Imagine The Fire

Well I didn't have much to write about, so I didn't write. But for the past week, quite a lot of stuff has been happening and put aside some time to write it down.

It has been a pretty good 2 weeks actually. As Joel McHale retorts to a bully in the TV show Community, I have been "perpetually on the way to the gym" for the last one year. I finally went to the gym and it felt good. I felt like I was putting good use to my spare time. The physical activity also lets me get to sleep better. I have also been watching my diet pretty carefully. Hope it all pays off well and I look good in my convocation pictures.

I also had a guest recently. A friend of mine, who I met in college during my bachelors in India, came to Singapore last Friday. He had also been pursuing masters right after his bachelors, very much like me, but he doing it in Netherlands. He came to Singapore for a 4 month internship and I am happy to see a familiar face in this country after a year. I am not good at making friends and I prefer to stick with people I already know. Since coming to Singapore I can't say that I have made a great friend so I was glad to see him. I let him stay at my place for a couple of days. He hadn't tasted good Indian food for almost a year so it was fun watching him devour food in Singapore's Indian restaurants. Let him enjoy it while it lasts.

I also helped him buy a new phone, a Sony Experia Arc S and from what I've seen, it is pretty good. I wish I could get a phone myself soon, because the receiver in my phone is pretty quiet and I can hardly hear the person speaking on the other end in crowded or noisy places. But it will have to wait till I get a job. I'm thinking about buying a decent and not too expensive smart phone and a tablet as well. Hope I don't have to wait for long.

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It has also been one year, since I had come to Singapore. I still remember stepping into the Jet Airways flight, well past midnight. I was excited about flying for the first time. Just a couple of weeks before leaving for Singapore, I had serious doubts about how difficult it would be in Singapore. I had doubts about how my career would pan out in a foreign country. I couldn't sleep at night when I thought about it.

But it was fine. It was actually great. I feel that I have learned much more by coming here than what I would have if I stayed in Singapore. Sure I'd have made some money, gained more weight and stayed the way I always was. 

But now I live by myself. That involves a lot of choices that I have to make everyday. I didn't even decide what breakfast I wanted to have when I was in India. I ate whatever my mother made. I never had to think about how healthy it would be or whether I ate too much or too little. Now I can have whatever I want. I can have chicken nuggets every day for the rest of my life (or till I ran out of money) if I wanted, but I choose to eat multi-grain bread loaves and an egg omelet with a glass of fruit juice for breakfast.

I like the way I've evolved since coming to Singapore. There's nothing like coming to a new country as a foreigner and staying there. There is an awful lot to learn and every little thing you do seems like an adventure. 

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One of the questions I asked my uncle when I came to Singapore was "Are there IMAX theatres in Singapore?"

The reason I asked this question was The Dark Knight Rises. 

And it finally got released today. It is going to be released on 20th July in the US but in Singapore, somehow, it is released on 19th and if I had been going alone, I would have seen it today. But the friend, who I mentioned earlier, wanted to tag along, so I had to postpone it to the weekend. But I've been in an excited state for the past couple of days. Nolan is a genius, he has an exact vision about how he wants his movies to be and he carries out in a manner that can only be described as near perfection. He does what some other Tamil film directors fail to do and that is utilizing the budget to the maximum. You see great directors like Shankar who are given blank cheques literally to make films and he makes huge sets for songs. I know songs are an integral element in the Indian cinema but really, Robot was supposed to be his magnum opus and he probably spent more money on all the song videos than the action sequences. The chase sequence with Rajini stealing away Aishwarya Rai from the wedding was way better as an action sequence in stark contrast to the action scene in the end in which hundreds of robots form on big robot which felt watered down in terms of action and pacing. In my opinion, if Shankar had spent more money on the CGI and added Michael Bay-ish sweeping shots and whirring sounds, the climax scenes would have stood out. I have the same problem with Shankar's previous films as well, with great looking song sets and average action set pieces.

Enough about Shankar, let's get back to Nolan. There have been reviews from Time magazine and other sources and they have been very positive. Reviewers are giving away plot lines and still say that there are twists in the movie so it should be a pretty satisfying watch. Also the movie is two hours and forty five minutes long so it should be epic with a huge story.

For the last two days I have been listening to the original soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and it is impressive. It draws inspiration from both The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. None of the tracks are as distinct as Joker's theme but all the tracks flow as one single stream. But from hearing some sequences and seeing how they are named, you can point out which tracks are going to be the themes for whom. Tracks carry an electric feel and the lack of James Newton Howard's collaboration is evident with no brooding quiet tracks. Batman's theme come only twice or thrice in the whole album and it is utilized cleverly. Bane's theme is menacing and sounds like a track fit for someone who is full of malice.

I look forward to the release of the movie and I will get back to you with a new post once I see it.

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Obviously the Song of the Week is a soundtrack from TDKR.

 

Hope you watch the movie too. Check back when you do and lets talk about it.

