I Want to Dance With Shah Rukh Khan

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2010-08-07T09:11:00.002-05:00

Perusing Twitter this morning, I see that Amitabh Bachchan reminds us that it's been 35 years since Sholay came out in theaters. Also, Riteish Deshmukh shares a vitamin advertisement with us. Interesting sales tactic. I would personally prefer to get health tips from Veeru and Jaidev.

SRK and Shakira!

2010-07-13T07:42:00.003-05:00

Alas, they are not dancing together. This was posted a few hours ago by Shah Rukh Khan from his Twitter account.

Beth Reviews My Name Is Khan

2010-02-21T19:03:00.004-06:00

I haven't found anyone willing to go see MNIK with me just yet. So, I am currently without an opinion on this film. However, I typically find Beth's reviews to be spot on.

Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter?

2010-01-04T22:10:00.003-06:00

One India has just reported that Shah Rukh Khan is now on Twitter. I've been fooled into following fake SRK before and had to quickly unfollow fake SRK. This time around I checked with my other Twitter-folk and both Anand Mahindra and Karan Johar are friends with "iamsrk" (no photo provided). Surely, Mahindra and Johar wouldn't be following a fake Shah Rukh, right? It's a leap of faith.

I am a follower.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Porn Star?

2009-12-08T20:56:00.004-06:00

Shep is keeping me up on the latest SRK news. It's evident he's joking around, but it's still a very funny/interesting thought...

Shah Rukh Khan Delivers Anti-Terrorism Speech

2009-11-29T14:58:00.001-06:00

Shah Rukh Khan delivered a great speech tonight at the India Gate in New Delhi.

SRK's Airport Woes

2009-08-15T19:27:00.005-05:00

Poor Shahrukh! It seems he didn't receive a warm greeting at the Newark Airport. Sepia Mutiny covers the story, so I won't go over the details as they are currently known. It's unclear whether he was treated as poorly as the average American traveler or if he was flagged for having a Muslim name.

I am just disappointed that he didn't ring me before he came to the US.

Chandni Chowk to China

2009-05-26T19:59:00.005-05:00

The film event of my holiday weekend was a true disappointment. The beautiful Akshay Kumar has proven to me that he's more than mere eye-candy. He did a fine job portraying an extremely annoying and very unlucky chaatwalla named Sidhu. He was so good at his character that I could hardly watch him. As for the plot, a bunch of slapstick silliness plays out early in the film that leads up to Sidhu meeting two Chinese men. These men take Sidhu to China along with his frenemy, Chopstick, so that he can kill an evil smuggler, Hojo, who can behead people by tossing his bowler hat like a boomerang. It was such an odd maneuver that I suspected I needed 3-D glasses and a few shots of vodka to continue watching the film in it's entirety. Alas, without the appropriate tools, I was unable to finish the entire film. I initially hoped this film would leave me with the it’s-so-bad-it’s-good type of Bollywood satisfaction (like I felt after watching Dostana), but this was not the case with Chandni Chowk to China.

Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke

2009-02-16T08:36:00.010-06:00

It's a film about a damsel in distress (a very weak, and weepy damsel), Sahiba Grewal and an over-the-top, flag-waving, thug-stomping hero, Captain Karan Khanna.

Although it's a lot of prem, it's heavy on the pagal with a dash of ishq.

This 2000 film is a remake of the 1995 film, A Walk in The Clouds which in turn was a remake of Alessandro Blasetti’s 1942 film, Quattro Passi Fra Le Nuvole.

I loved the movie. It has everything a formulaic Hindi film needs, including beautiful settings for each of the music scenes. The sequence to the very enjoyable song, Do Lafzon Mein was filmed in Scotland. The music in general keeps the film entertaining. I particularly liked the use of Ennio Morricone's music from The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly during scenes at Sahiba's evil father's work place. There are characters in this film who are good, if not completely flawed, and then there are some truly bad and very ugly elements that keep the plot moving toward the end.

I rate the entertainment value of this film as being on par with Hindi films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

A couple of bits of trivia: 1) Salman Khan has a cameo in the film and, 2) Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke was Aishwarya Rai's and Abhishek Bachchan's first film together.

Hoorah for Slumdog!

2009-01-13T20:37:00.002-06:00

If you haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire, get out to the theater and see it. It is a wonderful film and it was recognized with four Golden Globe awards including a win for the prolific composer, A.R. Rahman. I didn't get to watch the Golden Globe awards ceremony live, but I have been catching up on You Tube. Shahrukh Khan was a presenter, which I think is fabulous!!

