Went to starbucks this morning to study. Saw this piece of paper flying around on the street across from the place. Watched it from time to time, lifting my head...and before I knew I was writing this down on a Starbucks napkin. Been a while since I've been this spontaneous. :)
=================================================================
Where did it come from,
that paper flying through the wind.
Was it a lover's dream,
filled with his longing.
Fluttering with the wind now,
riding high across the morning.
Did she read it I wonder.
Was it a success or a major blunder.
Was there a sweet kiss that followed,
in one eternal moment,
away from time, borrowed.
Did he pick her up,
and sweep her off her feet.
Or was he yelling silently in his heart,
being just barely discreet.
Did they walk out from here then,
hand in hand, a complete story.
Into the beautiful new world,
waiting for them in it's glory.
It comes my way fluttering again.
A lovers dream dwells on it.
I see it remains blank.
But filled now,
with a tiny bit of imagination.
=================================================================
Hmmm..could have gone on writing a bit longer..but I WAS there to study you know.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
the choice
He stood by the pool. Gazed in through the layers of his life and saw the reflection that never lied. It was never about this. It was never meant to be like this. He himself was never meant to be like this.
The dreams were still there weren't they? Veiled by the thin curtain of reality, they held their own through the life that mocked them now. Yes, they were still there. And yet, should he reach out to them. He stood here...reflecting.
He was supposed to be happy today. He was living a dream alright. Problem was it wasn't his dream. It was the most magnificent dream. It wasn't the most beautiful dream. He was at the top today, but why then did it seem to him that he had hit rock bottom.
Life, it seemed, had dealt him a hand, a winning hand. It was the worst hand he could have gotten. It wasn't his hand. Poker faced he stood there and stared into the pool.
He had his future laid out before him, he had the most magnificent and decadent future to look forward to. He would rot in the brilliance of that future. He would have everything and be broke for it. He would never get above it. He would never ever look beyond the paper they put in his many accounts. He would never look beyond the paper and see the blank sheet he had left behind.
Money, they told him was everything. And it had sounded cheesy to his mind when his heart said otherwise. The world was spinning around it wasn't it. What good was imagination when you could have all that paper. Everyone he knew had dreams. They dreamt of paper. He just wanted to put his imagination on it. He just wanted to make world out of his words.
He measured his choices today. He measured David and Goliath today. He measured himself today, and he measured his worth, for it was about to be challenged.
How could he give up on those pleasures that paper bought? And how could he give up on the pleasures that the paper brought? It was a tough one ladies and gentleman!!! The trapeze artist was swinging one way and then the other. The audience watched open jawed. Where would he jump off to. Would he make it through . Oh, that way looked so much easier!!! And yet....
Today he stood here at the edge of it all. He could walk down that glittering path and embrace those glowing lights. OR he could turn around. He could take a deep breath, gather his deepest thoughts, hold them in a bundle of exhilerance, tie them up with the knot of uncertainty and jump into that dark abyss. He would land hard or he would float forever. The choice was his.
He could today become the president of this corporation and give up. And he could walk in now and give in his resignation on the first of many sheets he would write. Only this would not come from his imagination. This one would lead to it.
He bit his lip, shook his head slowly, smiled and turned around ...
The dreams were still there weren't they? Veiled by the thin curtain of reality, they held their own through the life that mocked them now. Yes, they were still there. And yet, should he reach out to them. He stood here...reflecting.
He was supposed to be happy today. He was living a dream alright. Problem was it wasn't his dream. It was the most magnificent dream. It wasn't the most beautiful dream. He was at the top today, but why then did it seem to him that he had hit rock bottom.
Life, it seemed, had dealt him a hand, a winning hand. It was the worst hand he could have gotten. It wasn't his hand. Poker faced he stood there and stared into the pool.
He had his future laid out before him, he had the most magnificent and decadent future to look forward to. He would rot in the brilliance of that future. He would have everything and be broke for it. He would never get above it. He would never ever look beyond the paper they put in his many accounts. He would never look beyond the paper and see the blank sheet he had left behind.
