Awake & Dreaming

Jan 28 2012

The Inbetweeners Movie

I don’t usually watch much British comedy and that’s usually because, like a lot of non-Brits, I don’t get some of their comedy. I think there are some Brits who don’t get it either but no matter. Lady Banana had put up the video for this movie’s trailer in her blog a few weeks ago and on watching it I found it funny and so I got a copy of the film to enjoy. It is funny and you won’t have any problem in getting the jokes because it’s all about the same teenagers coming of age jokes that most of us enjoy, even if we have left our teens far behind (still crying over that one!)

The movie is based on the sitcom The Inbetweeners which airs in the UK. The film follows the misadventures of a group of teenage friends on holiday in Crete after the end of their final year at school together, and thus serves as an ending to the TV series, unless sequels are made. It stars Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison as the four friends and there’s also a small role for Anthony Stewart Head as the father of one of the boys. So the four boys – Will, Simon, Jay and Neil – have finished high school and decide to go to have a holiday in the Greek island of Crete to celebrate before each of them decides what college to go to after their results come in. This also serves as a getaway from their last week during which Jay’s grandfather dies, Simon is dumped by his girlfriend Carli and Will’s divorced father tells him he has married his much younger mistress.

The best part is the differences amongst these 4 guys – while nerdy Will tries to smart talk himself into girls’ hearts, using wit & sarcasm, while Simon pines for his girlfriend. Jay somewhat obnoxious & cocky Jay is overconfident while tall, awkward & gangly Neil is bent on not cheating on his girlfriend but does make out with older women! They meet up wit 4 young girls on their first night out at a bar that is usually empty - Will chats to Alison and pokes fun at her cliched “Greek waiter boyfriend”, Simon bores Lucy talking about Carli, Neil has a non-conversation with Lisa, and Jay “gets stuck” with the bubbly, if somewhat overweight Jane. The 8 of them end up spending a lot of time with each other over the next few days. Simon sees Carli who is also on vacation in Crete with some of her friends but she will be leaving early. Plus she seems to be spending a lot of time with the rude fellow called James & his group. Simon spends the next few days trying to score cash to meet Carli on a part on a boat thing, ignoring Lucy who seems to really like him.

The next day the boys meet up with the girls at a hotel pool but things go bad when a man argues with them for taking up his suntan bed and a little boy who pulls Jay’s shorts down, ends up being pushed into the pool in return and he yells as he can’t swim. The boys get thrown out of the hotel premises for the commotion caused. Outside Jay & Simon get into a fight, which ends up with Will taking Simon aside for a walk in the town while Neil & Simon decide to hit the bars. However, desperate to buy a ticket for the boat party, Simon sells his clothes to James, including what he is wearing, but never gets paid for them and is left naked. Jay & Neil have no luck either as their foray into an expensive club hoping to meet girls ends up with them witnessing a male stripper performing autofellatio on stage. Later that evening, the four boys meet back at the bar and bury the hatchet. Before long, the girls turn up and suggest that they all go skinny dipping at the local beach. Jane attempts to kiss Jay, but he is embarrassed to be seen with her so she leaves him behind. Will has better luck with Alison until he stumbles across her Greek boyfriend having sex with another woman; Alison then runs off in tears. Lucy and Simon appear to be growing closer until he sees Carli on the beach and leaves Lucy alone in the sea.

Eventually the boys are able to score tickets for the boat party with Lucy giving her ticket to Simon and tells him to go meet Carli, while she stays back alone on the beach. As the boat sets off Carlie kisses Simon but it is obvious that she is trying to make James, who is also there, jealous. Simon sees through her and decides that she is not what he though she was and leaves her. Jay apologises to Jane, and she takes him into the toilets to perform oral sex on him. Neil tells Lisa that his girlfriend back home dumped him they feel no longer limited in the kind of sex they have. eanwhile, Alison hunts out Will and asks to be his girlfriend, which he eagerly accepts. They all get together to cheer Simon who decides to swim back towards the beach and be with Lucy but he gets tired and nearly drowns and has to be airlifted via a helicopter (grand romantic gesture dashed). After the boat party is over, the other boys and girls visit Simon in hospital, and once he recovers they all spend the rest of their holiday together as couples. Eventually, the four boys head home to the UK, looking forward to the next stage of their lives. As they meet their families at the airport, their girlfriends exit the same terminal and introduce themselves to the boys’ parents as the film ends.