Yes and No

2008-12-16T16:18:00.003-06:00

Just a quick update for inquiring minds --

We decided to return to India as originally planned, except for the hotel in Mumbai. However, as soon as we came to this decision, it seems many more would-be visitors came to a very different decision. A few days prior to our departure, our flight from Paris to Mumbai was canceled and it set in motion the need for a whole new set of flights to get us to Mumbai with a reasonable amount of stops. The timing was very inconvenient and sent us scrambling to cancel and reschedule hotel reservations for what would have been our first two nights in India. The problem is that would limit us to one day and one night in a specific city then we would fly to another city as planned, or reschedule each day of our carefully planned itinerary. Madness. The re-planning on both ends of our trip quickly became overwhelming as we were both very busy at work wrapping up projects in order to be able to go on vacation in the first place. Just when we almost had enough of the chaos, there was the curious non-incident at the Delhi airport during all of this that left me wondering if the attack was ongoing or if what happened in Mumbai was indeed a singular, terrorist attack. At this point, the airline offered to refund us for our tickets. This was surprising, but we gladly took them up on the offer. Therefore, much to the relief of my mother and grandmother, we have decided to postpone our trip. We plan to return as we have too many things we want to do and see; however, the timing is up in the air as I am not so sure I want to go during the hot and wet season (which in Mumbai is a good part of the year). Anyway, I want to thank you all for your sincere input. I truly appreciate it. Peace. Jai Hind.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

2008-11-29T14:38:00.007-06:00

Watching the horrific events in Mumbai unfold is deeply disturbing and regrettably addictive. First and foremost, I am saddened by the hate and harm unleashed on innocent people during this terrorist attack.

I felt like I sorted out what was really going on in my mind within the first 4 hours of the event. I am not stating that I was correct in my assumptions, but they are my assumptions and I reserve the right to retain them until such time I am provided with factual information. Quite unlikely considering the collective and woeful ignorance of the media. Listening to the early assessments from reporters and pundits who know little to nothing about Mumbai or India or anything beyond New York City was and is maddening. Ridiculous talking heads pondering whether the terrorists were Islamic extremists or whether it was possible they could have links to Pakistan. Good grief. I shouted obscenities at the people on the television. If only they could have heard me.

I am not a stupid person. I understand that life has it's risks. I traveled to India in 2004 and 2006 armed with knowledge of assassinations, bombings, Dawood Ibrahim, communal violence, etc. I enjoyed both trips thoroughly, but I was always alert of the potential for violence - especially in places I visited, such as Gujarat state.

I have an entire trip planned to India and I am supposed to leave very soon. The last part of my trip was supposed to be in Mumbai. We booked a room at the beautiful Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and we planned to dine at our favorite cafe, the Sea Lounge, overlooking the Arabian Sea. We wanted to visit Leopold's again as well as our favorite kebab stand, Bade Miya and all of the shops along the streets adjacent to the Taj as we had done in the past. Presently, the very idea of walking down those streets so soon after so many people died stirs intense grief within me. I wonder if all of the kind people I encountered are safe? I will likely never know.

My options are to either revise my itinerary and head to India or cancel the trip altogether. I am wondering if my fears are rational or if I am being brainwashed by the US news media and their sensational coverage. I feel unsure. Part of the problem is that when I watch the news, I understand exactly where everything has transpired as I have a pretty good map of Colaba etched in my memory. Even if I stay away from Mumbai, will this trip really be the much-needed relaxing holiday I had hoped for?

What should I do?

Refine, Baby, Refine and Trillion Dollar Baby

2008-09-29T21:08:00.006-05:00

ENERGY

Enough is enough. I don't want to hear one more politician utter the popular phrase, "drill, baby, drill" unless he or she can explain the next step in our purported attempt at so-called energy independence. REFINE, BABY, REFINE. There's a finite number of ready-built refineries out there. I think people realize that in the Southeast US. They have been waiting for all the Texas refineries to come back online and send gasoline down the pipeline to their states. When hurricanes hit Florida, this wasn't a problem. One hurricane hits Texas and a week later the level of road rage in Atlanta spikes as people fight it out to get a few gallons of gasoline in their SUVs.

ECONOMY and THE WAR

Is a $700B blank check really that big of a deal? A few more years in Iraq will be about ANOTHER $700B. Why hasn't Congress stayed up at all hours of the night for the past 5.5 years worrying about that blank check? Tis, tis....