Money, they told him was everything. And it had sounded cheesy to his mind when his heart said otherwise. The world was spinning around it wasn't it. What good was imagination when you could have all that paper. Everyone he knew had dreams. They dreamt of paper. He just wanted to put his imagination on it. He just wanted to make world out of his words.
He measured his choices today. He measured David and Goliath today. He measured himself today, and he measured his worth, for it was about to be challenged.
How could he give up on those pleasures that paper bought? And how could he give up on the pleasures that the paper brought? It was a tough one ladies and gentleman!!! The trapeze artist was swinging one way and then the other. The audience watched open jawed. Where would he jump off to. Would he make it through . Oh, that way looked so much easier!!! And yet....
Today he stood here at the edge of it all. He could walk down that glittering path and embrace those glowing lights. OR he could turn around. He could take a deep breath, gather his deepest thoughts, hold them in a bundle of exhilerance, tie them up with the knot of uncertainty and jump into that dark abyss. He would land hard or he would float forever. The choice was his.
He could today become the president of this corporation and give up. And he could walk in now and give in his resignation on the first of many sheets he would write. Only this would not come from his imagination. This one would lead to it.
He bit his lip, shook his head slowly, smiled and turned around ...
Friday, June 10, 2005
the hunt ...
A light now formed to the left. He had to sidestep his way through the jumbled mess of furniture as he made his way, staying in darkness. Always in darkness...the darkness protected him, caressed him, cradled him...
The darkness hid him from his enemy, the only thing between him and his target in this house.
Hiding behind couches and doors, he crawled on. The pounding of his heart could have been the declaration of armageddon and everyone in this world would have heard it. But the power of the urge was at its peak and could not be denied now.
He waited near the doorway, listening with intent.
A slight rustle, a mighty long sigh and then the creaks followed.
He buried himself in the thoughts of what was to follow. Thoughts might drown the yearning that had him teetering on the precipice of sanity here. Think ...think about it...just don't yearn it. Not now... But his palms were sweating at the very thought too. It was impossible for him to stand still here and wait, when he knew how he could ravish....
The squeaks stopped. He stopped breathing. He would not have known if he had died for the lack of breath then. The squeaks started up again. Echoing through the house just as before. Louder now in his mind !!!
And suddenly, a long shrill scream. Before his heart betrayed him his brain came sweeping to the rescue. Bedroom door!!! It squeaked like every other door in the house, his all pompus "saving the moment" brain told him. Needed some oiling. The doors, not his brain. Not to him.
He was breathing shallow, as had been for the last few minutes, for an eternity now. His mouth was parched and dry, partly with excitement, partly because he held it closed so tight. Alright then, a fifteen count should do the trick. He made it to seven....
Rushing out towards his target he crouched to pounce on it and.... Stopped !!
She had casually come up from behind the refrigerator and stood there now.
"Alright back to bed, you have a mathematics test tomorrow"
Foiled once again !! But the hunt never ends ...
The darkness hid him from his enemy, the only thing between him and his target in this house.
Hiding behind couches and doors, he crawled on. The pounding of his heart could have been the declaration of armageddon and everyone in this world would have heard it. But the power of the urge was at its peak and could not be denied now.
He waited near the doorway, listening with intent.
A slight rustle, a mighty long sigh and then the creaks followed.
He buried himself in the thoughts of what was to follow. Thoughts might drown the yearning that had him teetering on the precipice of sanity here. Think ...think about it...just don't yearn it. Not now... But his palms were sweating at the very thought too. It was impossible for him to stand still here and wait, when he knew how he could ravish....
The squeaks stopped. He stopped breathing. He would not have known if he had died for the lack of breath then. The squeaks started up again. Echoing through the house just as before. Louder now in his mind !!!
And suddenly, a long shrill scream. Before his heart betrayed him his brain came sweeping to the rescue. Bedroom door!!! It squeaked like every other door in the house, his all pompus "saving the moment" brain told him. Needed some oiling. The doors, not his brain. Not to him.
He was breathing shallow, as had been for the last few minutes, for an eternity now. His mouth was parched and dry, partly with excitement, partly because he held it closed so tight. Alright then, a fifteen count should do the trick. He made it to seven....
