Class or Crass

The Miss Universe pageant has been under fire from critics for a good while now. At the Miss Universe 2007: "Pageant organizers say the contest carefully selects women who are intelligent, well-mannered and cultured."


Miss Serbia = Beer.


Miss Russia: Oh, she has got class! What poise! Look at that neck!


Miss India: I don't see any "culture" here. Do you?

Looks like some chick from Japan eventually clicked with the judges.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (a brief film review)

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is the tale of a man, Raja Chowdhury (played by Rahul Bose) and a very orthodox Brahmin girl, Meenakshi (Konkona Sen Sharma). He is a wildlife photographer from the northern part of India currently in southern India for a shoot. She lives in Kolkota, aka Calcutta, with her husband's family but is currently visiting her parents in the southern state of Tamilnadu. Word arrives that Meenakshi's mama-in-law is sick. So, Meenakshi, decides to leave for Kolkota immediately. Now her parents, concerned about her making such a long journey alone with her newborn child, hook her up with Raja, who has completed his project and is returning to Kolkota.

I don't like writing long posts (unless its thrashing Britney Spears for not keeping her head shaved). Plus I am not a professional reviewer. So I might inadvertently give a spoiler or two away. All I can say is this: There is a segment in the middle of the movie where their travel is interrupted by communal riots between Muslims and Hindus. Yes, they are all Indians (click here for an example of a communal riot in India). This causes a big delay in their journey north and allows Raja and Meenakshi, with their starkly differing backgrounds, to bond. Meenakshi discovers certain truths (sometimes disturbing to her) about Raja which makes her pause and take stock of her own beliefs and dreams. Will they reach Kolkota in safety amidst the communal strife around them? Find out for yourself.

A very good road movie indeed!

Art or Rot

Last night I was over at David's place and he put on this documentary about a punk rock and roller by name GG Allin. GG died of a heroin overdose in 1993. Did you think he died fighting for his country in Operation Desert Storm?! I guess that last remark just about sets the tone for this post.

Now ole GG considered himself a hardcore rock and roller. He habitually performed naked and brawled with his "fans". The act would also involve GG defecating on stage and then rolling around in it. I suppose talking about his signature move might give a bit of an indication of bringing down the standards of my blog but I had to mention it (otherwise I am a traitor to my...blog writing escapades). Now as a character study (which I think was the point of that documentary), it was a fascinating look at a man who could make Lindsay Lohan look like my high school class valedictorian. To be fair, he had a couple of good points. For instance, he doesn't seem to have had a grudge on his brother (I can't remember the other good point). The saddest thing was that his brother, who was part of the band, seemed tame when compared to ole GG. And I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that the brother had no choice but to be in deep...well...sh*t because he a) was not an enterprising chap, b) was ugly and c) was unfortunate enough to be born to GG's pa and ma. In short, the brother seemed to be simply tagging along.

When they were finally ready to close the lid on GG, the funeral home chap was asked not to hose down GG (he was still "reeking" from the previous night's show). I rarely flinch at anything but that documentary was so far down queer street that I started making a list of people that I was going to consider normal going forward (starting with Paris Hilton). As usual, I am going to end this post suddenly.

KAR Vs TN

That's the state of...well, the state of Karnataka vs the state of Tamilnadu in glorious India as portrayed in this article that a friend of mine in NY forwarded.

I am not even going to take the time to analyze the level of hatred that is evident in most of the replies to that article. I couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed when reading those racist replies. The really disturbing aspect of it is that, judging by the fluency of English in some of the posts, it is clear that some of the posters are well-educated as well!!

Twin (x 2) Peaks

There is a rumor going around that the Olsen twins will be the next Bond girls.


The Olsen twins...before they could "bond" with anyone.