Some gross scenes with feces, yuck, and wonked out humour, it’s not as gross as some people had warned me about. It’s a fun little movie that you should try out. 7 out of 10!

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By Roshan • Humour, Movies • 1

Jan 28 2012

I’m Too Old for This!

I’m 35. I feel too old for all-nighters & video games. I used to play a lot of video games when I was younger just to keep myself entertained but I haven’t played one in ages. Plus 95% of them don’t appeal to me anymore anyway.

Most of the time I’m not in the mood for parties with wild music, one among the reasons is that I feel that it’s for younger people. This is not all of the time ofcourse, there are still parties that I do go to and enjoy myself a lot. But I prefer the quieter ones with close friends or family.

There are quite a few things I feel that I’m too old for, like taking a big risk in a business, moving to another country – that’s something that I would have loved to have done as there are a few places that I would loved to have moved to, work and settle in and make a home there. I just feel that if you are doing that you should do it when you are a bit more younger, like mid-late 20s. I dunno, that’s just my way of thinking.

There are quite a few more things that I feel I am getting too old for and it’s all swimming in my mind but I can’t seem to bring it out in words now. I’m sorry.

By Roshan • Ramblings • 1

Jan 27 2012

Paul’s Chicago Pizza, Clearwater, FL

Paul’s Chicago Pizza, Clearwater, FL – Aug, 2011, a photo by tlanephoto on Flickr.

Oh yummy yum yum!

By Roshan • Food, Photos • 2

Jan 27 2012

Home Decoration Options – Wine Bottle Lights

At the moment I cannot afford my own place but someday I will and I would like to own a nice place with a couple of bedrooms+bathrooms, kitchen, living room, balcony and a den/library space. It doesn’t have to be really fancy as long as the place is safe and cozy and I have enough space. I’d like to paint the walls differently and decorate the apartment with some cool stuff that need not necessarily be expensive & trendy but it will still look way cool in the place.

I really like this red wall and the awesome looking wine bottles with night lights bunched up inside them. They not only look great but are probably one of the best decoraty- showcase items that you can get to make your place look cool. And practical too – you still get a little light from them in the dark and it adds a certain character to your home.

Once financial things improve, and that will take quite some time as I would want to ensure that thing settle down and not take a huge risk, that’s when I will get that place and do a slow & thorough search for things to make my place the way I want it to be. Personally I can’t wait to do it and start right now but practically I just cannot.

By Roshan • Apartments, Cool Stuff, Personal • 1

Jan 26 2012

Cooking Up That Old Time, Long Lost Recipe

Eddie Van Halen turns 57 today. So we need some Poundcake from Van Halen to celebrate! Circa 1993 during the “Right Here, Right Now” tour.

By Roshan • Music, Nostalgia, Video Clip • 0

Jan 26 2012

On One Of The Worst Crimes

Many years ago a girl, who I had come to know & become close friends with just a few weeks before, told me in a moment of utter, open honesty that she suspected her father of having raped her when she was just 5 years old! 5 years old – how any sane man can think of harming an innocent girl of that age is beyond me and how can he even think sexual thoughts about her is also alien to me! And the fact that it was her own father; I must admit that although I was 21 at the time, I was still quite naive and still innocent to a little extent that I was quite shocked at this revelation by her.

“Are you sure?” was what stumbled out of my mouth at the time. She said that she herself wasn’t sure but a few years ago during an argument in which all her siblings & her parents were involved in, she supported her father’s point of view and her mother was so angry that she took her aside and asked why did she always blindly side by her father and didn’t she know that he had molested her when she was a child! The girl was shocked and couldn’t speak for a while. She retreated into a shell and didn’t speak to her parents or her brothers & sisters for a couple of days. Her father came and told her later that it wasn’t true, that her mother didn’t know what she was talking about, she was very simple minded and not very educated (she had only completed high school while he was a respected doctor). She believed her father for a while but in the back of her mind she knew that he had raped her.

I would late come to know through other sources that yes he did molest her and there was infact an official enquiry into it but without sufficient evidence against him it was ruled out. Her parents separated for a while but due to lots of other reasons, which I can’t go into detail over here, her mother felt that she had no option but to stay with the father for the kids sake. I came to know of how the mother came to initially suspect something was wrong, how their relatives tried to intervene but because they lived in another country, there was only so much that they could do. The details, which I got to know from several sources are gory and I even managed to read a couple of letters that her mother had sent to her family back in India at the time.