Rushing out towards his target he crouched to pounce on it and.... Stopped !!
She had casually come up from behind the refrigerator and stood there now.
"Alright back to bed, you have a mathematics test tomorrow"
Foiled once again !! But the hunt never ends ...
where's Ripley when you need him..
hahahaha...somebody please kill me...now!!! I've seen all the stupidity I could for one life.
No...no no... it's not the fact that someone is selling this...it's the fact that someone is bidding on it.
Reminds me of that dialogue from "Bunty aur Babli"
The holy crap link click here
No...no no... it's not the fact that someone is selling this...it's the fact that someone is bidding on it.
Reminds me of that dialogue from "Bunty aur Babli"
The holy crap link click here
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Electricity simplified ...
Funny little article I read someplace
==========================
Today's scientific question is: What in the world is electricity and where does it go after it leaves the toaster?
Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical lesson: On a cool dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet,then reach your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings. Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in pain? This teaches one that electricity can be a very powerful force, but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an important lesson about electricity.
It also illustrates how an electrical circuit works. When you scuffed your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpet so that they will attract dirt. The electrons travel through your blood stream and collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your friend's filling, then travel down to his feet and back into the carpet, thus completing the circuit.
AMAZING ELECTRONIC FACT: If you scuffed your feet long enough without touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you have carpeting.
Although we modern persons tend to take our electric lights, radios, mixers, etc. for granted, hundreds of years ago people did not have any of these things, which is just as well because there was no place to plug them in. Then along came the first Electrical Pioneer,Benjamin Franklin, who flew a kite in a lightning storm and received a serious electrical shock. This proved that lightning was powered by the same force as carpets, but it also damaged Franklin's brain so severely that he started speaking only in incomprehensible maxims, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Eventually he had to be given a job running the post office.
After Franklin came a herd of Electrical Pioneers whose names have become part of our electrical terminology: Myron Volt, Mary Louise Amp, James Watt, Bob Transformer, etc. These pioneers conducted many important electrical experiments. Among them, Galvani discovered (this is the truth) that when he attached two different kinds of metal to the leg of a frog, an electrical current developed and the frog's leg kicked, even though it was no longer attached to the frog, which was dead anyway. Galvani's discovery led to enormous advances in the field of amphibian medicine. Today, skilled veterinary surgeons can take a frog that has been seriously injured or killed, implant pieces of metal in its muscles, and watch it hop back into the pond -- almost.
But the greatest Electrical Pioneer of them all was Thomas Edison, who was a brilliant inventor despite the fact that he had little formal education and lived in New Jersey. Edison's first major invention in 1877 was the phonograph, which could soon be found in thousands of American homes, where it basically sat until 1923, when the record was invented. But Edison's greatest achievement came in 1879 when he invented the electric company. Edison's design was a brilliant adaptation of the simple electrical circuit: the electric company sends electricity through a wire to a customer, then immediately gets the electricity back through another wire, then (this is the brilliant part) sends it right back to the customer again.
This means that an electric company can sell a customer the same batch of electricity thousands of times a day and never get caught, since very few customers take the time to examine their electricity closely.In fact, the last year any new electricity was generated was 1937.
Today, thanks to men like Edison and Franklin, and frogs like Galvani's, we receive almost unlimited benefits from electricity. For example, in the past decade scientists have developed the laser, an electronic appliance so powerful that it can vaporize a bulldozer 2000 yards away, yet so precise that doctors can use it to perform delicate operations to the human eyeball, provided they remember to change the power setting from "Bulldozer" to "Eyeball."
==========================
Today's scientific question is: What in the world is electricity and where does it go after it leaves the toaster?
Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical lesson: On a cool dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet,then reach your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings. Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in pain? This teaches one that electricity can be a very powerful force, but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an important lesson about electricity.
It also illustrates how an electrical circuit works. When you scuffed your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpet so that they will attract dirt. The electrons travel through your blood stream and collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your friend's filling, then travel down to his feet and back into the carpet, thus completing the circuit.
AMAZING ELECTRONIC FACT: If you scuffed your feet long enough without touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you have carpeting.
