social network - movie review

.....social networks.. facebook, orkut, friendster,linked in, twitter,myspace and hundreds of lesser known ones are just that... all about connecting with people and social acceptance.
I saw Wall Street - money never sleeps as well as the first one, Wall Street, featuring the young Charlie Sheen and the much younger Michael Douglas a couple of months back. That is about money, greed, ambition and what the three put together can do to you.
Social Networks, the movie, is the story of how facebook happened, in flash back, through stories told by it's founders- Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin and the Winklevoss twins during the depositions for two seperate lawsuits filed by Saverin and the twins. Eduardo is fighting for recognition for being acknowledged as one of the original founders of facebook and the Winklevoss twins are claiming the idea of a social networking site was originally theirs' . In real life, while Mark Zuckerberg goes from strength to strength with facebook becoming the world's youngest billionaire, Eduardo has dropped out of public life. That's all he wanted : recognition.
and what hurt him the most was Mark betraying him at the behest of Sean Parker (better known as the founder of napster, played brilliantly by Justin Timberlake). " I was your only friend'', he tells Mark during the deposition.
The film moves through the corridors and residences of the Harvard university... where a young computer programming geek or should I say genius, is dumped by his girlfriend. Hurt and angry, he hacks into the databases of various residences and creates a website called facemash.com where male students can choose, which of the two female students featured, is more attractive. As an outcome of which, Mark gets a 6 months academic probation, earns the ire of the female students on campus and is noticed by a group of seniors - the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narendra who have been toying with the idea of setting up a netwoking site for Harvard students called Harvard connections.
Mark goes on to set up facebook, intially open to Harvard students and then includes students from other campuses after he runs into his ex-girlfriend (not from Harvard) at a restaurant, who has'nt heard of his website.
The story moves from residences in Harvard to Pablo Alto in California, where Mark moves to, in summer, to look for investors and to do some more work on his website after Sean Parker convinces tell him, that that's the place to be for someone, onto something big, like him. In Pablo Alto, facebook evolves with the site hitting a million members (today it has over 500 million), VC fundings coming in and with Sean Parker's increasing involvement in the business decisions of the company, much to the chagrin of Eduardo Saverin.
The movie ends on a piognant note: a successful, rich computer genius losing the only friend he had, trying to reconnect....
brilliant performances by the leads.. Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg), Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin), Justin Timberlake (Sean Parker). Great Screenplay and dialogues..
A must watch!

movies, JB and me..

Since summer this year, I have been re-living memories of my childhood watching old classic movies with my son. We've been through movies like Bridge on the river Kwai, Railway Children, Patton, The eagle has landed, Saving private ryan, Pearl harbour, Where eagles dare, The Caine mutiny, Guns of Navarone, many Hercule Poirot movies, with David Suchet playing Poirot.....the latest being Ben-hur. Watching it re affirmed my belief that every old classic need not necessarily, be a good watch for children. I send JB (.. the son) packing after the famous chariot scene, which by the way, even in this day and age is still breath taking.

Charlton Heston as Ben hur, and the spectacular and magnificient scenes like the chariot race or the battle in the sea, in the absence of digital special effects with real people and real sets would be my major take aways. Towards the second half, the movie goes into a biblical mode with the crucification of Christ, and the rise of Christianity etc.

The movie watching spree with my son, also got me hooked on to war movies, a genre which I have developed a fondness for, only recently.

A beautiful life..

#2

My favourite part of the day has always been the dusk/evening (5-7 p.m.) and everything associated with it. Working people coming home, those working late strolling out for a cup of tea from a road side stall; children playing around or the more stressed out ones, shuttling from one class to another; the elderly,up from their afternoon naps settling into balcony armchairs with their steaming cup of chai; cooks and homemakers organising family dinners..

I am usually doing one of the above depending on my schedule for the day. A and I usually go for our 3 km brisk walk, have a cup of tea in my balcony,before the mad evening rush to finish homework,organising next days' meals, evening dinner etc starts again.

Mad Men...Don Draper and co.

have been addicted to the award winning television series 'Mad Men'.. The lead, Don Draper with his mysterious past, silent,thoughtful, charismatic womaniser, the brilliant creative head of an advertising agency is particularly mesmerising. His wife Betty, is good housekeeping incarnate. The quintessential 1960s, perfect housewife,mother,hostess. More about the characters in the subsequent posts...