Going Back to India

2008-09-27T17:51:00.002-05:00

C and I have decided to make another trip to India this December. The economy is tanking in the US and my 401 K is becoming a shadow of it's former self, but we still have jobs and frequent flier miles. So, why not? I found a nice family to stay with in Delhi for a few days. I never saw Delhi. It was the one place during my 2004 whistle-stop tour where I spent my brief time in the capital city confined to my hotel room. I made an error in judgment just nine hours prior to my arrival in Delhi. I ate lukewarm upma from a breakfast buffet at a (Taj) hotel in Khajuraho. Of course, during my 2006 trip, I ate a kebab off the street at Bade Miya in Mumbai and suffered no ill effects. It's hit or miss.

I am wondering if I can get a hold of Sanjay Dutt for a blogger interview. I had a dream I was having afternoon tea overlooking the Arabian Sea with Sanjay Dutt a few nights ago and it gave me the idea of interviewing him while I am in India. If you have a question for Sanjay send it to me before the end of November. In the meantime, I am going to try to find his people and his people's people. If you have any suggestions in that regard, please share them with me.

Genealogy Project Update

2008-08-11T18:22:00.003-05:00

I just pulled the 1891 census for a small town in England - Sandridge. It's in Hertfordshire. I have an ancestor named Stokes who was from this English town (which I assume is a London suburb nowadays). When I pulled up a copy of the actual handwritten page from the census, one of the Stokes family's neighbors caught my attention. In a page full of 'bury' farmers, a one Mr. Charles W. Tanqueray was noteworthy. Mr. Tanqueray is listed as the head of household and his occupation is noted as, distiller. There were more servants than family living at this estate in 1891. His daughter-in-law, Letiticia, was born in Ceylon. How exotic for 1891! I assume the Tanqueray family shipped loads of gin to the colonies during that time (with tonic -- to fight malaria, of course...). Oh, how I wish I lived on an estate with my own cook, a house maid, a parlour maid, a kitchen maid, and a coachman (and unlimited access to gin)! Alas, I come from humble farmers.

photo from: http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/home.htm

Hobbies and Other Interests

2008-07-31T21:29:00.004-05:00

I haven't been very active on this blog in recent months due to a variety of factors, including a shift in my hobbies. I believe it's just a phase and I will return to Bollywood, but right now I am heavily researching WWI and the sinking of the HMS Goliath as a part of my efforts to put together my family tree. I uncovered a significant family secret through my research, but unfortunately, the only people in my family I feel comfortable sharing this information with have already departed this world. It's moments like these when I really miss my father and my grandparents. I still have cousins living in Scotland and while some my findings would of moderate interest to them, some of my other, less reliable discoveries would be too much to burden them with absent any significant proof (which I do not have at this time). Part of my efforts will require a better understanding of the Catholic church (I am not Catholic, but many of my ancestors were).

I suppose when Shahrukh Khan comes out with a new and exciting film or if the dollar strengthens / air fare to Mumbai drops below $2000, or when I finally take time off work and finish the last fifty minutes of my screenplay, I will be able to provide you with more suitable blog posts.

..... until then, please enjoy the weather wherever you may be.... it surely has to be more pleasant than the 103 degrees I enjoyed today!!!

Goodbye, Tim Russert

2008-06-16T19:24:00.002-05:00

I can't imagine the rest of the year - a presidential election year, no less - without Tim Russert asking the candidates the tough questions. I record Meet the Press on my DVR each week. I cannot imagine the program without him.

2008-06-08T09:19:00.002-05:00

The 5x5 meme (Tagged by Indigo) --

What was I doing five years ago?-- I was working at the same job I have now, but on a different project. I also spent an inordinate amount of 2003 watching a LOT of Bollywood films and learning to speak Hindi in advance of my 2004 trip to India.

Five Snacks I Enjoy-- Anything that involves 1) avocados (e.g. fresh guacamole), tops my list of snacks. I also like a really good 2) pear or a 3) cup of Greek yogurt with honey. Unfortunately, these things are not found in the office vending machine, so faced with mild hunger and limited options while at work, I usually opt for 4) pretzels or 5) peanut M&Ms.

Five things I would do if I had a billion dollars-- 1) Build a modern orphanage and school. I believe America's foster care system is dangerous to children, utterly dysfunctional, and largely unchecked. This 'system' was developed as a backlash to the horrible institutions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, people fear putting children in a group setting. I am confident children can thrive without pseudo parents. How can growing up in a safe environment with other orphans throughout a childhood -- without the drama of being shuffled from home to home -- be bad for a child? 2) Buy loads of beautiful real estate around the world. Some for me, some for the people who don't have a billion dollars. This would include purchasing crumbling world heritage sites and guarding them with well-paid mercenaries. 3) Build my own coffee shop / bar. Work there each day to interact with people. Being a billionaire can be lonely. 4) Bribe/buy some politicians in various governments. Then hand my enslaved officials over to the underdogs. It's all about checks and balances. 5) I'd hire a team of personal chefs/nutritionists to travel with me and feed me so I won't eat so much guacamole.