Back to the day this girl, who is just a year older than me, told me about this stuff. My shock must have been all over my face cause she was more worried about me and changed the subject and speak of more cheery things to say. I didn’t quite know how to react and felt like a douchebag afterwards. I remember laying in my bed for an hour afterwards thinking how someone could do that to a 5 year old girl and how could someone do that to his own daughter or to anyone for that matter. I also remember going for a walk to clear my head and walking for almost 3 hours aimlessly. I’ve heard a lot of stuff happening to a lot of people since then and perhaps I am better adjusted to helping & talking to someone who has gone through that but I will never forget that time when this girl told me about it.

By Roshan • Friends, Personal • 0

Jan 25 2012

Contagion

Much in the vien of Outbreak from quite a few years ago, Contagion is a medical disaster movie that is also a kind of horror – the kind that really frightens me because it’s a possibility! Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film has an ensemble cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet with no real leads and is shot in such a way that it almost looks like a well made documentary. The story is of a highly deadly virus disease that almost shuts down the social order in the wake of a pandemic.

Following several plot lines inter-woven along the spread of this disease, the movie takes us from the initial outbreak and attempts to contain it, to panic and decay of social order, and, finally, to the introduction of a vaccine. Starting off with a business woman Beth Emhoff who while returning from a business trip to Hong Kong, stops in Chicago to meet a previous boyfriend, develops a cold before returning to her husband and family in suburban Minneapolis. In two days she starts getting seizures and is taken to the hospital by her husband, where she dies. Her husband Mitch returns home to find that their young son has also died from the same infection. Mitch is however immune and he is later released to take care of his daughter, who was away at the time and luckily did not get infected by the virus. Mitch struggles to protect her from the virus, not knowing if she inherited his immunity, while coming to terms with his loss.

The movie then moves on to the containment attempts, the race to find a cure or a vaccine against the spread of the disease. We see how Dr. Erin Mears, sent to investigate and study the disease is soon infected herself and succumbs to it. The initial cures prove to be fruitless leading to frustration as the illness spreads and more people die. Added to the plot is a conspiracy theorist freelance journalist/blogger Alan Krumwiede who posts video blogs about the disease, and in one of them appears sick and later claims that he recovered using a homeopathic cure called forsythia. Panicked citizens rush to various pharmacies to get their ‘cure’ causing fights, destruction of property and also accelerate the contagion as infected and healthy people congregate. Krumwiede himself becomes famous and is on tv channels nationwide. During a television interview, accuses Dr. Cheever, of the CDC, of informing friends and family to leave Chicago before a quarantine is imposed.

It is later revealed that Krumwiede wasn’t infected and forged his infection & cure after being hired by investors of the manufacturers of the drug. He is arrested but is allowed to go free as his internet followers collect and pay his bail. Dr. Leonora Orantes, an epidemiologist from WHO to trace the origins of the outbreak, is kidnapped to get the cure for a rural Chinese village. Orantes spends months living in rural China with the villagers until the vaccine is announced. Feng exchanges Orantes for the vaccines, which turn out to be placebos. Orantes rushes away when she is informed of this, presumably to warn the village. A real vaccine is finally created & its production is rapidly ramped up and the CDC awards vaccinations via a random lottery based on birth dates for one full year until every survivor is vaccinated. The movie ends by tracing the origin of the virus from a bat nesting in a tree being cleared by Emhoff’s mining corporation. The bat flies to a nearby pig sty and drops a banana where it is eaten by the pig, presumably transferring the bat virus into the pig. The pig is sold to and butchered by a chef in a Macau casino who greets Beth Emhoff without washing his hands of the pig’s blood, transferring the bat-pig hybrid to her and creating the human strain of the virus.

The movie shows us that at any moment we could be affected by a global epidemic but also that our advanced civilization could be close to a breakdown created by our own doing, inadvertently though it may be. Hats off to this ensemble cast and Sodenberg’s direction for what I call a true horror movie. 8 out of 10!

By Roshan • Movies • 0

Jan 25 2012

Favourite Street Food

Almost everyone, citizens & tourists alike, will agree that the best kind of food in any decent city is the street food. And if you don’t get god street food in your city then sorry, your city isn’t worth spending time in! It’s true that you have to be careful of which street vendors you buy your food from but once you find a decent, clean vendor, chances are that you will be a frequent visitor to that place. Kerala has their “thattukada”, the restaurant on trolleys, a road side eatery / fast food outlet and in this state you have lots & lots of them.

