Its time to tag them all

I was tagged by Chocolate Lover (http://chocolatychocolatelover.blogspot.com)

Thank you for the tag. I am doing a tag after a long time.

Tag Name:-My favourites

Food: I love all kinds of food. But more than full course meals I love small snacks of all kinds like cutlets, spring roles, pattice, chaats, samosa, kacchi dabeli, medu wada, etc etc..I love soups a lot...and fried prawns give me a high..as long as it doesn't have brinjals or bittergourd.

Color: I liked many colors, but I wear only a few. Green, Blue, Black, White.

Sports: I played cricket when I was a kid, and still play when my office friends plan anything. But I am pathetic with the bat, but I can bowl decently. I love football, but don't play much. I ride a bicycle sometimes. Also like to play carrom.

Dessert: Jalebi or Strawberry milkshake

Artist/Singer/Brand: lots and lots ..just cant list here all of them. It depends on my mood.

If I need to be in creative/aggressive mood:- Heavy Metal

Calm, yet awake mood:- classic rock

just woken up:- punk rock

stuck in traffic, so don't need complicated:- alternative/pop-rock

in mood to dance or jump around like a monkey:- hip-hop

need to sing a few songs:- hindi music

I also love to try out all forms of music.

Pair of shoes: I don't really have too many pairs. I have one chappal (traditional indian footwear), a pair of leather shoes, a pair of floaters. thats it!

Accessory: my dearest watch, and a belt.

Hobbies: Reading (books, mags), writing (anything), watch movies (on TV or theaters), watching (Football, F1, MotoGP), trekking or visiting new places with
friends, riding my motorcycle, also like to sing.

Beauty product: Protein hair cream/hair gel, a deo-spray (?), sun screen lotion

Snacks: all kinds of snacks, but love chaat more than anything.

Movies: all kinds action, sci-fi, thrillers, adventure, horrors, comedy and animation flicks. Love english movies most, but also a fan of Korean, Japanese and French movies. Also watch many hindi movies, but rarely more than once .

-That's it-

I am tagging:

Nitisha

Shas

Jhoomur Bose

Chandrika Shubham

Rajlakshmi

Shomoita Alam

I am not saying it

I believed in love and its power in any form except the one between man and woman (marriage,etc). Things have changed though and slowly my hatred for that kind of love is reducing. Still it has got a long way to go for me to become a romantic.

No, I haven't fallen in love. But somehow time has worked its wonders I guess.

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But then wonders are something I wanted to see after going to Chennai and I was disappointed. Recently I was on a trip down south. First got down at Begumpet in Andhra. Then after roaming around in boiling heat, headed towards Narsaraopet. It was no better and heat continued to suck out water from out body. After attending a friends wedding, we moved to Tirupati which was much cooler place to be, and a very clean and good religious destination. From there on, we had to catch a flight from Chennai to Mumbai, and we had about 8 hours to kill before getting to the airport. The climate of chennai was a welcome change from energy sapping dry heat of Andhra, as humidity is more tolerable for someone coming from Mumbai. But Chennai visit ended up being waste as Guindy National Park was closed on Tuesday and Marina Beach was too far from Airport also it was the same day Jayalalitha landed at Chennari airport. But overall the trip was good, except the food. Its all rice, and rice and more rice. Coming from a konkan family we are also rice eaters, but I am an exception. I eat rice only nominally due to it being part of a balanced diet. Even though I love many food items made of rice, be it dosa or biryani. I can't tolerate too much of rice. And so I had rice-mares for two nights after returning back from trip down under. I used to dream of being forced to eat plates full of kilos of rice.

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Ok, I better stop cribbing as it is raining now, and it is time to haggle friends to come with me for a trek in the greens!

Reviews n all

Kung Fu Panda 2 (movie review):-

Absolutely stunning, prolific, funny, stellar movie....and I could go on.
Rich script, gripping plot, and terrific dialogues.
Brilliant voice-overs.
Worthy of the tag 3-D, as it was superb 3-D animation.
Animation standards are not just high, but also a mixture of different styles.
Keeps the spirit of the first movie, and yet reaches another level of awesomeness.
I just don't see any reason why anyone should not watch this movie.
It is one of those rare sequels that does better than the first.
This non-stop rollicking action is so thrilling that we couldn't even finish the popcorn.
Watch it in 3-D and be enthralled.

Ready Movie Review :-

Its part Dabaang, its part Wanted, and its completely Salman Khan.
Other actors try this kind of movie, only Salman Khan gets it right and pulls the crowd.
After a long time I found out that it was difficult to get first day movie tickets, that is the magic of Salman Khan.
Movie has not plot. I think after making the movie, the makers felt happy that didn't require any script.
Still the dialogues will induce laughs/claps for either being witty or silly.
Movie moves along at good enough pace, with a sprinkling of decent/ridiculous songs, and one item song.
Casting is good. All other actors have been well chosen and nearly don't overact, which is reassuring.
It can be called entertainment, it can be called fun,yet you may not watch it twice, and if you do, it means you like Salman Khan.
Oh! did I mention Salmaan Khan rules in it.