Five places I have lived-- I have only lived in 4 places.

Five Jobs I Have Had -- Some of the jobs from my distant past: waitress at an Italian restaurant, fast food employee at a sandwich chain, resident assistant in the dorms in college, clerk at a retail clothing store, environmental compliance manager for a major oil company.

I tag Tom and Chris.

Footprints

2008-05-17T17:50:00.004-05:00

Once upon a time I was a prolific blogger, but I haven't posted much over the past year or so. And it's not that I am short on things to post. I have lots of things going on in my life both personally and professionally but for some reason as I live and breathe, I do not make enough time to write and reflect. Nor do I make much time to read the posts of my sidebar buddies (Sorry!! I really do miss you guys and gals!). Sometimes, I am concerned I will write too much, especially as it pertains to my job. Writing too little would be a terrible bore, so I often opt not to write at all.

However, today I opt to write. This is following a long discussion I had with Tom today that started with a great lunch at Freddie's Place and continued over coffee at Cafe Caffeine. I present to you something that's been on my mind a lot lately as I hear entirely too much about it all at the office where I have to show a modicum of restraint.

Global warming. Your so-called carbon footprint. Ugh. Listening to affluent white people prattle on about climate change (a.k.a. global warming) is more than I can take these days. Yes, I agree with any reasonable common sense assessment that the nasty stuff that goes into the environment is very likely detrimental to planet earth and may even be accelerating the warming of the oceans and the melting of the ice caps.... (ad nauseam). However, as a scientist, I must point out the fact that the climate has changed dramatically over the course of the time. There is abundant evidence everywhere of the catastrophic impacts climate change has had on humanity very far into the past. It's why we look the way we do and why our ancestors lived where they lived. There were episodic migration barriers -- ice sheets, expanding and contracting deserts, droughts, floods.... These dramatic earth changing events are all a part of the geological, anthropological, and genetic records. Of course, this isn't something readily apparent to the average non-academic citizen as it's not something you can find on a specific page of a specific volume of Funk and Wagnalls.

Instead of obsessing over the square footage of your house or crying foul that the US government didn't sign the Kyoto protocol, there are some very real and very significant things each of us can do to improve the environment. For starters, stop worrying about the future of the earth's climate and start thinking (and in some cases, worrying) about things like toxic chemicals. Write to companies that use use toxics to make the products you and I both use and ask them why they can't stop releasing cancer-causing agents into the environment. Don't think for a second these companies don't love the climate change debate. It's much easier for a large corporation to plant a few trees and have a public relations firm advertise their so-called accomplishment of offsetting their 'carbon footprint' so you, the consumer will feel better about doing business with them. It's utter bullshit. Only consumers can force companies to dramatically improve their impact on our environment. The government can only do so much. The burden is truly on the consumer. Demanding that companies take known carcinogens out of the manufacturing process for products we all depend on presents a much greater challenge but the immediate and long term impacts would be far more significant than any tree planting ceremony. In summary, do you believe it is more important to protect your children from cancer or is it more important to protect your potential great grandchildren from an already changing climate? If you have the time and energy to do both, then I bid you godspeed.

Death and Taxes

2008-04-21T18:01:00.003-05:00

I got a pleasant letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today informing me of an error I purportedly made on my 2006 tax return. The letter was overly courteous and included a suggested amount that I pay them right away --plus a hefty fine for not paying the suggested amount this time last year -- and a pamphlet about my rights under the IRS "Examination Process."

I work for the government and I am telling you there is no bureaucracy more burdensome and heavy-handed than the IRS. I am going to have to meditate more, breathe more, and possibly live a yogi life if I am going to preserve my sanity and not become one of those enraged anti-government activists. I have been told by those who know that this is step one of the audit process.

Joy.

Music

2008-04-02T22:10:00.004-05:00

I have discovered a new band, Fox Elipsus. Well, Fox Salehi is a smart businessman and he found me, but that's not important. What's important is that the music is fabulous. I know most of my readers (Tigeryogi, Doug, etc.) will listen to their music and absolutely love it. The band is on a North American tour right now and they are playing free shows at Borders Bookstores all over the country. I plan to go hear them play live next week. Check them out!

