Finally ! The right drink .

“The light music of whiskey falling into a glass – an agreeable interlude.” - James Joyce

After some fair experimenting , I finally realized that I am a scotch man. It’s not that I don’t like other spirits , it’s just that I tend to like scotch whisk(e)y more . Now I am not a pro but I know I am on the right track and I can fairly differentiate the different flavors , nature and complexity of the spirit. Like most stuff ,the more varieties I try , the better I’ll become in judging.

But, I have to say , I don’t believe in guzzling and binge drinking. I don’t think its the right way to enjoy such a pleasurable drink . Getting high is good , but its imperative that one stays within limits and drinks responsibly.

Since this is my first post about this , I would like to just briefly describe ‘what is scotch whisk(e)y ?’

Scotch is whisky from Scotland.  If the whisky  is not  made in Scotland, it is not Scotch.  Period.  A mistake commonly made is calling whisky, scotch.  This is because there are several other sub-sets of whisk(e)y, besides scotch.  Besides certain requirements on how the whisky is produced (ingredients, duration of aging, etc.), most whisky are classified according to the regions where they are made. Only water and barley are used to make scotch whisky. sometimes whole grain of other cereals may be added. All scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for a minimum of three years. They must have a minimum alcoholic strength of 40% by volume.

The various blends are made from 2 type of scotch whiskey :

Single Malt Scotch Whisky : It’s a scotch produced from water and malted barley from a single distillery.

Single Grain Scotch Whisky : It’s a scotch that is produced in a single distillery but is made up of water, malted barley and whole  grains of other cereals. The ‘single’ here is referring to single distillery and not single grain. These whiskys rarely get circulated in the market and even if they do they are circulated in limited numbers.

When two or more of the above mentioned whiskys are blended in the right proportion , the resultant is a ‘Blended Scotch Whisky’ which can be classified as follows :

Blended Scotch whisky is a blend of one or more single-malt Scotch whiskies with one or more single-grain Scotch whiskies.

Blended malt Scotch whisky is a blend of two or more single-malt Scotch whiskies from various distilleries.

Blended grain Scotch whisky is a blend of two or more single-grain Scotch whiskies from various distilleries.
some famous whisk(e)ys are :

• Johnnie Walker series – Blended Scotch Whiskys
• Jameson – Blended Irish Whiskeys
• Glenfiddich – Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Glenlivet – Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Jack Daniels – Tennessee Whiskey
• Chivas Regal – Blended Scotch Whisky

‘Whisky Vs Whiskey’

American and Irish liquor producers tend to favor the spelling WHISKEY, while Canadian, Scottish, and Japanese producers  tend to favor  WHISKY. Now why this difference in spelling ? Well , that’s a big debate and its better if I don’t get into it

I hope this article is a good start for the new section, ‘Scotch – Reviews’. I will be posting my first review soon .

George Lucas = Respect

I have been a Star Wars fan since a kid. To me like many Star Wars is not just a movie , it is a dream , a fantasy/science fiction epic filled with motivation and inspiration (most of my friends don’t concur this view ). It’ s creator is no less than a demigod or superhero to me . George Lucas ! I always admired and loved him . The story of how he made star wars itself is an inspirational one . It was not all rainbow and sunshine for him , he was low on budget , almost every studio turned him down  saying the movie will be a sure flop . His hard work and sweat finally payed off , when star wars became the highest grossing movie of all time till 1983 when Steven Spielberg’s ET broke its streak. The creative vision which George showed to the world set new benchmarks for how movies could be made. The merchandising of the star wars brand is still strong and is a benchmark for comparison.

Crazy fans and their love – hate relationship with George Lucas.

This is bit of a delicate and convoluted topic. A group of fans took things too seriously. When George decided to make edits to ‘His’ movie to correct some errors, this section of fans went wild with protest , claiming he had spoiled something very pristine . They went to the point of saying that he had no right to do such a thing ! But George was stubborn and fighter as he was always stood his ground. This caused fans to hate him. When George made the  prequels , things became even worse and this section of fans  started hating him even more.They hated the prequels as they had piled up their expectations to such unrealistic levels that it was close to impossible to satisfy them . Some I feel were influenced by the negative propaganda by angry fans and thus have biased opinions. Jar Jar Binks was the center of most ridicule.There were some hysterical quotes like ‘ George Lucas ruined our childhood ‘,’He is a very terrible person’ and so on – which is ridiculous !

