Tales from the Cob

Billu Barber February 17, 2009

Yesterday, I saw “Billu” with Haze, Eric and a couple of their friends at the Naz8 theatre in Lakewood. It was my first true Bollywood movie experience!! It was quite exciting…it was, as expected, quite cheesy with lots of singing and dancing numbers, but it was a feel-good, happy kind of cheesy. The kind you readily acknowledge and submit to. And they were so upfront and honest with the cheesiness that you just had to give it to them. Also, they kept throwing one frenetic, over-the-top, synthesizer-heavy, pelvic-thrusting pop extravaganza at us after another, that by the time I walked out, I was temporarily deaf, but it was part of the appeal I s’pose. Only, it seemed like all that bombarding of your senses will sooner or later dullen them, or they’ll have to keep uping the dosage, which is kind of a scary prospect. *imagines Bollywood movies 10 years on*

I guess the story was quite predictable, and we felt like the beginning was a bit on the long side. But, later I thought about it, and maybe it was necessary because it has to express how everything snowballs and how the passage of time kind of causes events to blow out of proportion and people to lose their bearings and senses and themselves in all the hype. I was ok with it though, because it being my first B’wood movie, there were plenty o’ cute moments, witty remarks and interesting visuals to keep me in it.

Also, I’m beginning to see why most cinematographers don’t work in the country they’re from or why so many of the best cinematographers in the US are from somewhere else. There is something about how people see things differently from culture to culture that’s really interesting. A lot of the camera movement and compositions (when they weren’t being blatantly cheesy) looked really (at the risk of sounding clichey) fresh and different. They weren’t things I feel DPs here would necessarily do, unless they were purposely going for some effect. They tend to draw more attention to the camera I guess. I kept trying to make mental notes in my mind, but I rapidly lost track and decided that following the movie was more important. And this probably wasn’t even a movie that would be acknowledged for its cinematography. But I think there’s something to be said about how even a regular so-so shot film from another culture can seem innovative and interesting. Or…after all is said and done, maybe I’m just easy to impress.

Oh yea! It was also cool because there was actually an intermission in the middle, like the Hollywood movies of yesteryears. I don’t know why the idea of an intermission was so exciting to me, but it was. I spent my time (unwisely) getting popcorn from the lobby. Probably $3 that shouldn’t have been spent, but eh, it was my first trip…I’ll be a savvier intermissioner next time. I think I might also be a Shah Rukh Khan convert =(

Like Clockwork January 30, 2009

I’ve noticed that my current happiness/satisfaction with friends (and even siblings) ebbs and flows as predictaby as clockwork. If one week, I feel like I’ve misjudged them and that I might seriously be undeserving of them, in another week or so, I’ll be guaranteed to return to a jaded state of thinking that I can’t really count on them and I’ve been a stupid, naive fool.

It used to be that I’d kind of go through each phase kind of hermetically-sealed and oblivious to the “bigger” pattern. I’d go through my pessimistic phase thinking “from now on, I’ll just go through the motions of friendship, but really only depend on myself.” And during my highs, I’d be like “Man, I misjudged my friends. They do care.”  But the pattern has reoccured enough for me to think that this might just be the way things are. Makes sense. No one’s perfect…I can’t expect my friends to be perfect either. But I can’t help feeling like if I accept this roller-coaster pattern, I’m kind of jadedly sealing myself off and rendering myself unable to enjoy moments of good/true friendship (because those definitely exist, I think). But then the alternative- all the going up and down- is kind of exhausting and bewildering. And I don’t really like constantly having to change my mind (espeically in regards to where I stand with others). But I might just have to deal because that’s how life works. Perhaps this is just a rant that I’m tired of the way life and people work.