Ciao.

The Amazing Spiderman - "The New iPad" of superhero movies?

The Amazing Spiderman is the iPad 3 of movies. It is barely any different from all the other superhero movies, yet with the help of an adjective it stands out...well, only barely. Like in the case of the iPad 3, which became "The New iPad", loyal fans of Apple still rally behind the barely changed handheld device and Loyal Superhero geeks like me still turned out for the movie and found it entertaining as any superhero/action flick.

But this version of Spiderman has a different take on Spiderman's origins and love interest. This version introduces Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker's main love interest. Peter has much more than a crush on her, he may even be stalking her, as one may conclude from the pictures in his computer. He's a geek, having in-depth knowledge of sophisticated machinery, such as the central AC in his uncle's basement. He is bullied by his schoolmates,his parents leave him in his childhood to be taken care of by his uncle and aunt and there is nothing amazing about him. Avoiding spoilers, I will get to the rest of the plot. He's bitten by a spider, which genetically enhanced and it gives him superpowers and he becomes amazing. Enter Curt Connors, a scientist, who is working on cross species genetic splicing mutation mumbo jumbo, tries to do the same thing and ends up becoming a giant lizard. He apparently gets frustrated that there is no other female in his species to be his girlfriend, he tries to turn the whole population of NYC into giant lizards and Spiderman needs to stop him and save the day.

There is enough action, humour, romance and plot to get you through the 2 hours effortlessly. All actors do a satisfactory job. I was just glad this movie didn't have Kirsten Dunst. Emma Stone is much more watchable. Andrew Garfield has the comic timing that is essential to the Spiderman character. The villain is villainy enough and Sally Field makes a much better Aunt May.

It doesn't do much justice to compare this movie to the Sam Raimi's version of Spiderman, it will be like comparing apples and spiders. And this spider is in 3D.

I didn't watch the movie in 3D though. Non-3D version was cheaper and I could get my student discount. I just pretended that all the buildings and cars were whizzing right towards my face and it was awesome.

I wouldn't recommend sticking behind after the credits starts rolling for some footage to leave clues for the next sequel. There is such a footage in this movie, but unless you are an absolute die hard Spiderman fan, the footage won't make sense. So far, not even the collective minds in the internet have not come to a consensus about what the eff was that footage about.

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In the honour of this new movie featuring the superhero who set my childhood imagination on fire, here is a song that was featured in Spiderman 2. It's called Na Jaane Kyon, by a Pakistani band called Strings.

There is a theme of sacrifice throughout Spiderman 2. Peter Parker sacrifices his studies, his family and his love, trying to make good use of his powers as Spiderman. I believe that this song rightly captures that spirit.

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Only 15 more days to the release of the most awesome superhero movie ever made.

Ciao.

Stone Pillow and Feather Pillow

Stone pillows and feather pillows.

Those are the two types of pillows in my opinion.

There were two types of pillows in my home back in India. One was full of cotton it is rather hard. It is good for people who have a bad back or neck because it eases the pain. I don't like that type of pillow because it was too hard for me. Hence I called it stone pillow.

The second type of pillow, the feather pillow, surprisingly doesn't have any feathers inside it. It is actually full of a material called "Recron", which is widely used nowadays to make soft cushions, mattresses and pillows. It is soft, flexible and feels good against your head. Hence I named it feather pillow.

Now why am I talking in detail about pillows? Since coming to Singapore, I miss my feather pillow. What they sell in Singapore is usually 100% cotton pillow. This pillow is also pretty comfortable, until it gets a little old. Then, the pillow caves in, particularly at the place where you put your head and the cotton inside also gets thin and unyeilding, making it pretty unconfortable. And as a result, I wasn't able to sleep for a long time yesterday. In fact, I slept only two hours after yesterday turned into today.

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Singapore is a little lame. Today I checked the IMAX movie bookings for The Dark Knight Rises. Surprisingly, even the evening show tickets were still available. And only few of the morning and afternoon show tickets have been booked. It's a shame. In Australia, fans crashed the booking site minutes after opening the bookings.

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You might have noticed (if you have even read my blog) that my writing is rather lame. I'm not talking about my grammer or anything, I'm talking about stuff I write about. It's about pillows and movies and stuff. I'm not trying to change the world with my blog but I should atleast be able write about something that matters. In India, the politics scene was pretty interesting and it was a perpetual source for something to write about. Moving to Singapore, where politics is practically non-existent, there is nothing really to talk about. People of Singapore may disagree, but really, if you want real politics, come to India.

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From this week, I'll be starting a new section called Song of The Week. Or something like. There maybe two or three songs. Or there maybe no song at all. Or maybe no post at all. Just listen. I really like this song.

This song, called Breath of Life, was the high point of enduring Snow White and The Huntsman. This song is played during the credits and it introduced me to the deep and strong voice of Florence + The Machine, whatever she/he/they/it maybe. Enjoy the song.

Ciao.