My view :

I respect George and I stand by his every decision. I say he did nothing wrong by editing the classics , as he rightfully says “… its my movie , with my name on it… ” he has every right to make it or keep it the way he wants it.  I feel its just not right to take ones work for granted and make edits yourself , but deny the author from making it ! as for the fans saying that he had no right to do so , I say , you have no right to say so , as its not your work. you don’t like the edited work,  fine ! that’s your opinion and I respect it . But, this doesn’t mean you have to castigate the author.  Regarding the prequels, I think all 3 were cool ! I don’t like Jar Jar binks but heck with it ! I love the movies , the battle, the duel scenes were just awesome ! They didn’t end up in the’ top 5′ highest grossing movies in their respective year of release for no reason.

To put the paradox bluntly ‘The more people(supposedly) hate George , the more they love star wars , which in turn leads them to love him for making it in the first place ! ‘

Imagine what would have happened if George didn’t make ‘star wars’ and he didn’t show us his fantasy world.

To conclude, regarding his latest decision to stop making blockbuster movies , all I wish to say is ‘May the force be with you ‘

Welcome 2012 !

Thanks to Woody Allen , I was forced to consider the other side of ‘happy birthday’ and ‘happy new year’ . we just finished 1 more year of our worthless existence and are one more step closer to the grave , is it a reason to celebrate !! ?  or is it truly worth , to be happy about surviving another year with most friends and family and looking back at the pleasant , not so pleasant and funny times during the year ? unfortunately , I don’t think we can ever come to an agreeable conclusion on this topic. The person supporting the former idea would be termed a negative person , but unfortunately the idea is true , so one can’t deny it . On the other hand if the person sticks to the second idea , he would be termed as emotional , nostalgic or worse as  happy-go-lucky . The only conclusion one can draw is that it depends upon personal opinion and thereby opinions and choices have to liberty to differ (stalemate ! )

Now why am I babbling all this?  well, this has been running on my mind for quite some time so I had to put it out . Alright let me get back to 2012. 2012 whether we like it or not , want it or not (unless we have a functional time machine we got no choice here really ) it’s here . Compared to its predecessors it has loads of expectations to maintain, thanks to Mayans, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce , humans and every other thing in case if I left any. Homecoming of gods, Effect of global warming , changing climate , economic crisis, presidential election , London Olympics are some of the events that are to be watched (I agree the first one is too legendary for rationals to believe ). 2011 did handover a very rich heritage to 2012 it handed over scams , world cricket champions – India , A never before seen treasure at the temple depths (who said India is poor ! our gods are definitely not ) , revolutions in various countries, huge share of natural disasters (rather huge damages after the natural disturbances), a nuclear power plant explosion , a royal wedding , 7 billion world population (according to UN) , death of few bad guys (‘bad’ is the majority accepted description ) and Mr.Steve Jobs finally updating his status to i-dead.

But at the end of the day , despite the bitter cynicism one only hopes for the best and wishes to have good year. whether we believe it or not  events will unfold sooner or later, the only thing that matters is how much we care for it.

Well coming to the end of this circular thought , All I wish to say is , ‘Hopefully happy 2012′ to all.

PAUL – REVIEW

Bored with my X-Mas vacation , surfing down the internet , reading about December 21, 2012 ,prophecies, UFO encounters and related random stuff , I came across this  movie. The poster amused me so I decided to give this movie a shot.