Although we modern persons tend to take our electric lights, radios, mixers, etc. for granted, hundreds of years ago people did not have any of these things, which is just as well because there was no place to plug them in. Then along came the first Electrical Pioneer,Benjamin Franklin, who flew a kite in a lightning storm and received a serious electrical shock. This proved that lightning was powered by the same force as carpets, but it also damaged Franklin's brain so severely that he started speaking only in incomprehensible maxims, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Eventually he had to be given a job running the post office.
After Franklin came a herd of Electrical Pioneers whose names have become part of our electrical terminology: Myron Volt, Mary Louise Amp, James Watt, Bob Transformer, etc. These pioneers conducted many important electrical experiments. Among them, Galvani discovered (this is the truth) that when he attached two different kinds of metal to the leg of a frog, an electrical current developed and the frog's leg kicked, even though it was no longer attached to the frog, which was dead anyway. Galvani's discovery led to enormous advances in the field of amphibian medicine. Today, skilled veterinary surgeons can take a frog that has been seriously injured or killed, implant pieces of metal in its muscles, and watch it hop back into the pond -- almost.
But the greatest Electrical Pioneer of them all was Thomas Edison, who was a brilliant inventor despite the fact that he had little formal education and lived in New Jersey. Edison's first major invention in 1877 was the phonograph, which could soon be found in thousands of American homes, where it basically sat until 1923, when the record was invented. But Edison's greatest achievement came in 1879 when he invented the electric company. Edison's design was a brilliant adaptation of the simple electrical circuit: the electric company sends electricity through a wire to a customer, then immediately gets the electricity back through another wire, then (this is the brilliant part) sends it right back to the customer again.
This means that an electric company can sell a customer the same batch of electricity thousands of times a day and never get caught, since very few customers take the time to examine their electricity closely.In fact, the last year any new electricity was generated was 1937.
Today, thanks to men like Edison and Franklin, and frogs like Galvani's, we receive almost unlimited benefits from electricity. For example, in the past decade scientists have developed the laser, an electronic appliance so powerful that it can vaporize a bulldozer 2000 yards away, yet so precise that doctors can use it to perform delicate operations to the human eyeball, provided they remember to change the power setting from "Bulldozer" to "Eyeball."
entropy
The world should by all logical conclusions be ending in about half a century!!! Way to get you attention huh??
It's not just a theory I have. Oh no!! The sun won't expand to engulf us nor will a comet come in to hit us before Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck manage to dig into it and shatter it to pieces. I'm just talking logic here. Humans are bound to destroy something big in the next half a century...and it might just be Earth, or at least life as we know it on Earth.
Think about it. We have all studied science during our time. I'm sure most of us don't remember the concepts of entropy. Well, simply put entropy is the measure of chaos or disorder in a system. And what the basic theory of science postulates is that left alone any system would see increase in the levels of entropy. Human race has been moving towards entropy ever since it resided in caves. Oh yeah, some would counter that civilization evolved and that is a sign of order, but is it....really!!! I'm not talking about law and order systems and constitutions and societies. That happenned when the human race system was NOT left alone. Humans were actually thinking in terms of humans then not groups.
But then civilization brought about societies, which brought about countries and religions and sects and races and all the good shit. And we have reached a point now where we don't talk in terms of humans anymore, we talk in terms of groups. We don't talk in terms of the survival of the individual, we talk in terms of the survival of the society or the race or the country. And that leads to conflicts. Now I heard this someplace, probably in a movie, that a person is wise and intelligent, people on the other hand are complete utter idiots. And so when we turn ourselves into idiots and start fighting, what we get in simple terms is the chaos we have today...entropy.
So the original question, can the human race survive this chaos? Lets see, we have possibilities of nuclear wars between countries like N. Korea, Iran, Isreal, India, China, Pakistan, Russia and the biggest baddest war veteran US. Not to mention those damned elusive biological and chemical WMDs. We have terrorists in so many places that you could count the places WITHOUT them on one hand. You have rogue nations (which in itself needs such a huge definition) spread throughout the world from the far east to Africa to the Americas. On a smaller level have religious wars, race hate crimes, caste conflicts, sects fighting amongst themselves. Any of these instances escalated enough could destroy most of the human race, at least as we know it. But thats not all is it.