The series moves through the era when advertising was coming on its own and moves through various small and big changes that affected the world of advertising over the years. The advent of television, the changing social order in America in the John F. Kennedy era, the growing importance of America in the world of business,the focus shifting from the continent and so on...

I can't put my finger on what exactly I like about the series...... but I know I will be waiting for my copies of Season 5 DVDs, when it premeirs next year, along with many other Mad Men addicts around the world.

growing up....

when I am depressed,I eat a lot of chocolate... and then I walk, a lot; hoping to burn most of it off..

This one is for you sis.....

listening to this song by RIGHT SAID FRED brought back many memories... of you, me and our music in our growing up years...
Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and his women..New Kids on the Block and many more, our collection of grammy award tapes, our wall full of posters, craning our necks out of our bedroom window to hear the out of tune 'Hotel California' being played by amateur bands at the
Spring Fest wild fire nights and giggling our way through it and more....

Being Julia....the mom

I often wondered what my relationship with my son would be like when he was little. (Well, he is still little, but only for his indulgent parents! at 10, he thinks he is a big boy now)

Though I don't always watch movies more than a couple of times, Being Julia is an exception.What stayed with me were the last few scenes. Julia, a famous actress, has a complicated relationship with her son, husband and her own self. The only reality in her life is theatre.

Her son, now a handsome teenager, finds it difficult to comprehend his mother. On one hand, he misses the fact that his mother is not the regular plane jane mother, but on the other hand, also admires her deeply for the grand woman that she is. In one of the last scenes,Julia takes her revenge on a young actress, who has tried to take away her part, peace of mind and husband, on stage, probably the only place she is always 'at home' in....only bows to acknowledge the standing ovation when she see's her son stand up.

That one scene somehow sums up a lot ....

A beautiful life...

discovery # 1 : A nice warm perfumed bath, a good read before bed,a warm orange flavoured tisane and some old comfortable bed clothes... ummmm , lovely!

The Ghost Writer,movie review

Had read some terrible reviews of Ghost Writer, one of Roman Polanski's latest films released early this year.... The plot sounded interesting, giving Mr.Polanski the benefit of the doubt, decided to go ahead and watch the movie.. I am glad I did.

The lead, Ewan McGregor, plays a ghostwriter hired to write the memoirs of the British Prime Minister of Scottish descent, Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan. The prime minister, along with his wife and staff is camping on an Island in the United States, with his ghostwriter who is only allowed to work on the manuscipt, left half done by his predecessor, in the confines of his designated workplace on the island.

The task of writing the memoirs is not as simple as it sounds.. as the ghostwriter starts his work, intrigued by the sudden and mysterious death of his predecessor. In the process, he discovers a sinister connection between the CIA and the Prime minister. The discovery eventually becomes a threat to his own life, as he uncovers the mystery surrounding his predecessors death. Read more here

Apart from the obivious, I am particulary fond of watching movies with a strong connect to the prevailing socio-cultural or political environment. And this one is definitely on the upper half of the list ...

I did some searches on Tony Blair, the erst while Prime Minister of the UK, who often came under heavy criticism in his own country for his support to the US admistration's various policies,especially those on Iraq. There were also some sundry blogposts and articles on his alleged links with the intelligence agencies of both the countries... and some malicious ones suggesting Cherie Blair's involvement as well. Ah! yes, there are also reports of the controversial arrest of Roman Polanski linking that too, to the making of this film. Read the report here

The political backdrop of this film is very very interesting, and there is certainly more than meets the eye. The similarity to real life events is uncanny, the shot of Pierce Brosnan at Martha's Vineyard airport, the mention of torture flights, the thinking wife who advices her husband on each step and is not just an arm candy besides of course, the various allegations of soft peddaling on US policies by Tony Blair during his tenure and so on....

A recommended watch...

blogging..

I have been blogging for exactly 5 years now. My first post on this blog appeared in Aug 05.

.. the tangine

bubbling away in my emile henry clay pot....

Chicken Tangine with Fennel for dinner tonight...

S,my foodie friend (and I don't mean that only in keeping with Jones way.. she is a real foodie) told me about tangines.. moroccan stews of various kinds,cooked in a dish of the same name, a shallow clay pot with a tall conical lid (see picture above), a few weeks back. I have attempted make them a few times after that, with moderate success..

After picking up fennel bulbs from a new, well appointed, gourmet store in the neighbourhood, aptly called, The Providore, I decided to make a Chicken Tangine much to the delight of my family.

