The reader

* This is the reason why I like movies and I believe in them.

* These are the kind of performances which touch you. Both from Ms. Winslet and Mr. Fiennes. You will know why Ms. Winslet is such a brilliant, intense, wonderful and talented actress of this era.

* This is a movie which should have won the Best Picture. I am not a great fan of who wins. But this one deserved it more.

* Don't miss the finer details of the scene when Hanna and Michael meet after 20 years. I cried like a baby in that one scene.

* The calm, haunted locales of Germany instill that after effect of an holocaust in you. My current job involves working on, translating and transcribing the interviews of holocaust survivors. Sometimes I get drifted into their reality and I know how disturbing it is.

* The life of Michael, whose torment is painful and whose love for Hanna is equally beautiful, is so humane. The strength and weakness of Hanna leave you bummed.

* The scene where Hanna teaches herself to read and write is so real. I myself have done that so many times while trying to learn German at my job. I do it as it keeps my mind off the content of the interviews. Self help !!

* Also watch The hours by Mr. Daldry. It had one explosive cast of Meryl Streep (Goddess), Julianne Moore (Talented) and Nicole Kidman (I don't really like her). Also he has a keenness for the female conscious, me thinks. 

As an after thought, I had no detailed knowledge about holocaust, the camps (called lager), the extermination of jews, before I started working. I believe it's a dastardly act any human being can do on his fellow being, to let him die or kill him or make him suffer, with knowledge and intention. The movie has been criticized for that. But I personally think that it was not glorified or presented artistically to subside the horrific effect of these events.

Anyways, watch the movie because it explores an unusual relationship. Because Kate Winslet is one hell of an actress. What do you have for breakfast girl ? We can give it to a bunch of other women and, of course men too, who call themselves actors. Compulsary !!

And you, Ralph Fiennes, how do your eyes convey so much pain and love at the same time ? What eye vitamins do you take ?

I think that's excellence. They are just possessed by it!

~nightflier :)

Baking needs

 Its been a while since I posted something. Grad school I tell you!! 

Plus writing to me is more like an impulsive, spontaneous act than a profound, drafted ritual. I have so many individual threads exciting my nerve cells, everyday, but by the time I get time to open blogger those threads either fizz out or I procrastinate. Lately with those legen... (wait for it !!) daryyyy memory issues, I have also started jotting down ideas whenever one pops out. Its just that I forget where I have taken notes :|

Anyways, these are trivial issues. I finally have something to share with everyone. 

Birthdays to me are special affairs. Specially if it's a close friends'. I like to give stuff personal touch, like make something hand crafted, write something, plan an outing/party and make it a memorable day (for me at least :D). So when a friends' birthday was around the corner we (me and my roomie) decided to bake him a cake. 

Lately, learning to make cakes and baking have been on top of my cooking basics class. So it was quite a risk I was involving the birthday boy's cake into. Nevertheless, we decided on a healthy and beautiful fruit cake. 

Baking is a precarious business. The batter needs to be mixed well for that fluffy texture, the oven needs to be turned off at the exact moment to avoid a burnt cake, the cake has to pass that knife test. But its fun. Since it was our first time, and we had smaller pans, we divided the batter into three parts to make it a 3 layer cake and elevate the effect! The baking time was 38 minutes, and every minute was a patience test for us. I opened the oven twice and my roomie thrice to make sure about the cake's well being. The individual cake came out really well. Fluffy and well cooked. We cleared the first hurdle.

Next was frosting and decoration. I announced to my roomie that she was to be the art director (considering my sloppyness), who would decide the shape of the fruits and how to cut them. The bottom layer was topped with a thick layer of frosting and pineapples around the circumference.

It looked something like this.

Then went another layer of cake with loads of frosting.

I don't have any picture of that.

Then came the top most layer, loaded with frosting, kiwi slices, pineapple and strawberries.

The overall effect was like this. It looked farm fresh :D

The finished version looked even better. But I don't have any more pictures :(

We also cooked some brownies as an added snack. Do bash me next time if I tell you that I don't have a sweet tooth! 

Some learnings I would like to share:

1. Always cut the brownies immediately after they are done. Later it just becomes a powdered mass :(

2. Use a free hand while applying frosting. Cakes are meant to be fattening and sweet. No point saving that bit.

3. After the birthday boy/girl's cake cutting ceremony has been done, take the mantle in your own hands. Specially if you have made the cake. Some random girl cut our cake and totally ruined it. We had placed the pineapples and kiwis so strategically for that perfect touch. But shyaaa...

Anyways, the birthday boy was super happy by our gesture. These small things don't really matter then :)

And btw we have already gotten our next assignment. Wondering how much I should charge for that personal touch. 

I think its priceless and hence do it for free :)

~nightflier

I forgot something..

And oh, in the previous post I forgot to mention (slams her head on the wall twice) about the genius's win. I had made a 'written' note about what to include in the blog. Look what people do to write and pretend that they 'can' write !!

So here's a toast to you sir! The maestro, the god and the magician. A.R. Rahman !!

Applause.

Bows her head.

Encore.

Congratulations to the whole team including Resool Pookutty. I was so proud and still am.

For sporadic patriots like me, you guys are special. Your win was like a moment of truth and joy.