Forget the fighting groups and countries at war. We have deforestation, ozone troubles, greenhouse warming, ice caps melting, resulting man-made tsunamis, pollution, toxic waste, energy troubles, depletion of resources, new uncurable diseases....holy shit the human race seems to be doomed eh??
Well, it does!!! Humans for all we know are one of the youngest races in the universe. Humans are mere infants in terms of the age of the universe. But seeing that few planets actually support life, earth is a very special cradle. It would be a shame then, if the infant burnt down it's own cradle wouldn't it? And for all we know, the infant's already got the damn thing doused in kerosene with a lighter in its hand. Entropy is on display ladies and gentlemen...
It's not just a theory I have. Oh no!! The sun won't expand to engulf us nor will a comet come in to hit us before Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck manage to dig into it and shatter it to pieces. I'm just talking logic here. Humans are bound to destroy something big in the next half a century...and it might just be Earth, or at least life as we know it on Earth.
Think about it. We have all studied science during our time. I'm sure most of us don't remember the concepts of entropy. Well, simply put entropy is the measure of chaos or disorder in a system. And what the basic theory of science postulates is that left alone any system would see increase in the levels of entropy. Human race has been moving towards entropy ever since it resided in caves. Oh yeah, some would counter that civilization evolved and that is a sign of order, but is it....really!!! I'm not talking about law and order systems and constitutions and societies. That happenned when the human race system was NOT left alone. Humans were actually thinking in terms of humans then not groups.
But then civilization brought about societies, which brought about countries and religions and sects and races and all the good shit. And we have reached a point now where we don't talk in terms of humans anymore, we talk in terms of groups. We don't talk in terms of the survival of the individual, we talk in terms of the survival of the society or the race or the country. And that leads to conflicts. Now I heard this someplace, probably in a movie, that a person is wise and intelligent, people on the other hand are complete utter idiots. And so when we turn ourselves into idiots and start fighting, what we get in simple terms is the chaos we have today...entropy.
So the original question, can the human race survive this chaos? Lets see, we have possibilities of nuclear wars between countries like N. Korea, Iran, Isreal, India, China, Pakistan, Russia and the biggest baddest war veteran US. Not to mention those damned elusive biological and chemical WMDs. We have terrorists in so many places that you could count the places WITHOUT them on one hand. You have rogue nations (which in itself needs such a huge definition) spread throughout the world from the far east to Africa to the Americas. On a smaller level have religious wars, race hate crimes, caste conflicts, sects fighting amongst themselves. Any of these instances escalated enough could destroy most of the human race, at least as we know it. But thats not all is it.
Forget the fighting groups and countries at war. We have deforestation, ozone troubles, greenhouse warming, ice caps melting, resulting man-made tsunamis, pollution, toxic waste, energy troubles, depletion of resources, new uncurable diseases....holy shit the human race seems to be doomed eh??
Well, it does!!! Humans for all we know are one of the youngest races in the universe. Humans are mere infants in terms of the age of the universe. But seeing that few planets actually support life, earth is a very special cradle. It would be a shame then, if the infant burnt down it's own cradle wouldn't it? And for all we know, the infant's already got the damn thing doused in kerosene with a lighter in its hand. Entropy is on display ladies and gentlemen...
Chalk ...
The chalk dust fell around, swirling through the thick summer air. It was settling without much bias. It clung to everything it had in it's reach. Floating up until the last moment when finally, hesitantly, gently it would kiss a chosen surface before embracing it.
Once in a while he would take off an eternity to be intrigued by it, absently, always going back to his black-board. The odd screech coming off it not bothering him really. The low murmur behind him was another case.
Then he felt it again, the chalk stick wasn't as long anymore. Pieces of it were leaving and floating away. Bits of it were now knowledge on that black eternity stretching in front of it. Infact a lot had been taken away from it. It was dying. He could hear the gasps right now. But he wouldn't let go. He had to go on...IT had to go on.