Dosas, puttu, porottas are some of the staple food served in thattukadas with a variety of dishes accompanying them. Pictured here is a plate of Kerala style porottas with a kada (quail) fry. Absolutely delicious. Similarly other dishes like the popular beef fry, beef roast, egg burgi, omelets, egg masala, fried chicken, chicken roast/curry, tomato masala, kadala (lentils) curry etc etc. You can sit there and try out a variety of stuff. Choose a bigger thattukada or ask your friends & relatives for the nicer ones (there are places called 5 star thattkadas in the city) where the food is cooked in the same style but they are extremely neat & cleaner than the smaller thattukadas.

This post has made me hungry! I would love some karimeen (pearl spot) fry for dinner.

By Roshan • Cochin, Food, Kerala • 0

Jan 25 2012

Mind Your Language : Season 1

From one of my earliest recollections of sitcom, humour & tv in general, comes the universally loved & highly popular British series Mind Your Language. I recently completed watching the first season composing of 13 episodes. The series originally ran from 1977-79 and 3 season of 13, 8 & 8 episodes respectfully before it was cancelled and then revived for another 13 episodes in 1986 (no doubt bolstered by syndication popularity). Considering it’s hugely popularity and countless number of reruns throughout the years since, I’m actually surprised that there were so few episodes in the original run.

Anyways, as most of you know, the show is about n the adult students of an English foreign language class taught in early evening classes in a London college and their teacher or “professori” Jeremy Brown. The students have varying proficiency in English and nd much of the humour of the show is derived from the students misunderstanding English words or terminology and plays heavily on the cultural stereotype of their individual nation of origin. The jokes & punchlines are quite simple and this might also explain it’s huge popularity in the nations including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Singapore. Other than the UK it was also popular in South Africa, Australia & New Zealand.

At the beginning we are introduced to Mr. Jeremey Brown who joins as an ESL teacher although pompous & uptight principle Ms. Delores Courtney prefers a lady teacher. A diverse group of ten foreign adult students in London, hailing from nine different countries. From Europe come two au pairs, the flirtatious and beautiful Danielle (France) and prim and proper Anna (Germany); two young single men, Giovanni (Italy) and Max (Greece); and a laid-back middle-aged bartender, Juan (Spain), who speaks no English. From Asia come a revolutionary-minded secretary from the Chinese Embassy (Su-Li) and a Japanese businessman (Taro), as well as three students from the Subcontinent: a devout Punjabi Sikh (Ranjeet); and an unemployed Pakistani Muslim (Ali), who are constantly at each other’s throats; and finally an Urdu-speaking housewife (Jamila) who can’t speak a word of English. The school principal, Ms. Dolores Courtney, nearly dismisses Mr. Brown immediately as she had requested a female teacher, but he is allowed to stay on a trial basis.

The first season, which also seems to have been the most popular one, has Mr. Brown trying to teach his students while funny incidents occur like him mistaking the school board inspector to be an African student, Ranjeeth asking for help from his arranged marriage, getting locked in the school, Mr. Brown having to fight for the honour of Danielle with an obnoxious fellow teacher, Ali wanting to marry Su Lee and take her as his second wife, Ms Courtney dismissing Mr Brown but regretting her decision when his replacement turns out to be a very intimidating woman and ofcourse the finale where the students have to take their Lower Cambridge test while Brown has a bad encounter with their examiner. All interluded with moments of pure fun & hilarity.

By Roshan • Humour, Nostalgia, Television • 0

Jan 24 2012

She’s Everything That A Country Boy Needs

The real supergroup – Chickenfoot performs Sexy Little Thing live in Montreaux.

By Roshan • Music, Video Clip • 0

Jan 24 2012

2012 Academy Awards Nominations

From the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverley Hills, the nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards are in and here are just the categories that I’m interested in. I have only seen one movie that is nominated, Bridesmaids, but some others are in my ‘to be watched’ list for the coming weeks. Sheesh, only one movie. Anyway here is the list:

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2? Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Foreign Language Film

“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Music (Original Score)

“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

By Roshan • Movies • 3

Jan 24 2012

On Asking for Help

Usually when I get ill – I hate asking for help like going to the hospital and consulting a doctor. This is mainly because I don’t like hospitals and doctors. Love nurses though! Unless I am totally unable to handle my illness I will choose not to go to a hospital or clinic. Like a fever – unless it’s extremely high, I will choose to stay back at home and rest, take some medicine that helps and eat light. I fight fevers with a few tablets, soup, home made remedies and sleep. There have been a couple of cases, once in 2007 and once in 2009 where I fell so ill with a high fever that made me so weak that I had to go to the doc and get a shot to bring the fever down. And I hate the fact that the shot, it’s always on your bum!