A lot of people are upset again. I mean a lot of people were upset when Daniel Craig was announced as the next James Bond. But look at what he has managed to accomplish. Now I am not saying that the Olsen twins would make an impact just like Craig did. But Craig had a resume of illustrious work behind him before he took up the role of the world's most famous superspy. The Olsen twins don't have a lot of varied experience. Plus they lack class and a certain amount of regal poise (the polar opposite of a Britney Spears, for instance) which are definite requirements for a Bond girl. So maybe they will just show up for an "overnighter", if you get my drift.

Finally an Indian I can relate to

From the BBC:

"An Indian billionaire has bought the Scottish whisky distiller Whyte & Mackay in a £595m ($1.2bn) deal.
The spirits giant United Breweries, which is headed by Vijay Mallya, announced the all-cash acquisition to the Bombay Stock Exchange."

I would call it an "all-cask" acquisition :-)

Full Article

Moral What?

There was an article in the Sacramento Bee today that discussed how certain organizations (most notably the Simon Wiesenthal Center) have called on certain California agencies (such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System or CalPERS) to dump investments from foreign companies doing business in Iran on the basis of morality (anyone, like, heard of morality in big business?).

Now it seems that CalPERS has made $725 million over the past eight (8) years on these foreign investments but it had also lost $590 million after pulling out from South African investments back in the 1980s (no doubt in protest of apartheid in that region at that time).

I hardly think that, unless there is a significant risk to those investments from a purely business point of view, any of these agencies are going to dump their investments. California, wallowing in a huge budget deficit, needs all the revenue she can get and this isn't the time to be thinking about morals. If anyone wants to address human rights violation and its associated fallout, then the situation in Iraq needs to be resolved first along with better oversight of how we use our military in the future. This means that we are in dire need of a new generation of foreign policymaking capability.

What's In A Name

It seems that the two most common names for babies in the US are Emily and Jacob.

Social Security Presents America’s Favorite Baby Names for 2006

It can't be an entirely white thing since there are just as many Asian families that prefer to provide Christian first names for their kids (that kid who shot up Virigina Tech was a notable exception).

A lot of people I meet surprise me to a small extent (it has been a while since anyone surprised me to a large extent). Maybe I too easily typecast people. That's probably it. But their general demeanor and choice of words have no bearing on their first names. Who would you envision when you hear the name Kate? Perhaps that prim chick that William dude was shagging? Well, I met a Kate in a bar last week and, on first sight, thought her name might have been, oh, I don't know, a Trinity or something. She had a piercing in her nose, multi-colored hair (both of which gave her a punk look) and promptly started off with a discussion of what comprises male ejaculate. I think that she was an artist who painted some form of erotica or something. For the record though she was concentrating mostly on my friend David who was..um..prodding her on (God bless you, m'boy). So I won't claim to have attracted her. No, I have nothing against her appearance (I thought it was cool) but I found the subject of "discussion" somewhat disgusting. I would eventually turn my concentration to the cold brew in front of me.

It is apparent that parents try to live a moment of fantasy (however brief that may be) when they name their children :-)

Random Picture

Sunset around my office...

Eye-Openers

Well, I couldn't resist reading the following article and it only served to confirm what I had started to realize to be the truth for a while now: that women look a lot better with at least a bit of makeup.

http://tuvida.aol.com/moda-y-belleza/fotos/stars-without-make-up

Goldie Hawn looks...normal but having used to seeing her in makeup...Goddamn!!

Jessica Alba is an eye-opener. The difference is night and day.

Giselle without makeup looks so vulnerable (so down-to-earth), like someone I might have run across in the subway here in Boston (on her way to work while everyone else was going home).

I probably wouldn't pick Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears from a line-up without their makeup on (neither would I want to...with them looking like that I mean).

Sharon Stone, Debra Messing, Nicole Kidman without makeup: I come across these types of "looks" on weekend mornings in the North End. Y'know, women who have just woken from their slumber and are out jogging or something. So I wasn't taken aback...too much.

Penelope Cruz and Eva Mendes, however, look great without makeup!