His fingers were aching holding the stub that he was scribbling with now. He would not let this happen again, he would not let this one go. The thumb was now pressing the final pieces of it against the board. He could feel the rough blackness of it against his finger, he could hear it scratch against his nails. It made him wince, finally. He was grinding the nothingness in his hands against the dark rock now.
Holding his palms up, he looked at the white bits of the chalk that was gone. He looked at the nail he had scratched trying to keep it going. Glancing at the board full of white gems, he turned around and looked at the seats. Some vacant, some filled with curious, hopeful eyes.
Smiling, snickering, laughing in his heart, at the secret jest, he blew the chalk dust off his hands. Then dusted his trousers and picked up another stick of chalk.
It was a blue one this time.
Once in a while he would take off an eternity to be intrigued by it, absently, always going back to his black-board. The odd screech coming off it not bothering him really. The low murmur behind him was another case.
Then he felt it again, the chalk stick wasn't as long anymore. Pieces of it were leaving and floating away. Bits of it were now knowledge on that black eternity stretching in front of it. Infact a lot had been taken away from it. It was dying. He could hear the gasps right now. But he wouldn't let go. He had to go on...IT had to go on.
His fingers were aching holding the stub that he was scribbling with now. He would not let this happen again, he would not let this one go. The thumb was now pressing the final pieces of it against the board. He could feel the rough blackness of it against his finger, he could hear it scratch against his nails. It made him wince, finally. He was grinding the nothingness in his hands against the dark rock now.
Holding his palms up, he looked at the white bits of the chalk that was gone. He looked at the nail he had scratched trying to keep it going. Glancing at the board full of white gems, he turned around and looked at the seats. Some vacant, some filled with curious, hopeful eyes.
Smiling, snickering, laughing in his heart, at the secret jest, he blew the chalk dust off his hands. Then dusted his trousers and picked up another stick of chalk.
It was a blue one this time.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The trek series that could have been ...
While Revenge of the Sith hogged most of the limelight as the great sci-fi story coming full circle, there was another story for some fans that was coming full circle. Another great sci-fi franchise recently torn to pieces by critics and fans that attempted to circle back to the present. Yep Star Trek Enterprise ended it's troubled four year run with a 2 hour long Friday showing.
I think fans of cult series like these are overly critical of the shows/movies. I know the new Star wars or the Enterprise did not live up to expectations of many but I think there were times when fans of these franchises would bitch about things without rhyme or reason. I think both, Star Trek-Enterprise and Star Wars I-III, were decent stories told nicely and I enjoyed of them. But I've already been to the galaxy far far away in one of my earlier posts. Lets come back to the alpha quadrant and to the United Federation of Planets.
I know Enterprise DID get boring for a while in between. They did not develop any major arc or storyline and the writers were going along with the "crisis of the week" thing. But to be very fair, every Trek series has done that. There are some very mediocre episodes in every series and on the flip-side some absolutely smashing ones. To the credit of Enterprise, it's final season (much like the final installment of Star Wars) was a pleasure to behold. It was one of the best seasons seen by the Trek franchise. And maybe the finale did notlive up to it, maybe it could have been made better by NOT including old characters and focusing on the story at hand, maybe even making it a two-parter. But the season on the whole was a thing of beauty and as I read someplace else, "a love song dedicated to the trekkies/trekkers" of the world. Every character showed a depth that is usually reserved for one or two in a series like this. The stories were nicely written and beautifully filmed. The actors too seemed to be having more fun than they had in previous seasons.
I know people are sad that Star wars ended. I also know there are people like me who are equally and maybe slightly more sad that Trek has come to a grinding halt for a while now. The last movie was not a success and this series did not live it's full life. Time for changes and reassessment. I do however hope that this crew of Enterprise gets a chance at a movie. I think they deserve it. I know Trek movies are generally not as big hits in theatres as Star Wars but they have an audience and some of it needs to be shown the way back to a theatre playing a good Trek movie.
Adios Enterprise, for now. You did not live long nor prosper, but you did go out with a silent flourish.