Other than that I usually do ask for help whenever I feel like it’s needed or I am in over my head and have no problem in asking for it. Atleast I think it’s not something that I really avoid.

By Roshan • Personal • 0

Jan 23 2012

What To Buy Me As Gifts

You want to buy me a present for my next birthday (which is in August) I hear! Cool, start saving your money and put it towards buying me:

A beer bottle chandelier. Like this or others like it. You have very cool designs available for purchase!

Very awesome looking fish aquarium coffee tables! Combine two things at one and it will not only serve both purposes but look amazing as well.

Upside down beer bottle shapes in the inside of a beer glass! Incredible!

And finally the remote controlled tarantula. To frighten women and small children!

By Roshan • Cool Stuff • 2

Jan 23 2012

The Hangover Part II

As the first movie was successful & loved, no reason not to make a sequel. I actually liked the sequel or The Hangover Part II as it is titled a little bit more than the first one. Todd Phillips directed the film in addition to co-authoring the script with Craig Mazin, and Scott Armstrong and once again the film stars Bradley Cooper,Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha (who again misses on the fun). This time tells the story of Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug as they travel to Thailand for Stu’s wedding, 2 years after the events of the first movie.

Stu met & fell in love with Lauren (Jamie Chung) who’s family is from Thailand and hence the wedding is to take place in Bangkok. Phil & Doug convince Stu to invite Alan to the wedding and they go to see him at his house. Stu wants to be safe and only agrees to a subdued pre-wedding brunch rather than a big night party. Lauren’s younger brother Teddy is also with them. After they land in Thailand it is obvious that Lauren’s father doesn’t approve of Stu and even manages an insult to him during the family dinner. At the end of the night, Stu hesitantly joins Phil, Doug, Alan and Teddy for a beer. Sitting at a campfire and roasting marshmallows, the group toast to Stu and Lauren’s future happiness.

And that’s when the craziness begins:

The trio wake up the next morning, hungover, along with gangster Leslie Chow and a chain-smoking capuchin monkey, in a dirty hotel room in Bangkok. And Alan’s head is shaved and Stu has a face tattoo, much like Mike Tyson. They can’t find Teddy but they do find his severed finger!
Chow – nutcase character – seemingly dies after taking a snort of cocaine before he could tell them what had happened during the night. Scared the 3 dispose of Chow’s body in an ice machine.
They call Doug, who had left the others much earlier, and are lead to the police station to release Teddy – only it’s a Buddhist monk in a wheelchair. And he won’t tell them anything as he has taken a vow of silence. They then track down the tattoo parlour where Stu got his tattoo and a sex club where they learn that Stu had sex with a transgender prostitute!
When they leave there they are shot at by Russian mobsters who are after their stolen money and Phil is shot in the arm. While at the hospital Alan confesses that he added muscle relaxants & some other medication in the marshmellows in order to sedate Teddy. They then meet up with the gangster Kingsley, who demands Chow’s bank account code and password by the next morning in exchange for Teddy.
They got back to the hotel ad find Chow still alive who tells them to steal the monkey as he had written down his account code & password on a paper, as he forgets it, and stuck it in the monkey’s jacket. They steal the monkey back from the Russian mobsters through a violent car chase, during which the monkey is shot and injured. After taking the code and leaving the monkey at a veterinary clinic, the group complete the deal with Kingsley. Suddenly, Interpol agents appear and arrest Chow. Kingsley turns out to be an undercover agent, who tells the trio that the police have searched all day for Teddy but were unable to find him.
Desperate, and like in the first movie, Phil calls Doug’s wife and is about to tell her that they can’t find Teddy – when Stu has his epiphany (man this guy should become a detective)! They rush back to the hotel and find Teddy in the elevator, stuck there as the power is out. They rush back to reach the wedding in time for Stu to get married to Lauren, after a little clash with her father.
And we are treated to a song by Mike Tyson, who sings very badly, and entertains the crowd

And ofcourse we see the events of the night in photos, much like the first movie. It’s fun, it’s a laugh riot and it’s good. 8 out of 10!