It is a simple recipe with onions, garlic, ginger, saffron threads, salt, tumeric and a moroccan spice mix (ras el hanout, is what they use, I had to make do with a pared down version) with parsley sprigs or corainder leaves as bouquet garni; dunked into the pot with the chicken and fennel..and cooked for a couple of hours on a slow flame.

Served the stew with some couscous to my oohing and aahing family :)

Baking at last...

Bread making was always a disaster...mine always looked great, but were either too hard or too soft or just unevenly baked or textured, ever since college days. How did I still earn my hotel management degree.. well bakery and confectionary was only 1 of the 17 subjects we did at school, and yes, there were ways to get by :) ...

which was sad, because I love bread.. all kinds from the scrumptious croissants and baguettes in Paris boulangeries to the maska bread with a hard crust, from a local 50 year old Parsi bakery..

I figured my problem was with the quintessential eukaryotic micro-organism called 'yeast'. I am yet to learn how to work well with yeast.

So I gave up baking all together for many years. And then, I discovered quick breads.

Quick breads are breads made without yeast but with a chemical raising agent like baking powder, baking soda etc. They can be either savory or sweet.

So here I am, baking a batch of scones, at midnight, when the rest of the household is asleep, so that I can grieve for my baking disaster in private, if need be, i.e.

Well, it was'nt so bad this time. My scones are unevenly shaped and a little darker than I expected them to be, but boy!, they are delicious. My midnight feast tonight was a lovely warm scone, fresh from the oven, with a low fat version of clotted cream and jam. .. which I made !!!!

touche!

Harshada

I have seen Harshada grow into a smart, confident, young girl almost in her teens from a sickly looking 5 year old taking unsure steps into my house, holding onto her mother's sari pallu, over the last few years. Ah! the things education and general exposure to life can do to a young fertile mind of a child.
Mangal, her mother has been working for our family for the last 7 odd years. Though Mangal has her many faults, prefering to spend her evenings after work romancing her various boyfriends, she does'nt want her daughter to have the life she has and does everything she can to make sure she does'nt have to. Her husband, many years older, turns a blind eye towards her infidelity but dotes on his daughter.
Harshada goes to school. Till last year she went to a municipal school, this year she moved to a bigger school which, I believe, is not free anymore. She also asked her mother for a computer. Her mother barely literate came and asked me how much a PC would cost.
I was a little taken aback and decided to speak to Harshada myself. I met her after a long time..corporate life had been taking a toll on me for the last few years and I had little time for anything else.
She had grown up.. a little woman, poised, confident, spoke hindi fluently, strangely perceptive and mature for her age. She looks after herself most days at home after school.
I convinced her to do some basic computer courses before making her parents buy her a computer they could ill afford. She happily agreed.
So I took her to Aptech to register her for a level one Vidya course, her delighted parents in tow, as soon as her summer vacations started . One got her a cell phone and the other showed her the bus routes and got her a pass.
Harshada completed her course, she comes home to practise on one of our laptops on Sundays sometimes. She wants to complete the level II in her next vacations and learn to speak english, she writes and understands the language fluently though.
She bought JB a book to learn marathi for his birthday, on hearing about us struggling with the marathi lessons for school, from her mother.
I have asked her if she will teach JB marathi..She will be paid for the lessons, her first little job; and we will also teach her english in return.
Looks like she will have a different life than her mother after all.

50 books at Twist n Tales..