Coming to the movie, Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are 2 comic book geeks. After attending the Comic-Con Convention they plan to  visit other places of extraterrestrial importance. During their ride a car races them and wrecks up right in front of them. When they stop to investigate the crash they meet Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) an alien who has escaped from Area 51 and is in desperate need of help. The geeks decide to help him. Paul is not the typical alien as portrayed in typical science fiction movies. He is lazy, rude,weed smoking,outright , frank casual alien. He does have supernatural powers, he gave Steven Spielberg the ideas for”ET”,”Close encounters of the third kind” and  ”Indiana Jones” and hates the fact that his face has been used as a cover image for aliens in general.He had been chest of knowledge to the government , now that all information has been extracted , the Govt wishes to surgically remove paul’s brain and harness his supernatural abilities. With the help of an insider at area 51 , paul sends an SOS to his home planet and is on the run.

The whole story revolves around the crazy events which occurs when Paul is trying to reach to the location to reach his rescue team. There are several movie connections like Close Encounters of the third kind , Indiana Jones , Titanic , Men in Black and star wars attributed at appropriate places  . On the whole , it was a light and fun movie to watch.

I am not a sci-fi geek , but I definitely am a sci-fi fan.

I give this one 8/10 

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE : GHOST PROTOCOL – REVIEW

Well , this was going to be my first IMAX experience , I was more excited about that than the actual movie. When I entered the hall I was shocked , for the first time I have seen a movie show in the US sold out ! After some careful search me and my friends had to settle down at the second row from the screen. The screen was huge ! we had to swing our necks like in tennis match whenever there was a conversation. The sound effects were awesome.

There was a 7 minute preview of the Dark Knight Rises , I have to say this was the best part of my time in the hall! After watching those 7 mins my craving to watch the entire movie increased exponentially along with the irritation for waiting Christopher Nolan has always exceeded my expectations , I hope he is not disappointing.

Coming to Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol , the movie starts with Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise) being broken out of prison. There is the usual hacking of security systems and security cameras. After the attack on the ‘Kremlin,’ which houses Russia’s secret archives, the US president initiates the ghost protocol and disowned IMF .  The main plot  is to track down Russian nuclear warhead codes and stop Hendrics and his team from firing off war heads to the US .

The movie is jam-packed with action ! After a certain point , the movie defy’s logic and the story goes astray . The mission takes our heroes from Budapest , Moscow , Dubai and Mumbai ( and Andhra Pradesh too ). There are many errors in the movie apart from questionable tech. One of the worst in my opinion was confusion between Mumbai and Hyderabad ( possibly) , the plot says that the satellite is operated from a station in Mumbai , but the station shown ( Sun Network ) clearly has Telugu writings over all doors suggesting it was in Hyderabad . The war head diffusing part during the climax was very lame .

I wasn’t quite satisfied with the movie , its OK for the action if you forget logic and story flow.

On scale of 10, I give it

6/10 (scores mainly for the IMAX experience )

SHERLOCK HOLMES : A GAME OF SHADOWS – REVIEW

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are back ! Dr. Watson is to get married and this idea doesn’t seem to fit well for Sherlock Holmes. The idea of losing his brother (though not by blood) and friend to a woman is not digestible. Holmes pulls Watson in for one final adventure before he starts his life in purgatory ( gets married ). Tracking a series of bomb blasts and following Irene Adler ( the only woman to outwit Holmes ) , Holmes and Watson (unfortunately , cutting his honeymoon) are in  for a wild ride to save Europe and the world from a possible world war.

So , much for introduction. Now, getting to the movie, ( forgive me there are a few spoilers ) it is fast , very fast . Missing out on a few mins may make one feel bit unconnected from the flow of the plot. Guy Ritchie is at his best . Robert Downey Jr, just blends in his character from  mannerisms to expressions all are awesome. one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when he describes horses – “They are dangerous on both ends and crafty in the middle. Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing between my legs?”

The are some really funny scenes between Holmes  and Watson (almost Gay ) , for instance  introducing their next step in the case as ” Their honeymoon in Paris” ( this is after pushing Mrs.Watson off the train to a lake and blowing off half the train, when whole train journey was meant for newly married couple to reach their actual honeymoon spot ). There is also scene where Holmes and Watson prance around ball dancing . . Enough of spoilers . Guy Ritchie employs his trademark high-speed photography in action scenes . To be honest the action scenes though looked grand , but I felt it was superfluous.