May god bless you and you receive appreciation, recognition and opportunities in abundance :)

Ketaki has put a wonderful list here. Thanks girl ! I will put up mine soon. 

~nightflier

P.S. For some cynics this will be a good read.

P.P.S. I can write, was just trying to be funny :P

An early morning thought

Girls are better at adapting. 

From personal to universal, on every level.

They undergo physiological changes at an early age, they get closer to themselves because of this. Their emotional persona is developed earlier. Hence they adjust better to things like staying away from home, family, being on their own; by creating their own space wherever they go and leave an impression behind. Even in the economic crisis situation, see how the best manager of all times, a house wife, adapts to changed needs and demands and resources.

Now I was just out of my bed, brushing my teeth and looking for myself in the mirror, when this struck me. Now they are better than whom, I don't know (how very convenient of me !!). And I stopped myself from thinking more, as the feminist in me has been hibernating for quite a while now. Don't mean to wake up the tamed animal. :| 

Peace ka zamana hai bhai. See, to make a universal change, we need to make peace with ourselves first.

I also watched delhi 6 (it sucks!!) and Rachel getting married. The later is nice with complex emotional setting and unusual camera work. The camera is constantly moving behind Kim (Ann Hathaway) as if someone is always keeping an eye on her and sometimes just dragging us in the wedding frenzy. She has portrayed the addict beautifully. The dark shades of the addiction leaving a mark on her behavior, her life and lives of her family, have been unfolded so well. Such films are all about creating the right mood for tha actors and for the audience.The wedding does it for us. And Rachel too. Her goodness and purity leave you with a vacuum very rarely felt. Need to research more on the cast and crew.

All the finer details of the characters have been given life in such a caring manner, that the underlying chaos beneath everyone's exterior does not hit you as a shock. But it feels natural and gradual. The musical symphonies in the background soothe you and serve as the contrasting element to the chaos. Well made film. Bravo!!

I will highly recommend this one.

~nightflier

Punny one

Funny french dude (He s cute actually, but this one was way too funny) : I have watched quite a few Indian movies. I have a question. Do you always sing and dance when you are in love?

Let me explain what all I felt at that precise moment.

Surprise at the unusual question.

Shock at the impact of Indian movies.

Amusement as I imagined myself "in love" singing and dancing. My mind painted a classroom love song without the professor and hearts drawn all over the white boards and me dancing on the front desks. !!!!!!

Thank god I realized, I was laughing and an answer was awaited, that I stopped my creative juices to flow in the wrong direction.

Me (!!!!???!!!!): No. But I do sing and dance otherwise. Is that ok ? 

Funny french dude: :) :) :)

I am telling you my sweet and coy smile and some eye fluttering, after that response, made him smile even more. Kidding!! duh!!!!

~nightflier

kadhi tari vedyagat vagayala have ..

Describes my state of mind :D

I have been to one of their shows and shooting of the show is strictly prohibited!

Wonder who dared shoot this. Nonetheless, good for us :)

I found the kavita vachan with acting concept really novel and refreshing. Also listen closely to those strings in the background.

Enjoy :)

~nightflier

Car-waar and all

Disclaimer : I wanted to write about this one on the same day, considering my age old memory problem and the fact that 'I suck at cars' !! If some car enthusiasts, find things misplaced, then kindly contact me offline (not on the blog!!).

Someone likes to see to new things, learn them, even if they are beyond her comprehension. So when someone found out that the auto show was at 10 minutes walk from her house, she got very excited. Plus they were offering a special discount to women on a particular day. What happened next is not history then!!

Lets start with some customary checks.

I know driving. tick.

I think I have forgotten it. Big tick.

I can only spot out a maruti 800 or a van, on a busy traffic day. tick.

I cannot tell the difference of one car from other (except for pity details like color). Big tick.

I am studying a whole new subject about cars. tick.

That subject was a reason I made it a point to visit the show. Big tick.

I SUCK AT CARS. Big big big tick.

So what I subjected myself to, was as good as entering a new land with one's consent but without a valid visa and passport. Believe me, I had no clue, my life was going to change forever.

It is funny, when sometimes, the vastness of some things totally take you by awe. Sometimes things you don't understand and in this case beyond one's comprehension, leave you elated, spellbound and surprised. 

First things first, hats off to car designers. Its an amazing kind of creativity. I mean for a novice like me every car seemed impeccably noteworthy. Sometimes having no views about stuff helps. For a change I was not commenting on anything and just letting the cars take over. Anyways, after re-reading everything, I feel like I was illiterate. But what the heck. I really did not know anything particularly interesting about cars. Now at least I feel educated !!

Special mention of Hyundai, Toyota and Chevrolet. Loved the concept cars by Hyundai and Chevrolet. And Toyota's marketing strategies are amazing. Let people call them a closed company who don't let the outside world know what's cooking inside, but they are the most clever car makers - technology, innovation and customer satisfaction wise. Total respect hai boss!!

And guess what, we collected free goodies here too! When the Scion guy gave me the bag and the booklet with a smile I felt so special. Even in the times of recession, its good to see people distributing goodies for free.

Anyways I finally managed to blog about it. 

Passing thought, cars must be one of the best material/man-made bliss.

~nightflier