These Past Few Days ... A True Underdog Story.

12th Farewell.

My 12th Farewell was held on 30th January, and it was good, to say the least. Girls in saris, Boys in suits and sherwanis were everywhere, along with the 11th kids in jeans and white shirts. The first few hours were spent watching dances by the 11th girls, singing (blaring, rather) by 11th boys, and funny skits. Then we shook a leg, ate, photographed, joked, and were on our way. In the evening, I went to Priya area with a couple of friends and saw the DPS RKP's Farewell kids in suits and saris, apparently they also had their Farewell that day. On the whole, the day was memorable, and will always stay with me. Now, I am patiently waiting for Star Movies to premiere Dodgeball.

Exams (officially) Over. School (un-officially) Over.

Exams officially (and fortunately) got over yesterday, i.e., 27th January, the same day HBO graciously decided to premiere Spider Man 2; the same day I got my Physics PreBoard Paper back (51/70); the same day I went to see the lightings on the President's House; the same day I discovered that the 515 MB file I was downloading is actually corrupted; the same day the second group of my class was sitting inside stuffy rooms and studying for the Practicals when I was laughing my ass off at their misery; the same day I named my car "Rachel"; and the same day I bought Gone in 60 Seconds on VCD.

Now, after the Exam are over, School is un-officially over for myself and the other 119 cats of Standard 12th. A "Yoo-Hoo!" is surely in order. The Farewell will be held on 30th of this Month at 9:30 am, as the Invitation Card says. Excitement is one of the feelings making itself home in my mind right now, and I can't wait for Monday. A lot of things have to be taken care of before that day, though. I have to watch Wedding Crashers and The Chronicles of Narnia; watch Lost Season 1 again; visit Priya / Basant Lok thrice a day; and in general, just chill out.

Part I

The past few days since I last posted, have been pretty eventful, to say the least. I got through my Chemistry and Physics Practicals by the nose; signed up for the Ramanujan Maths Exam for which my Maths Teacher approached me; contemplated the idea of making a Nicolas Cage Website; found out that there are 2 good songs in HeadBangers' Ball Vol. 2 Disk 2; made an Environmental Project on Global Warming; had my school shirt pocket ripped off as a "Scribbling Day" tradition; saw Simon grill 16 year olds in American Idol 2006; spent time with my 6 year old nephew, who has come to India with his Mom and Dad (a first cousin) from Chicago (he made me watch Shark Tale); had a nice conversation with my girlfriend; and watched Nicolas Cage in a Wacky Negative Role in Face/Off.

Welcome to Con Air.

Con Air, till now, was a movie about which I had always “heard” about, and never really watched. All I knew about it was that in this movie Nicolas Cage sported a messy-long-hair rugged look, and that the movie had something to do with criminals and airplanes, as the name suggested. The film has John Cusack and John Malkovich and is a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Now, after a long time, when I finally got to watch it, all I can say that it is a Wild Ride, for anyone in the mood for some serious hair-raising adrenaline rush. Nicolas Cage plays Cameron Poe, an army man who was convicted for 8 years for accidentally killing a man in a fight. After a long time of exchanging letters and photographs with his daughter (who was born 3 months after Cage was sent to prison), Poe is finally on parole. He decides to hitch a ride home in Con-Air, a plane that is being used to transfer 30 of the most dangerous criminals (and one gender-confused entity) from one prison to another.

As might be expected in case of combination of some of the most notorious criminal masterminds and a bunch of guards without guns, the plane gets hijacked by the Crime Crew which is headed by a somebody named Cyrus The Virus (John Malkovich). Considering the fact that Poe has his best friend on board, and a female police officer, with whom he is fond of in a brotherly way, Poe decides to stay on the plane instead of getting off at a stop. He tries to do whatever he can, and still remain outside Cyrus’s radar. What follows is some serious blood splattering action with a Punch, Kick, Fire, and Blasts, following each other in a cycle. A bit of humor has also been sprinkled in the midst of it all. What with the action, effects, language, and acting, I must say that this movie really is a Wild Ride, in a good way.

Buckle Up, and Get Ready to Fly.

Dude, I Am So High Right Now.

On the eve of my Chemistry Exam, I am sitting with a doomed expression on my face, with the books open in front of me. I am feeling overworked and panicky, and some cramped dark corner in my mind keeps poking my motion neurons to get into action. The Hell with it, I say, and slam the books shut. I rub my hands slowly and snicker wickedly, at the thought of some Free Time. I slowly edge my way out of the stuffy room .... and into the Living Room, which is alive .... with television. My eyes look at the couch, and twinkle. I shoo away the person watching T.V. and settle down on the couch, and my hands, stiff with all the writing, itch towards the remote and start the most relaxing activity: Channel Surfing. I stop at each channel for 2 seconds. Religion. News. Sports. Cartoons. Religion. News. News. Religion. Sports. Marathi. South. Chinese. Chinese. Chinese ...