This is one of those movie’s which will engross  the viewer for its entire play time . The portrayal of Sherlock’s thinking is awesome (though it is not as detailed as in the first part ). The antagonist, Professor James Moriarty - played by Jared Harris , is a complex character . Jared Harris’s performance though captivating  lacked coldness and there were a very few expressions on his face.

On the whole the movie is a must watch ! The climax is the best of all .

The End ?

Watch the movie you’ll know if it is.

On scale of 10, I give it ,

8/10.

FOO FIGHTERS – WASTING LIGHT – REVIEW

‘ Wasting Light , ‘  is the seventh studio album of Foo Fighters. Though I started listening to this band just about at the start of this year , I love them every single bit . Their music is heavy, raw and crazy  in most cases, but then there are some delicate acoustic pieces too . The band’s lead Dave Grohl, in my opinion is a true rock star as  he can scream where he has to and be melodious when he wants to (this is apart from being godly on drums and decent with an acoustic guitar ) . Other than  this album I have tried ” Echoes silence patience and grace” and “Foo Fighters – Greatest Hits.” On comparing them , I feel that their new album is seriously heavy . \m/  with heavy use of distortion. In most songs the rhythm section is raw, rough and adrenaline charging. The lyrics of few songs especially “Walk” is motivating.

The Track Listing

• Bridge Burning  -  The opening track is kick ass ! awesome intro riff !
• Rope –   Nice intro riff  , having traditional punk elements
• Dear Rosemary – This one is something different . Its crazy and groovy.
• White Limo – another typical song with heavy rhythm section. I felt the song was overcooked with distortion. I didn’t really like it
• Arlandria – the intro riff is weird, the song is average ( but still not too bad)
• These days – finally an acoustic intro riff ! love this song , good situation song when one someone is looking back to ones past ( opinions may vary , but this is mine ).
• Back & Forth – average song, but it didn’t  quite excite me .
• A matter of time – another average song , better than the previous one though , some really good lines .
• Miss the misery – The intro for a second reminded me Jimmy page’s Embryo 1 – which he plays in “It might get loud”, average song.
• I should have known – a slow piece with some Blues flavor
• Walk – The best track of the album ! loved the lyrics . This song is in line with “Everlong” and “my hero”

Surprisingly, I didn’t really like this album initially. But , its sort of catching up slowly with time , in matter of a week i must have listened to the entire album at least 4 times , other than individual track plays.

on a scale of 5 , I would rate this album

3.5/5

Foo Fighters FTW !

There and back again !

Well the title of this post is my reply, to all those people who thought I would leave my blog in dust and cobwebs  (and yes I am a J.R.R. Tolkien fan ).

Well apart from excuse fueled procrastination, the only other reason for my absence was that I really did have a very busy year .

2011 ! ah what a year , let me recall the events and milestones achieved

• After 20 years , finally my sister got a victim whom she could bug for the rest of her life (I do miss her a lot though )
• I learnt my fair share of Spanish in matter of 2 months ( Enough to kill the language )
• Got my VISA , packed my bags and landed in Tempe, Arizona on July 26 , to start my stint at ASU.
• I thought Chennai is warm , no place can beat it as far as heat is concerned . That thought vaporized after I set foot in Tempe, the baking HOT welcome shocked me.
• In the next few weeks, The validity of the quote “There is no place like home. ” was etched hard in my mind.
• I was made to realize the ground realities of Grad life both on and off campus .
• After some rather risky experimenting the price for mother’s cooking was finally found to be PRICELESS.
• And now at the end of a semester , I have learnt  that , “Coffee is the fuel , Procrastination is the devil , exams are a duel and professors are Evil ! “

I am not making any promises or planning any resolutions , I will try to make sure that my absence wont be this long in the future .

I am planning to make some changes in my blog , let me see how far things will shape up .

GUZAARISH – Movie Review

I have seen many “Bollywood” movies, but only a few interest me. The main reason for this kind of attitude towards “Bollywood” movies is the heavy overuse of the concept of love. To make matters worse, the repeated usage of the traditional concept of a hero falling for the pretty lady with the jealous villian chasing the pair all over the place only to loose or die in the end with the only possible variations  being,  making this theme a family or a corporate affair; has made me detest it in certain cases.

