One Foot in the Mudd

Well, i was sitting down to watch the dvd of “16 Blocks” a bruce willis flick, which i found rather interesting, (will write about that laterz) and i saw the tralier of “Second in Command” a Jeane Claude Vandame flick. the trailer as usual made it look awesome. so in my ensuing search, i went forth and conquored. I got myself a copy of the movie. Man! that was simply the worst decision of my life!
the movie sucked to the core.
Vandame’s movies have been going downhill, and continue to go down way beyond repair. the movie tends to glorify the millitary and the fact that its a low budget flick is evident from the poor sets, and bad CGI / SFX.
gwash, even te students of NYUFI could have done a better job!
well, the story is, … hmm.. how do i put it, non existant. the usual, JCV comes, glorified entry, hype, sex, guns and more guns! here you have a tank shooting at a building and the marks are left on the wall like a 50MM AA gun. its rather sad.
The apache’s and sikorskys in the film are shown to have a range of 6Hrs, WAHAT? three hours, hovering time, and a return journey.
its painful to see JCVs flicks go down like this. after movies like UniSol, kickboxer, the quest, and hard target, atleast they were genuine action flicks, wher JCV had some serious kick ass action scenes. His karate is rather good, and it needs to be showcsed, here there was nothing !!! phat!
still trying to recover fom it!

I first read about the movie apocalpsye now when i was reading about the vietnam war in Wikipedia. Now, i figured i must get my hand on this movie and watch it.
I finally did manage to get my hands on this movie, and Am I glad i did that.
firstly with a stellar cast of Marlon brando, marting sheen and harrison ford, put together by cappola’s screenplay and direction, there is nothing else on can ask for.

i guess i can say that it did spook me out a bit, cuase in the middle of the night i woke up seeing the faces of the tribals all over, thinking they have machine guns and are going to open fire once chef and i ride out in the boat.

the way the movie flows keeps you in your seat, along with the psychodelic music of the doors goes well with the abstract theme.

initially when you start the movie you wonder, whats going to be happening, the grim portrayal of the vietnam war, and like willard says, the more like home they try and make it, the more they miss it. mere teens on the boat, in the war everywhere.

sometimes it makes you wonder what is it that pushed them into going to war? i read somewhere that it was the fact that between germany and japan the allies had no base, and this would have been ideal for it was close to both countries.

the movie brutally portrays the determination of the us soldiers to stay alive, and the vietnamese to push them out by any means, the scene that captures the latter is the one at the school yard, where the little girl throws in the grenade into the huey. and the former is when they are making a surprise inspection of the boat. like willard says “first we cut them up with a machine gun, and then give them bandaid”. rather true.

i foudn the film to portray a mans confusion in life, as he procedes with what he is supposed to be doing, and when you get there, you wonder if you should be doing what you came to do or do in your judgement what is right? but then, agian, what are you there to do in the first place? you are sent in to do someone elses dirty work, you do it no matter how dirty it is? does this prove your loyalty? or does it prove that you have no say in the matter. a similar thought stream eminated from X3, but will talk about that later.

Martin sheens charecterization is great, with a cold cruel killer. like he says, i went back, but i realised my mind was still here. will one ever be the same after a war?
Brandos portrayal of Kurtz is awesome. The buildup of the charecter, nd the final display when he cuts off “chefs” head. cold, cruel. but then when you hear him talking about the vietnamese who cut off their innoculated childrens arms, then you realise, Krutz will do anything to get the job done, and below the exterior, he is still human.

i guess its some of these questions that plague all of us through out our lives.

In the search for good italian food, one apparently draws up to Pasta Fresca.
Recently opened up in Chennai, at 32 Thirumallai pillai road, (opposite vidyodaya school, TNagar), i was blown away with a lot of things there.

there were four of us, one chef, one self confessed pasta lover, and two foodies. We decided to embark and try out the new “Italian” joint.
There was a strong professional touch to the entire thing, the Head chef is Italian, and the restaurant chain is an international one headquartered in Singapore. Their website is http://www.pastafresca.com/

We had starters, a main course, dessert and expresso (apparently, it is a tradition to close dinner with an expresso). the bill worked out to about Rs 350 per head, which i felt was well worth it due to the wonderful food, excellent ambiance and brilliant service.

The starters was this bread with cheese on top, it had a very italian name, which for the life of me i cannot recollect, but it was brilliant, had authentic olive oil, and cheese. There was a bread basket with an assortment of nice hot bread that was on our table, and the water glass never became empty.