Bike Ride from Mumbai to Pune and back

Date:- 15 May 2011
Duration:- 8-9 hours
Distance Covered:- 320 kms
Journey:- Thane - Panvel - Khopoli - Lonavala - Pune and back !!!!
Average Speed:- 70-80 kmph on empty roads, otherwise 50-60 kmph
Fuel Economy:- Not Available :)

Experience:- My first ever solo (at least one way) bike ride ever. And also first ever bike ride to Pune. NH4 is absolutely brilliant. In parts it has bad surfaces, but otherwise it has all the twists and flats to enjoy riding a bike. It was great to ride the bike on the Mumbai Pune expressway, if only for short distance.

Honda Twister:- Amazing power delivery for a 110cc bike, it is able to keep up with traffic, except powerful cars and bigger bikes. With good enough stopping power it is reassuring. Seat is comfortable, but this is not a cruiser, so I didn't expect sofa like comfort. Crosswinds and high speeds are not good combination for such a light bike, yet it holds its line in most cases. Solid and pleasing performance.

Movie Reviews

Fast Five a.k.a Fast and Furious 5 mini review:-

5 reasons to watch Fast 5 a.k.a. Fast and Furious 5
1) fast paced thrilling action involving hottest cars
2) fast paced thrilling fight scenes involving some super bodied action heroes
3) not one but two hot skinny chics (you can even say 3)
4) Vin Diesel v/s Dwayne Johnson face-off
5) There is no logic, but that is what adds to fun of it all.

Shagird (Mini review) :-

Stellar performance from Nana Patekar.
Absolutely brilliant. A superstar who lifts this movie all alone to new heights.
To aid his performance are some solid actors, who didn't put a foot wrong throughout.
The hunk in this movie, Mohit A. acted good enough, neither bad nor great.
I still find the bengali sweet, Rimi Sen alluring.
And coming to story, it is not perfect. A lot more could have been done.
But it is the pace, style and dialogues that keep you riveted.
Many dialogues are either cheekily obscene or rabidly philosophical. All of them perfectly scented with variety of flavors of character who mouth them. Evoking lots of claps and whistles from the viewers.
Action scenes, sound effects are perfect. And so are scenes of Delhi and its monumental surroundings.
All of them make an effort for us to believe that it is all real.
Direction wise, except the rubbish romantic/melodramatic scenes everything is perfect.
Amazingly it has got no songs, which is great as all that stupid/imaginary song/dance distorts the rhythm of the movie.
Its worth a watch, surely. I would say even more than once, if not, then at least once.

Thor Movie Review

Thor (2011) movie review

Thor kicks ass!!
It is following type of movie:-
"Total Value For Money"
"Please don't end"
"We want more"
Excellent acting and superb casting.
Plot is simple, yet explains the concept of Thor.

It grips you from start to end, leaving you satisfied yet yearning for more.
Dialogues don't have "action movie" one liners. But they are good enough for chuckles and smirks.

Action scenes are well done. Sound effects and overall effects are top quality.
3d is fun, 2d won't be much of a loss.

Old man Anthony Hopkins is still commanding.

Yet it is Chris Hemsworth who steals the show, he is perfect as "Thor", thats the end of it.

Natalie Portman is so perfect in her role, that she ceases to be actor and more the character she is playing.

Stellan Skarsgård,

Tom Hiddleston,

and remaining cast blend perfectly into Thor and his universe.

The beauty of this movie is, that you don't need to really know much about "Thor" and his background. It is very well covered here, but sprinkled with action and drama so that it doesn't end up being a historic documentary.
I would say don't miss this if you like fantasy/action/adventure films, and even if you don't you won't mind it.

Special note to Trivia hunters:-
Similar to the Iron Man 2 movie, at the end of credits roll there is small sneak-peak into 2012 scheduled release movie called "The Avengers". So wait till the end.
Oh Yeah! Also please don't miss Stan Lee in his usual cameo role.

Dum Maaro Dum - movie review

One of the better films. Script is short, so it is stretched with tolerable songs and a couple of useless scenes. Movie never gets preachy. Dialogues are good, not irritative.

Camera work is excellent except when it comes to fight scenes. They have sprinkling of Goan/Portuguese(?my guess?) words, but its not overdone. Suspense is good, the fizz provided by it is fun too. A bit lacking logic at times, the plot remains believable.

So AB Jr. doesn't disappoint. No complaints, good performance from him.

Prateik Babbar continues to shine but needs more screen time than what was given to him. And also he needs kick ass dialogues if he wants to be a star and not just an actor.

Veteran actor Govind Namdeo is solid

while actor from down south Rana Daggubati is good too, and is perfect for role of Goan boy

Aditya Pancholi continues to be a good(!!) villain.

Now eye-candy is good for those who think Bipasha is hot (me)

and also for those who think Skinny-Bonny Deepika is hot.