The “Traditional love plot” has made  such an impact , that today there are bunch of people who define the word ‘Love’ with it. There have been many efforts to revive the lost meaning of love in bollywood , most of these attempts have ended in grand applause of critics and fading chimes of money. But the few that try, have a meaning and sense by portraying cinema in its sincere essence.

Guzaarish in my opinion though may not be the best, yet stands out to be a sincere attempt.The movie revolves around a paraplegic Ethan Masceranhas (Hrithik Roshan) who  in his glory days, was the best magician. He is supported and cared by his nurse Sofia (Aishwariya Bachchan). After living a bedridden life for 14 years , inspiring paraplegics and normal people all over the country to live through his talk show in the radio; Ethan makes a “Guzarish” (request) for euthanasia or mercy killing. The effect of this request and does he finally get it, is the theme of the movie.

The Canvas of the movie like most Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies is grand and larger than life.The screenplay though delicate suffers a few points out of logic. One such obvious question is why should Ethan (considering his condition) be housed on the top floor of the huge house ?. When it comes to acting, this is probably Hrithik’s best performance as an actor. Aishwariya Bachchan performs her role well but it gets sidelined due to the plot.

THE VERDICT :

If you are looking for entertainment , this is not your type of movie as you will end up terming it a ‘Melancholic tear jerker’ (I didn’t see any tear jerking moments though) . But if you want to see cinema in its pure form , as an art, then go for this one.

My rating:   9/10

ENTHIRAN – Movie Review

Finally a week after its release , i got to see Thalaivar’s  ’ENTHIRAN ’ . For all those people who don’t know the how to preset their mind before watching a Rajinikanth movie (though i doubt if there are any ) here goes the instructions :

• No matter what be the case,  Thalaivar rocks  ( it is more of a commandment- cross questions are forbidden)
• His movie is an entertainment package , so don’t go there with a serious mind expecting an art movie . Just have fun.
• For any other doubts refer my first point.

Though personally i respect him as an actor and as a human being , but i dont consider him to be a  demi god (rajini fans no offence) .

Coming back to the movie , i can define this by the following equation

Shankar + A.R.Rahman + Aishwariya Rai Bachchan + RAJINIKANTH = grand commercial movie seasoned with shankar’s logic.

This is what is expected and the movie delivers this with ease.The much talked about special effects involved in the movie is seriously grand for Indian cinema and is probably a milestone achievement. It has set new benchmarks for future superhero or desi sci – fi movies.

Coming to the story , Shankar has managed to use the commercial , severely overused love formula in a sensible way by potraying a case of ” what would happen if a robot starts experiencing emotions ?” .The plot reminded of  ’ Bicentennial Man‘ . I am not going to be spoiler and reveal out the entire plot.  I would just say that the story revolves around theme of how a humanoid can help , compete and destroy mankind. As with all shankar’s movie , it ends with a message .

Coming to the roles and acting , Aishwariya Rai does a good job of being the traditional love interest of the male lead. Comedians Santhanam and Karunas  did their parts fairly well ,but  cant really blame them as their roles were really small. Veteran Danny Denzongpa does a neat job of playing  Dr.Vaseegaran’s jealous patron. Finally Rajinikanth doing the roles of Dr.Vaseegaran and Chitti  is at his best , especially Chitti version 2.0 (villian) . I felt that the evil Chitti was the real star of the movie and no one could have done it better than Rajinikanth.

Now let me sum this up

ze +’s :

• Evil Rajinikanth rocks ! – loved that maniacal laughter
• The story revolves on a novel theme
• There is appropriate use of logic ,  Shankar has done a good job
• The special effects are exceptionally good

ze -’s :

• The film could have done away with a few songs
• There are no typical Rajini punch lines
• The roles of the comedians could have been extended
• The climax though being heavy on special effects  is ostentatious

Ze verdict :

On a scale of 10 i would rate this movie : 7/10 , for being a sheer entertainment package to sit back and enjoy .