Prince of Persia - A brief movie preview

Jake on the sets of the movie in North Africa.

So...Jake Gyllenhaal will play the Persian Prince. Hey, at least it ain't Tobey Maguire or Orlando Bloom. Here is an article on this movie. Daniel Craig surprised everyone with Casino Royale. So I am gonna keep my thoughts to myself on this one. Jake is a great choice for a lot of roles. Anyone who has watched October Sky will know what I mean. However, this would be his first action outing -- that is, if you discount his other "action" outing, Brokeback Mountain.

The original game and its successors have always involved a lot of running, swimming, climbing, vaulting and solving of puzzles in addition to sword fights and archery. But the storyline in all these games has been mostly linear -- the new one coming out in Q4 2008 apparently will be an exception -- and simply about getting from one level to another until the Prince finally gets to rescue the Princess. So it should be interesting to see Gyllenhaal's performance in the stunt scenes and more importantly the adaptation of such a simple concept to the big screen. I certainly hope that the venerable game will not be marred by any possible fatuousness in this movie! Apparently the movie won't be out until 2009. That may be a good thing 'cause it likely won't compare well to The Dark Knight if released this year...or even next year, I guess.

Swords, Sandals and a Rock

Heh! Heh! One of my alltime favorite scenes. Its kinda funny if you think about it though. One of my recent posts involved wild Salmon. This one has a grizzly in it...

...a grizzly that ends up being a constellation!

Whoa!

Bodybuilders back in Louie's heydays can move pretty fast because they were also well-conditioned in addition to being strong. The sad thing about today's "bodybuilders" is that they take 3 steps and then start wheezing...

Y'know, it took me a while to realize that the soundtrack from the The Rock is awesome. But realize I did!

Clearly this is a much more heroic post than my last one...which was sweet enough to gag on.

Home Depot

Note: Home Depot isn't paying me to write this stuff.



I am not big on chain stores but I like Home Depot. The smell of freshly cut wood while casually walking down their various aisles makes me feel that all life is good. I have often stopped at the painting section and gone through a paint selector book for 15 minutes while trying not to catch the eye of a salesperson. I don't want to talk. I just want to take it all in. And all those bolts and screws of various sizes and shapes in their own boxes neatly stacked in those huge shelves...Ah! I simply relish the tools section even though I don't know one end of a spanner from the other. Oh, they take care of the afore-mentioned bolts, do they? I have nary a plant in my house. I have been meaning to get some for a few years now but continue slacking off. Maybe I will make a procurement from Home Depot's garden section next time. Maybe for once, I won't simply stare at those little stands of dainty books that read How to Build a Deck or 16 easy Projects You Can Do Yourself For Less Than $100. Maybe I will...go through them. By the way, all those rows and rows of cement bags. I tell ya. Heaven!

Any visit to Home Depot naturally has to culminate in the lighting aisles, by far my favorite area there. When my folks did a major renovation of their house many years ago, my only suggestions included a chandelier for the dining room and twin light fixtures for the front door. I couldn't be bothered with making suggestions for the rest of the house. The chandelier came from a specialist lighting company in Dorchester, where my Mom and I picked it out. But the front door fixtures, looking very Victorian, came from Home Depot...and I picked them up all on my own!

I never really buy anything at Home Depot. Still I like to stop in occasionally and waddle around.

Three Easy Recipes

Fish and Vegetables

Here is an exceptionally healthy meal that I make 4 to 6 times a week. It is rather filling.

Total Preparation and Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

A slice of Wild Salmon -- about 1/2 lb
Coconut Oil -- 1/2 teaspoon
Lime Juice
Salt and freshly ground Pepper -- To taste

1. In a non-stick pan, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. While the pan is being readied, slather the Salmon with lime juice and freshly ground pepper. Add desired amount of salt.
3. Place the Salmon (skin down) on the pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Then turn it over onto its other side for 2 more minutes.
4. Cook covered for 6 more minutes in medium-low heat (3 minutes each side).
5. Remove from pan and let the Salmon sit for a minute or two.

For vegetables, I prefer chick peas, baby carrots and either broccoli or spinach. I throw the mix into a small pan filled with water, a bit of turmeric powder and 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil. Then the whole thing is put over medium heat until the water starts boiling.

If you don't like oily fish or if the Salmon is too expensive, you can use Tilapia (likely farm-raised). In addition to lime juice, slather 1/2 tablespoon of garlic paste on the Tilapia for a great taste. Cook each side of the Tilapia for 3 minutes (turning over once in total). Use medium heat throughout.

Beef with Broccoli

Ingredients

1 Chinese guy
1 Chinese gal from the old country

So they get married and on their first night in bed, he cooes in her ear,

"So, my love, how sweet you want make love to you?"

She looks at him coyly,

"You soun like you have lottah experience."

"I have maduh lottah "delivery", yes."

"I wan 69."

He stares at her.

"You wan beef with broccoli?!"

Mutton (Goat) Biryani

When I grew up in India, mutton was a staple meat in our diet.

This recipe is easy. I just get it from the Indian Delight restaurant in Weymouth, a few minutes away from my office.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Now the restaurant has Lamb Biryani on its menu. I like lamb but only when prepared in the context of a Greek or Scandinavian dinner. In other cases, I find it too strongly flavored for my taste. Anyway, Indian Delight sometimes stocks mutton but you have to make a special request for it. Keep in mind though that mutton is red meat.

Hey! A gold medal...

So...an Indian has won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And the event?

10m AIR RIFLE?!

What the flying f**k does that mean? A trained bumble bee delivers the bullet to the target or somethin'?

Pardon the cynicism. Guess I would have liked it better if the medal had come out of a track & field event or weight lifting -- that is, if Indians ever get out of the habit of doping in the latter sport.

But...I guess a gold medal is a gold medal.

I was so engrossed with India's sorry performance against the Sri Lankans in Cricket last week -- and researching the carrom ball -- that it didn't even occur to me to check to see if India won anything in the Olympics until a colleague mentioned the gold medal this morning.

Here is a picture of the fella:

That is a lot of hair...

Anyway, congrats to the chap for getting out there and conquering pressure!!

Cricket in the Olympics?

While I am entranced by sprinting on a track, diving in a pool and olympic weight lifting, I somehow can't take the Olympics that seriously. I don't know. I just can't do it. So when I hear about all these top Cricketers recently pushing for Cricket to have a spot in the Olympics, I get mixed feelings. Their argument is that Cricket in the Olympics will enable it to spread to bigger nations like the US and China and allow Cricketers to win gold medals.

Let me tell you something: I don't want the US and China playing Cricket. If they get to do it, I will probably absorb it and then continue to immerse myself in the game...like any good sport would. But I am not that excited about them getting involved in our game. One reason is the ever-cramped Future Tours Programme (FTP) of Cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). More countries will mean a more crowded FTP schedule. Plus the likes of countries such as the US -- isn't that Allen Stanford dude from Texas? -- and China have big egos and that means possible influences on the rules of the game from their Cricket boards.

Excuse me, Mr.President, but...playing Cricket requires a touch of diplomacy! "Slogging it" doesn't work here.

With India's Cricket board, the BCCI, now exerting a powerful influence over the general direction of the game in stark contrast to the floundering leadership of the ICC, I can't help but wonder if these international Cricketers might want the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to somehow take over the game simply because they don't want some third-world Asian country on top of things. No, wait! That is a ludicrous thought!