I think fans of cult series like these are overly critical of the shows/movies. I know the new Star wars or the Enterprise did not live up to expectations of many but I think there were times when fans of these franchises would bitch about things without rhyme or reason. I think both, Star Trek-Enterprise and Star Wars I-III, were decent stories told nicely and I enjoyed of them. But I've already been to the galaxy far far away in one of my earlier posts. Lets come back to the alpha quadrant and to the United Federation of Planets.
I know Enterprise DID get boring for a while in between. They did not develop any major arc or storyline and the writers were going along with the "crisis of the week" thing. But to be very fair, every Trek series has done that. There are some very mediocre episodes in every series and on the flip-side some absolutely smashing ones. To the credit of Enterprise, it's final season (much like the final installment of Star Wars) was a pleasure to behold. It was one of the best seasons seen by the Trek franchise. And maybe the finale did notlive up to it, maybe it could have been made better by NOT including old characters and focusing on the story at hand, maybe even making it a two-parter. But the season on the whole was a thing of beauty and as I read someplace else, "a love song dedicated to the trekkies/trekkers" of the world. Every character showed a depth that is usually reserved for one or two in a series like this. The stories were nicely written and beautifully filmed. The actors too seemed to be having more fun than they had in previous seasons.
I know people are sad that Star wars ended. I also know there are people like me who are equally and maybe slightly more sad that Trek has come to a grinding halt for a while now. The last movie was not a success and this series did not live it's full life. Time for changes and reassessment. I do however hope that this crew of Enterprise gets a chance at a movie. I think they deserve it. I know Trek movies are generally not as big hits in theatres as Star Wars but they have an audience and some of it needs to be shown the way back to a theatre playing a good Trek movie.
Adios Enterprise, for now. You did not live long nor prosper, but you did go out with a silent flourish.
Oh Sith !!!
Star Wars ended on a good note last Wednesday night. Tied up the ends as neatly as it could and was filled with some nice goosebumpy moments, not the least of them being the "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away" screen right at the beginning.
What made this movie better than it was, was the fact the everyone knew where it was going. And it wasn't going somewhere pretty was it? Everyone knows that made it even more fun. You knew this love story, this friendship, this good world was going to turn sour very soon. I think people love when they can connect with things too. They could feel a lot of dialogues from the movie. Granted, the romatic dialogues were not great but how can they ever really fit into a story like this. There were certain utterances however that fit in, not only with the movie but with the general state of the world, prompting comparisions with Iraq and Bush-bashing and stuff. The declaration of Palpatine to set up an empire to bring peace, the talking of absolutes and taking sides in a war and the now oft reported "If you are not with me you are my enemy", all brought forward connotations galore.
As pure entertainment the movie was much better than Clones. And although some people absolutely despise Phantom Menace, it's one movie I kinda like. This one beat both of them hands down though. The fights were awesome and I think the Obi Wan - Anakin fight lived up. Ewan McGregor was good enough in Phantom Menace, surprisingly bland in Clones and pretty much brilliant here. I think he kinda thrives when there's a bit of mischief thrown into his character (for reference see Trainspotting). Hayden Christensen was pretty bland in Clones too, to put it mildly. Just did not seem interested in acting there. This time though he beautifully acted out Anakin's desparation, confusion and ultimate fall. The Emperor was brilliant and Yoda was....well Yoda he was yes??
The only disappointing bit in the movie...so little of Natalie Portman..but then she is one of my favorite actresses and even if she took up 90 percent of screen time, i'd still say she could have had more. :)All in all..a nice completion to a much-maligned (and often undeservedly) trilogy. I think Lucas did manage to redeem it to a large extent even in face of mindless, belittle-all critics.Nice work...as I say this was some good sith.
What made this movie better than it was, was the fact the everyone knew where it was going. And it wasn't going somewhere pretty was it? Everyone knows that made it even more fun. You knew this love story, this friendship, this good world was going to turn sour very soon. I think people love when they can connect with things too. They could feel a lot of dialogues from the movie. Granted, the romatic dialogues were not great but how can they ever really fit into a story like this. There were certain utterances however that fit in, not only with the movie but with the general state of the world, prompting comparisions with Iraq and Bush-bashing and stuff. The declaration of Palpatine to set up an empire to bring peace, the talking of absolutes and taking sides in a war and the now oft reported "If you are not with me you are my enemy", all brought forward connotations galore.