Ratings are on a scale of 1 – 10, where 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.

Ambiance : 9
the quaint interior had just the right lighting and the decor was adequate. There was however the irritating “pesto-flash” cracking away in the room, with a UV glow filling it. the kitchen was an open kitchen, yet it provided the privacy to it. The excellent cutlery and the plates were thoguht right thru.

Food: 10.
the freshest vegetables, most authentic food, and generous quantities would definitely tip the scale in favor of Pasta Fresca. I ordered a fried chicken of sorts, there was a pasta, a pizza and a non vegetarian platter that was ordered. These portions were generous, and the food tasted authentic. the pizza was flat, hand spun and brilliant. The meat was well cooked and fried just right. The pasta was delicious, they also have their own pasta making machine, that rolls and cuts it how ever they want it, as Spaghetti, Fusilli, Rotini etc. the desert was mind blowing, had souffle that was not made out of egg white but out of alomond milk. this apparently has the same properties of thickening as egg white.
The food was also very well presented, with care being given to the kind of vegetables being placed on the plate that go with the dish.

Price : 7 – 8
The price was a bit on the high side. there was the avg. price of the dish being in the range of 250-350, but this is a substantial dish and does not require anything else to go with it.

Overall: 9
with all the factors combined, i felt this was a rather authentic italian experience. the music, layout, and ambiance was nice. the restrooms were clean and functional, and the kitchen was well laid out, with high stress on hygine. i did get to go into the kitchen as we were the last people to be there (they were closing by the time we finished dinner) and i was quite impressed with many things.

Do go there if you find the time, and want to eat some nice food! we had a nice chat with the head chef Carlo who is italian.

in the relm of life, there exist certain instances that we invariably think. stop to think. stop. think. what makes us real? what is the line that defines a person who is artistic and one who is autistic? what drives a person mad? what makes them think?

why are we here? why is it that we go about living? existing in the quantum of energy, abundance of natural resources, yet, nothing is reachable. all is kept under lock and key!

i guess today is one of those days when i am just feeling really low. the low points in my life! lowlife!
🙁

well, c’est la vie!

Ø Regular naps prevent old age… especially if you take them while driving.

Ø Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.

Ø Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband!

Ø I believe we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried – but they wanted cash

Ø A child’s greatest period of growth is the month after you’ve purchased new school uniforms.

Ø Don’t feel bad. A lot of people have no talent

Ø Don’t marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you cannot live without,,, but whatever you do, you’ll regret it later.

Ø You can’t buy love . . . but you pay heavily for it

Ø Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

Ø Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired

Ø Marriage is give and take. You’d better give it to her or she’ll take it anyway.

Ø My wife and I always compromise. I admit I’m wrong and she agrees with me.

Ø Those who can’t laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

Ø Ladies first. Pretty ladies sooner.

Ø A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

Ø You’re getting old when you enjoy remembering things more than doing them.

Ø It doesn’t matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.

Ø Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address books.

Ø Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.

Ø Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something

Ø They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak!

Processing thoughts

it is interesting to note that doomsdayers and soothesayers invariably try and predict the fall of a particular service, or phenomenon. They would have recieved a much needed moral boost with them predicting the dot com bust.
I guess the bust was a case of economics and chaos, and that when the two come together, they are like oil and water. You cannot hope to implement a “business plan” on a system that is built from chaos, unless in the chaotic system, there is a form of semblance to sanity. Amazon.com a surviver, but why? because they streamlined the web within the portal. all links were inside the portal to various other parts, selling, cross selling and upselling. However, any other portal needed 1. information from somwhere else, revenues from somewhere else, and found it difficult to keep people on the site because links were leading to : somewhere else.
Wiki’s and blogs however are a system that require no investment, no advertising, and there is no “economic” model based on this.I would relate this to iPods’ disruptive innovation.
More importantly, wiki’s and blogs do not try and tame chaos, they are chaos as well. a butterfly flapping its wing sets off a ripple effect. bloggers start writing, and posting. millions of posts in all directions.
It cannot die.

I came across the google site, that had the headline “Al-qaida in Iraq names new leader”, so i click on it, and i am taken to “china daily.com” now, this is true globalizaiton where china is taking over where news first breaks from china as opposed to CNN or BBC!
WOW!

VoIP Gear

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may
be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with
all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud
and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for
always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your
achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career,
however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of
trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons
strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be
yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the
grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the
things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not
distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and
loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are
a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a
right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the
universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And
whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep
peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is
still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

— Max Ehrmann, 1927