Genius moment of the day January 28, 2009

I was browsing through Amazon’s mp3 collection to redeem my free songs and I still had my itunes on shuffle in the background. I clicked on a TI duet with Usher and it starts out kind of weird-sounding, but I tell myself to give it a fair shot. Afterall, I didn’t warm to “Live your life” right away. So, there he was, rapping away, with this slightly discordant orchestral thing going on in the back. It sounded strangely familiar. But since TI has a track record of borrowing other instrumental backgrounds and remaking it “his own,” I just assumed that’s what it was…another weird, but “it just might possibly fly” musical combo. But then the orchestra bg took a big turn and still, he just kept on rapping, not even trying to go with the music. So then I thought “That’s it! TI has taken it too far! It’s one thing to borrow famous orchestral melodies, it’s another to just blatantly ignore it!” And only then did it hit me that I was listening to TI’s track laid over “No one mourns the wicked” from the musical -_- I lose.

Lunch time ramblings January 14, 2009

Kewpie mayo + fresh toast = sinfully delicious

I think that if I were ever stranded on a deserted island and I could only pick one condiment to have with me, it would have to be Kewpie mayonaise. Granted, if I ever got off this metaphorical island, I would probably never want to see another bottle ever again. But still, it has a much lower tiredness/sick-of potential factor in my book than anything else. My drink of choice would be boba milk tea. Yea, I’ve given this whole deserted island scenario extensive thought. -_-

In other news, I’m turning into my dad. I thought daughters were supposed to become their moms, but no, not for me. I’m beginning to do this annoying thing where people will tell me stuff and I’ll only be listening half-heartedly, distracted, not really internalizing the answers. And then second later, when I now actively want to know the information, I’ll ask again, thus becoming an annoying nuissance and pissing people off. (Sorry, Ruby!) My mom is always yelling at my dad for this, because then she has to repeat everything twice and it makes people feel like they’re just talking to a blank wall. Must stop this annoying habit. I’m too young for even premature senility or to have such a short attention span.

first post of 2009! January 6, 2009

Usually my ability to follow through on New Year’s Resolutions are god awful, but that is why this year, I am posting them here to keep me accountable. I think I’m the kind of person who needs the occasional nudge/inspiration/threat to be reminded of things and propel me in the forward direction again. Well, I also like the idea of being able to get a fresh start on self-improvement and making progress on my life’s to-do list. As Deshi said, the new year is the ultimate clean slate! So here goes…I was trying for “more practical/reasonable” but I don’t know how well that went *See Resolution 2.

{1} Improve on my photography. I want to enter the dps forum competitions for practice and to get feedback. Also, attempt to scrape together a kind of photo blog. Definitely NOT “a photo a day” because we all know how that went…that’s right, it didn’t. But something fairly regular to track my (hopeful) progress. So, if anyone wants me to photograph something… anything that moves for them, I will do it!

{2} I want to be a nicer person. Not one of those fake nice people who maintain niceness on the outside, but are still condescending and disdainful on the inside. I want to genuinely see the nice side of people and when people or friends ask for help, I want to really try my best to help them. It’s not that I didn’t before, but there were definitely times when I did things more out of guilt or obligation than anything else. If it’s within my abilities, I will try. There were times when my mom asked me to help her type out a few emails or help her friend’s son with his essay and I’d get annoyed at this interruption and make it seem like it was a huuuggeee inconvenience and just generally be a pain in the ass when it’s something really small that I could easily do for her, considering all she’s done for me. And also because in the past few months, I’ve met some really cool people who’ve inspired me to follow in their footsteps and I’ve noticed that one of their commonalities is their willingness to go out of their way to help/advise someone they barely know. True, it’s easier to be generous when its in your area of expertise or what you’re passionate about, but it’s still your time and I don’t believe everyone is like that. Working at Lame Workplace has emphasized that I think. Niceness/generosity is also one of the traits I admire the most, because it’s a decision, I think. Not like wealth or success or smarts…Ok, those are also sometimes decisions, but there are a lot of other factors/luck thrown in and they don’t mean anything without niceness. Ok, enough preaching. Besides, I figure, I will need all the good karma I can get, and if what goes around truly comes around, then maybe I will be able to make a living by the time I’m 50. Since “nice” is a horribly vague word, I guess what I want to is to be more patient and giving and work on my temper. Besides, I figure, tis better to start now improving myself, while I’m still relatively young and pliable, personality-wise.

{3} Apply to grad school. Ok, real world job market, you win. I am going back to academia to wait out this recession because I don’t have enough to offer.