Six Word Memoir

2008-03-14T21:20:00.006-05:00

festival of colors

deadly mercury sulfate?

I was tagged by San Nakji to write a six word memoir.

Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.

4. Tag more blogs with links.

I tag: Thomas, Tom, Chris, and the other Ashley

Unwind

2008-03-08T21:30:00.004-06:00

I had a hectic week. The kind of week that requires a recovery period, so I purposefully spent most of today doing very little. After nearly ten hours of sleep, I awoke at 10:30 AM, took a shower, went out for coffee and a breakfast taco, and read Atonement. As strange as it may seem, I never found anyone willing to see the movie with me. I think it says a lot about my friends who generally prefer films with more blood and more action.

I worked in my new garden for a short time and then prepared and drank pina coladas with my neighbors during the unusually warm and sunny afternoon. I finished off my day in front of the t.v. where I enjoyed a pot of Earl Grey tea and watched a young and very handsome, Daniel Day-Lewis in the film, The Age of Innocence. I acquired this particular Earl Grey during my travels to India. It is particularly well-balanced and the bergamot is positively wonderful with the Nilgiri tea leaves. How did someone think to take the oil from the rind of an orange grown in Italy and add it to a tea from India? I have yet to find an answer. Earl Grey was purportedly given a gift of this tea, but the lore varies significantly depending on the source. So, I can assume the Earl didn't actually create this blend.

The reason my week was hectic is due in part to the many personnel issues I had to deal with at work. I enjoy spending time with other people and I love the work I do, but I truly dislike supervising people and being held accountable for their work products. I stumbled into management. It's not like I went and got an MBA or anything. Some days I view my situation as a grand compliment -- that there are people who have confidence in me and my abilities. Some days I view my situation as punishment for demonstrating a certain level of technical competence and political savvy. Managing people would be easy if they were all more like me. Alas, this is not the case. I could easily transition this post to a full-blown rant about generational differences and what a headache it can be dealing with the Generation Y employees. I never thought I would be THAT person -- the one who finds herself baffled by a younger generation (raised by helicopter moms) -- Okay, I won't rant too much. Not now at least. I'll get back to why I am truly taking a day off today.

I felt I owed myself a lazy day today (like a person on a diet owes herself a piece of cheesecake after a week of celery and steamed fish) because of the exhausting accomplishments and setbacks I faced this past week. The accomplishment of note was getting four layers of management approval to give one of my employees a huge promotion in less than 4 hours. This breakneck adventure in the bureaucracy was carried out in order to retain this employee who had been offered a higher paying job. This person is more than solid. This person is exceptionally bright and talented which is difficult to come by, but more difficult to keep with government pay. Faced with the imminent loss of this valuable resource, I dropped everything to plead my case up the chain of command. Evidently, this employee and the value this person brings to the organization had been noticed by executive management. I was surprised by this because the budget for this person's potential raise had not been discussed with me previously. I am more than pleased this person ultimately agreed to stay.

The setback of note this past week was regarding a memo I approved. The memo was drafted by another one of my employees. My boss, my boss's boss, and my boss's boss's boss all approved and signed off on this memo and submitted it to the highest officials in the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, none of us noticed the spelling error before the memo was submitted. The spelling error was in the following phrase, "...meaningful public input." I now mandate that everyone who works for me create an auto correct rule in their e-mail and in their word processor to ensure that the word always reads as it was intended: P-U-B-L-I-C.

This is why I spent my day relaxing. My laziness may spill over into Sunday. I need to recharge before another crazy week.

Hardball

2008-02-19T22:06:00.005-06:00

I was flipping channels a few minutes ago and caught the last moments of Chris Matthews tearing Texas State Senator Kirk Watson to shreds during the primary election coverage on MSNBC. Evidently, Watson was being interviewed as a Texan and a supporter of Barack Obama's nomination as the Democratic candidate for president. Matthews repeatedly asked Senator Watson to list Obama's legislative accomplishments. Watson couldn't offer a single accomplishment! Not a very good Obama spokesman, in my opinion. Overall, Matthews gave Watson a sound thrashing. When the interview was over, Keith Olbermann gently reminded Matthews that this was election coverage and not Hardball. I'll make a point to link to it when the video is posted either on MSNBC or on You Tube.

Update: The Huffington Post covered this topic -- video included

Shah Rukh Khan - Revealed!

2008-02-17T08:49:00.003-06:00

SRK is featured as the February 2008 celebrity on CNN Revealed. It includes a Q&A with Shah Rukh sporting a shaggy 'do. I hope it's for a film and not his new, 'look' !