By Roshan • Humour, Movies • 0

Jan 22 2012

This Is Gonna Hurt Like Hell

The loveliest voice, that pulls at my soul & my heart. Sarah McLachlan singing Hold On live (with a rendition of You Are My Sunshine first)

By Roshan • Music, Video Clip, Women • 1

Jan 22 2012

New Show : Arctic Air

Time to plug a new show that I just started watching like I watched both the 1st & 2nd episodes this afternoon, downloaded ofcourse. How new is the show? Well they are 2 episodes old, first season.

Arctic Air is a drama with elements of comedy in it about a company of pilots who fly small bush planes and huge WWII propplanes on daily missions in the Canadian Territories. Hence the Arctic Air name, which is also the name of their company in the show. Focusing on adventure, community & some romance as well as family and the stories of the people that live there, all based in the Northern city of Yellowknife. Bobby, the prodigal son returns to Yellowknife for his niece’s wedding and also to complete a huge business deal – the deal goes sour when Bobby refuses to sell out his friend and he punches the rich & powerful businessman who gets angry that the deal did not go through. Bobby earns an enemy who will do anything to make Bobby’s life miserable. Bobby is also part owner of Arctic Air and the businessman uses his innfluences to make the airline’s long term clients to pull out from their contracts. Arctic Air now has financial trouble.

Arctic Air is run by Melvin Ivarson & his daughter Krista also works for them, piloting planes along with the rest of the employees. Bobby decides that he has to get a huge contract from a millionaire businessman to help out and despite some bumbling, he is successful. He decides to stay back and remain with the company and help Mel run it.

The tv series stars Adam Beach, Pascale Hutton, Kevin McNulty, Carmen Moore, Stephen Lobo, Tim Webber, John Reardon, Emilie Ullerup among others in this large cast. Michael Hogan, Lexa Doig & Steve Basic have guest star roles and Brian Markinson plays the antagonist.

By Roshan • Television • 2

Jan 22 2012

My Sports Teams

Ok – just in case you are a new reader and have not yet seen the categories, which are shown on the sidebar, I mainly support to sports team. One a football team in the English Premier League and one in the NHL. Arsenal FC & Ottawa Senators. These are the two teams which I have wholeheartedly supported and can claim as my teams. I’ve supported Arsenal from 1998 and Senators from 2000. Although I’ve been a fan of & watched football from very early in my childhood, I usually watched international matches. I didn’t get to watch club football until 1998 and because some of my favourite players played in that club, I started supporting Arsenal. Now it’s like a part of me and I will forever be an Arsenal supported till the day that I die.

I got into hockey in the year 2000, when I just happened to watch some of the 1999-2000 Stanley Cup finals on ESPN. I got into slowly and then I also watched a sports weekly special in which they featured a little profile of each of the 30 NHL teams during the summer. The episode I happened to catch that day featured the Ottawa Senators. I remember then going online at a cyber cafe and reading a lot more about them and *snap* – they became my team and have been ever since and will forever be my team. No matter how great or how badly they perform.

Having said that I do also like other teams & clubs and from time to time envy their player squad (a coach once in a while) and wonder why my teams cannot get those players. Like this season for example – Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has this policy of buying small and building from within, focusing on the youth and not wanting to spend exorbitant sums of money for players. And the Sens are in the process of rebuilding and hence, with just a handful of bigger name players, are mostly a squad of lesser known names. In no way will I change my support for them just because of these things, cause that is temporary.

By Roshan • Sports • 2

Jan 21 2012

Telling It Like It Is

It depends on the situation because at times it is better to hold your tongue as it will only cause a volatile situation blow up or like fanning the flames. Telling what you feel that you have to say will only create more problems and so it’s better to be the better person and hold it back. Unless you have a lot of power and no matter what you have said, everyone else will still have to listen to you and cannot do anything about it. But then that causes a lot of ill will and no matter how powerful you are, you still want to cut down on the ill will.

Now there will be situations when you cannot just back off and must take a stand and say it like it is. Call a spade a spade. Do not let that arrogant, smug, lying sonofabitch get the upper hand and give it right back to them. Show them that you have a backbone and will not lay down for them to walk all over you. They want a verbal war, fine GIVE THEM A VERBAL WAR! Show them what you are made off!

Just don’t forget to take a deep breath afterwards!