This continues for the next few minutes till the flashing of the T.V. gets observed by someone un-wanted lingering around, who tells me off for it. Un-willingly, I slow down the Surfing rate to 20 seconds / channel. After some luxurious I-Me-Myself time, someone drops in and asks me to budge up and make space. The Surfing rate drops to 600 seconds / channel. Then, something wonderful happens. I stumble upon Discovery Channel, which is broadcasting "Discovery Wings" at that very moment. And this time, they are not showcasing some dingy aircraft, but United States Air Force's B-2s ... erm, those Black Thin AirCrafts which are shaped like Mowgli's Throwaway-Thing ... doesn't ring any bells? Ah ... well, I am displaying the following picture to convey the imagery of the masterpiece, which has the power of 8 F-16s and is totally operated by supercomputers, and uses Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) to find its target.

On a Bright Sunny Day, I am sitting inside with my laptop open in front of me, and a dazed look in my eyes. I don't know what to do. I grimly muse, Thats the problem with BroadBand ... You have the Internet 24 Hours and you are at loss of net activity ... Then suddenly a thought pops up in my mind. Let us do some Google Fighting! For those who are not aware of what GF is, it is a game created by and for the people who are bored out of their skulls. In this, we search keywords and see who has more search results. Dumb, Pathetic, Ridiculous ... I know. Anyhow, so on the queue with this idea, I search the term "God" and something catches my eye faster than the number of search results (Extraordinary, considering the fact that the number of search results was / is 155,000,000 ). It was an Ad of eBay. Check it out below.

(Now I believe that eBay has EVERYTHING)

GoodBytes Out.

They Act. We React. I Enact.

In the Movie Industry, many Personalities exist. In words of Chris Rock “Some of them are just boys in tights”, while some, truly, are Stars. Nicholas Cage is a Star; Robert Di Niro is a Star; Sean Connery is a Star; Cuba Gooding, Jr. is a Star; Tom Hanks is a Star; and on and on the list goes. It is the performance of this quota of actors that stays with us long after the movie (and the hype generated by it) is over.

Many weeks ago, I got to watch Disney’s National Treasure. Initially I was skeptical about the movie, because to me, movies with the prefix “Disney’s” meant something amateur and suited only for the genre of 6 -15 yr.

I was wrong.

Unlike any other Disney Movie, National Treasure was a Jerry Bruckheimer’s Production, the legend who made blockbusters like Gone in 60 Seconds and The Rock; and this movie had Nicholas Cage, who does not need any introduction, obviously. Cage potrayed the character of Ben Gates, a Treasure Hunter, with such brilliance that it seemed like he really was Gates in real life, and not just another character on the Idiot Box. It was this movie that made me ponder over the whole phenomenon of actors, personalities, stars and legends.

On queue, I saw The Rock. Incidentally, this movie is also a product of Mr. Bruckheimer and has a superb cast, which includes Cage, Connery, and (Ed) Harris. If anyone reminisced about Qayamat being a Bollywood rip-off The Rock, they might have been right in terms of the story line and (to some extent) the characters, but it is nowhere near the perfection of the latter. One of the most amusing things I found in The Rock was the repetitive use of the F – Word. Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage were a nice combination of “The Tough” and “The Nice”.

Gone In 60 Seconds rides an “unstoppable wave of speed and adrenaline” in the 2nd Disc. I mention the “2nd Disk”, because, unfortunately, some nincompoop cracked and scratched the 1st Disc and the Disc Lender is just too lazy to replace it. 60 Seconds is a fast paced action-thriller and really worth watching with the lights off, and a bowl of popcorn.

Ah … I see I mentioned “Robert Di Niro” and “Cuba Gooding, Jr.”. Thus, it will only be appropriate to pep about some of their masterpieces as well. Anyone wishing to watch Niro and Gooding, Jr. together should watch “Men of Honor”. A nice movie, which surprisingly also stars Charlize Theron. Star Movies plays Men of Honor many a times, you might watch it. And, of course, anyone in mood to watch Niro in a comic role, should watch Meet the Parents / Meet the Fockers. Real Masterpieces.

Right now, my hands are cold and I cannot type any longer, without the potential fear of loosing one of my fingers. So, until some dark corner of my mind prods me (with a very pointed stick) to pen down my thoughts and inklings again, Good Bye!