

A few years back, I told my cousin Chitra that I'...

A few years back, I told my cousin Chitra that I'll be 30 in a year. She was horrified to know that people actually do turn thirty.

It's worse now: thirty-something, married and a dad, I've become a stereotype. I'd rather spend an evening at home than go for an LJ meet at Barista. I've lost count of the number of pubs that have opened in Bangalore which I've not been to. I've skipped parties, rock concerts, cricket matches, bargain-DVD-hunting, bowling and saturday-night-with-the-boys kind of events. I have to admit that skipping some of these have not been easy.

Which brings us to yesterday evening when I was unleashed on National Market, Sindha, Rachu and in tow. Stout man that he is (in a manner of speaking), introduced me to a couple of vendors who gave me reasonable rates for DVDs.


1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather 2
3. The Godfather 3
4. The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Two Towers
6. The Return of the King
7. Back to the Future 1
8. Back to the Future 2
9. Back to the Future 3
10. Henry and June
11. Ran
12. Seven Samurai (yes , I know. I couldn't help it)
13. Rashomon
14. Hiroshima mon Amour
15. Sanjuro
16. Yojimbo
17. The Hidden Fortress
18. Patton
19. Platoon
20. The Longest Day
21. Alexander (part of a 4 DVD set, couldn't help it)
22. Million-Dollar Baby
23. Closer
24. The Aviator
25. Unforgiven
26. The Shawshank Redemption
27. Trainspotting
28. Sideways
29. Seinfeld - three seasons


I have divx versions of a few of the above movies, but I badly wanted them as actual DVDs. The list is nothing great really, but I thoroughly enjoyed the hour and a half I spent there. Must do this again next year.

The other highlight of the weekend was listening to Rahman sing Azadi, from the Bose soundtrack. I am privileged to have been born in the same era as the Man. Truly.

Before Sunset

All they do is talk the whole day, but I found it absolutely gripping. Romantic and intelligent, sexy and funny. A must see. And oh, I need to watch Before Sunrise now.

Meet the Fockers

The worst movie I've seen so far this year. An incredibly bad waste of talent; Robert de Niro never looked more uncomfortable. Stay away.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

What can I say? Charlie Kaufman is a genius. I bow before him.

Black

Black is beautiful. The best Hindi movie I've seen on screen since Dil Chahta Hai. The film belongs to Sanjay Leela Bhansali - well on his way to becoming one of India's few auteurs. Good or bad, an auteur nevertheless.

Once Upon A Time In The West

Typical Sergio Leone western about the coming of the railroad and one man's revenge. Much more mature than the Dollar trilogy but not as much fun. Henry Fonda rocks.

Princess Mononoke

Convoluted storyline, but a good watch nevertheless. Good visuals, action, drama - you know how it goes.

Dear God, I have watched Purple play Smoke on ...

Dear God,

I have watched Purple play Smoke on the Water and Knopfler Walk of Life. I can now rest in peace.

PS: Watching you belt out Layla would be too much of an ask, I guess. Or would it? Hmm?

love
Madhav

Knopfler

Isn't there anyone who has a Rs 2500 ticket? Eh? Do I do the walk of life alone, or what?