I don't think I ever bought so many books in a single purchase at Twist n Tales, the neighbourhood bookstore, as the owner and my dear friend of many years likes to call it.
Sumi told me about TnT and it's warm and thoughful owner J when the place opened many years back in 2002 and so began my journey with a little bookstore in my neighbourhood (it is not 'my neighbourhood' anymore, we moved). I still don't know what I cherish more, my evolving friendship with J, TnT or the things it did to me. TnT is for book lovers and serious readers. You don't see stuff like CDs, toys, magazine or any such trash, that can distract you from focusing on the wonderful, neatly categorized selection of books, carefully handpicked for the store, by it's owner. If I am not mistaken, bulk of the revenues (apart from what they make from supplying to schools and other institutions) come from the loyal customers of TnT who are now slowly and unwittingly becoming a neighbourhood community. Fond of stereotyping (as M accused me many years back) as I am, there is such a thing as a twist n tales type of person now : besides being an avid reader: thinking, value driven, socially conscious of the environment around and above all liberated in mind and spirit. One of the perks of J's jobs is also making friends out of potential TnT people she meets browsing around in her store or even otherwise..If is means anythings and adds on to her credibility, J is very well networked with the NGO crowd (a TISS hangover perhaps :) ) and has started promoting local authors, launching them (she comes up with some great ideas for thematic book launches), organising book readings and helping them with other knick knacks such as finding illustrators for their book covers, shooting the wind with them to explore ideas etc. ( A backward integration is also on the cards, yes)
There is also such a thing as a TnT young person too: a kid who has grown up on the books from her store, has had free career counselling from J and has probably done a summer job or internship there and while working at TnT has picked up some fantastic work ethics and office skils.
Over the years, I have also found answers to my various problems there.. books to augment my knowledge base when I moved to HR (being an Ex-HR professional and a successful one while she was there, J connected and understood quickly what I was looking for, her recommendations hold me in good stead even today!), an internship for Cinderella to learn some critical life skills and yes she is a TnT young person today, meaningful gifts and presents and after many years connecting to books (other than work related stuff). JB, all of ten years today, is a voracious reader and has a mini library of his own, most of which came from TnT. He is waiting eagerly to be old enough to be able to do a summer job there (the tyke does'nt realize working at a bookstore is a lot of work and not just endless supply of books to read all day long!)
So... spend an afternoon selecting books for return gifts for the big birthday party coming up this weekend and chatting with J about parenting, books and her exciting business expansion plans over the planned lunch and unplanned coffee. Have offered to volunteer when her work with school kids and libraries takes off, and give in to my other interests.. kids, books and reading. Touche

meal at the basus..

tonight's dinner is Vietnamese style spring rolls with a dipping sauce and my mom's version of chicken kedgeree.. comfort food on rainy days! recipes and pictures to follow...

Inception...

what stayed an hour later was... brilliant story...Christopher Nolan.. Leonardo DiCaprio..dreams,layers, the sub conscious, extraction, inception, the spinning brass top..Michael Caine, good production, gripping (we even skipped the trip to the ladies and the coffee counter), Elean Page, great visuals. Can't get over the movie. Though I had heard and read a lot of good things about the movie, it still exceeded expectations. A definite contender for the awards this year..

hoping...

for a miracle.......at least that's what it seems now.

steam chicken breast with citrus and coriander

Came across the wonderful recipe by Phil's cooking academy on you tube. Interested cooking method.. Steam cooking in foil.
check it out here
Instant hit with the family... and very very healthy

Aloo methi with a twist..

No, you don't need to buy the fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves, have the maid clean it the day before, chop, cut blah blah..

You can use Kasoori methi out of a packet or if you have enough help in the kitchen or are enthusiastic enough .. make your own kasoori methi. So the recipe, here goes...

Potatoes: 5-6 medium size

Dried methi or kasoori methi: 2-3 tablespoons

For tempering

Methi seeds: 1 teaspoon

Whole cumin seeds: 2 teaspoons

Green chillies: 2-3 nos

Garlic cloves: 5-6 nos.

Boil potatoes in the pressure cooker till done. While the potatoes are boiling, soak kasoori methi in a cup of water.

One the potatoes are done, peel and chop into small peices.

Crush the garlic cloves and green chillies with a mortar and pestle or the back of a large knife together.

Heat oil in a kadai or frying pan and temper with whole cumin seeds, methi seeds and a pinch of hing (asofetedia).

When the seeds start spluttering, put in the crushed green chillies and garlic cloves. saute for a couple of minutes.

Put in the potatoes and give them a good stir in the kadai or frying pan.

Now, squeeze out the methi from the water and sprinkle it on the potatoes and mix well.

Saute for a 4-5 mins more and then remove from heat and serve hot with chapattis and hot yellow dal.

Comfort food.. yummm!!!

Homemade kasoori methi in a jiffy..

Wash a bunch of methi leaves well so that all the mud etc is cleaned out well.

Pluck the leaves off the stem and place them on a dry kitchen towel to wipe off the water as far as possible.

Flatten the leaves on a plate in a single layer and put it in the microwave for a minute.take the plate out, stir the leaves and put it back for another minute or so till the leaves are completely dried out.

Store the dried leaves in a airtight glass bottle and use as and when required.