And finally Goa. Now I have not been to Goa, I mean going there as a kid (when I was in class 4th) doesn't count. So I don't know how much authentic it is as compared to what is show in DMD, but it looked authentic enough.

They tried to capture all possible moods of Goa and it comes out as competent effort. The drugs part won't scare people away from Goa, but at least it will alarm the ignorant ones. Anyway, a bit more pace, a bit more thrill, and more superb one-liners and this movie would have been perfect.

TV stuff.. what I see..what I could see.. what I dont see..what I did see

I have never been able watch TV serials regularly. Either I would forget or I would not remember.

But since last few weeks I have consistently tried to watch all episodes of two TV serials.

Ok, they are not soaps/sitcoms. They are animated series shown on two different channels.

First one is "Kekkaishi" shown on Animax. It is action packed magic/ghost/demon themed anime based on manga (comics) of same name. It has original Japanese voice with english subtitles, which means we have to read the dialgoues to understand whats going on, but it is fun to listen to original Japanese words/phrases.

Second one is "Penguins of Madagascar" shown on Nickelodeon. It is a spinoff from hit movie "Madagascar" and has some famous characters from that movie. It is funny.

At the same time of this show on Nick, there is horror mini series on Animax called "Fear Itself". It is creepy, gross, and very good horror. Some episodes are good, some seem inspired while a few are over the top. But for a TV series its good.

On weekends I try to watch "Oggy and the cockroaches", whenever I can. Best is to watch it in Hindi dubbing, it is hilarious.

And Simpsons too, which needs no introduction.

There are other animes on Animax that I find interesting, but not able to watch them because either I don't remember their schedule or it is aired when I am not at home. (Bleach, Blassreiter, Gurren Lagann, Idaten Jump, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan)

I used to watch Inuyasha too, but missed so many episodes that link is broken and I cant make head or tail of the new characters.

"Burn Notice" is another favorite for being smart/cool/tough/thrilling/action all at the same time.

Among other TV serials.

"Big Bang Theory" shown on Monday is another favorite of mine.

I like "House", "Spartacus Blood and Sand", "How I Met Your Mother", "Parks and Recreation", "Vegas" and "The Mentalist" too. But again don't watch it regularly.

Of course reruns of "Friends" episodes never get boring. There are more TV shows that I watch occasionally, so if I list them out, this list would keep growing.

So that is all for now. Will come back with more stuff soon.

variety

Chinese F1 GP:-

A thrilling race, eventually won by Lewis Hamilton after some hard driving and perfect team strategy.
He ended Vettel's winning streak who finished 2nd.
Webber drove astonishingly to finish 3rd after starting from 18th on the grid.
Button missed podium finish for McLaren as he came 4th,
ahead of Rosberg who had a see-saw race.
Ferrari continued to disappoint with Massa 6th and Alonso 7th.
Schumi was 8th, while Petrov and Kobayashi rounded up 9th and 10th scoring positions.
Force India drivers missed scoring points by finishing 11th(Di Resta) and 15th (Sutil).

And finally Karthikeyan's car lasted the whole race as he came last.

-->>>>> Hamilton is my favorite and I like Vettel for his consistency. So its good both are doing well.

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Thank You (mini film review):-
Akshay Kumar the usual cunning/smart hero. Not boring but not as different as "Patiala House".
Real showstealers Irfan Khan and Suniel Shetty, both of them so comfortably funny in their own distinct ways.
Sonam looks starved. Rimi Sen still steals my heart. Celina Jaitley still the same, same as in (No Entry, Golmaal2)
Bobby Deol was average. Remaining cast of actors just to fill up space.
A few decent one-liners, but otherwise average script.
Story is fluffy but at least it is present.
Movie is full of unnecessary songs. Overdone theme tune is not irritating.

-->>

I don't know why I am behaving like a sadist and watching not so good movies and missing out on good movies.

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I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. ~Pablo Picasso

Man’s greatness is not in what he is but in what he makes possible.

-->> love these quotes...

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Dont darofy !! simply karofy !!! just mohabbat !!! just mohabbat !!!

This is tune from a hit sitcom called "Just Mohabbat" which I watched when I was in school. It was fun and this tune always improves my mood.

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Nikon D3X ..World's best DSLR camera...24.5 megapixel professional-grade full frame (35mm) .... costs only 5,50,000 rupees ....wow...if that isn't super expensive then what is.

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Sprite (fizz drink) .. their tagline... "First Drink ... Then Think"

If Sprite was a beer brand.... their tagline should be....

"First Drink...Then...No Need To Think"

bang !! bang !!

I am not back with a bang
not here with specific plan
I try to write what I am thinking
end up writing what not thinking
not making sense is what I love
don't look here for treasure trove
in the groove I just wanted to get
because work I do made me lose my edge
don't try to find meaning in these lines
it don't mean anything if you don't mind
I hope it kick starts my creativity
and kicks out lazy mentality
its been stretched out ride here
to write good post haven't got near