As pure entertainment the movie was much better than Clones. And although some people absolutely despise Phantom Menace, it's one movie I kinda like. This one beat both of them hands down though. The fights were awesome and I think the Obi Wan - Anakin fight lived up. Ewan McGregor was good enough in Phantom Menace, surprisingly bland in Clones and pretty much brilliant here. I think he kinda thrives when there's a bit of mischief thrown into his character (for reference see Trainspotting). Hayden Christensen was pretty bland in Clones too, to put it mildly. Just did not seem interested in acting there. This time though he beautifully acted out Anakin's desparation, confusion and ultimate fall. The Emperor was brilliant and Yoda was....well Yoda he was yes??
The only disappointing bit in the movie...so little of Natalie Portman..but then she is one of my favorite actresses and even if she took up 90 percent of screen time, i'd still say she could have had more. :)All in all..a nice completion to a much-maligned (and often undeservedly) trilogy. I think Lucas did manage to redeem it to a large extent even in face of mindless, belittle-all critics.Nice work...as I say this was some good sith.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Of some stupid bride and the morons who follow her
I am perturbed by this country and utterly fascinated at the same time. Today the headlines in every major newspaper and every major site including the almighty google scream out in bold letters about a bride who decided at the last moment to ditch her wedding. Yes, yes we know Julia Roberts did it a few years back in a movie and people seemed to love it for some inexplicable reason but today - ding - reality check, and voila we have a runaway bride.
But what perturbs me and fascinates me at the same time is how taken up people are by this story. Does it even warrant more than a small paragraph on the local newspaper? Obviously you have made out by now that I do not think so. I was a bit confused by the whole country reacting to a certain Peterson murder or some carpet/mattress sale guy and his wife thing a few months back. That, was still a murder case. But to get so worked up over a bride who did not want to be one, this is beyond my realm of uderstanding.
Why?? That one word sums up all my question. Why focus on this incident?? Why not focus on all the other divorces and husband/wife spats then? Why not focus on all jilted brides, grooms, husbands, wives, partners? Why not be taken up by any person going through anything tragic? Why not talk about one of your dying soldiers in Iraq, who is leaving behind a wife who's sadness and plight far outweighs some jilted groom? Why not shower attention on a person heading your country sending out people to die all over the world for no reason at all? Why not headline in a major major way the genocides, mass murders and terrorist activities that may define this era in the history books? Why not devote time to thinking about millions dying just because they have nothing to eat, drink, live in, clothe in or even live for? And hey while you are at it why not think about yourself and the people you love?
On second thoughts, I am just perturbed. My fascination just went flying out of the window. Wonder where it's headed? New Mexico maybe !!!
But what perturbs me and fascinates me at the same time is how taken up people are by this story. Does it even warrant more than a small paragraph on the local newspaper? Obviously you have made out by now that I do not think so. I was a bit confused by the whole country reacting to a certain Peterson murder or some carpet/mattress sale guy and his wife thing a few months back. That, was still a murder case. But to get so worked up over a bride who did not want to be one, this is beyond my realm of uderstanding.
Why?? That one word sums up all my question. Why focus on this incident?? Why not focus on all the other divorces and husband/wife spats then? Why not focus on all jilted brides, grooms, husbands, wives, partners? Why not be taken up by any person going through anything tragic? Why not talk about one of your dying soldiers in Iraq, who is leaving behind a wife who's sadness and plight far outweighs some jilted groom? Why not shower attention on a person heading your country sending out people to die all over the world for no reason at all? Why not headline in a major major way the genocides, mass murders and terrorist activities that may define this era in the history books? Why not devote time to thinking about millions dying just because they have nothing to eat, drink, live in, clothe in or even live for? And hey while you are at it why not think about yourself and the people you love?
On second thoughts, I am just perturbed. My fascination just went flying out of the window. Wonder where it's headed? New Mexico maybe !!!
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