Nona's Pensieve

Movie Review: Underworld Awakening

2012-02-10T18:45:00.000+05:30

After finding the existence of vampires and lycans, the humans are embarked on a cleansing operation headed by Dr Jacob Lane(Stephen Rea). As part of this operation, Michael Corvin is fatally wounded and Selene(Kate Beckinsale) captured. Selene spends 12 years in cryogenic suspension. She is awakened by the visions of unidentified person referred as Subject #2. Suspecting this person to be Michael, Selene escapes from the headquarters of Antigen where she was kept captive. Her search leads her to Suspect #2(India Eisely), new enemies and new allies.

This is the fourth in the series. The best part about the first and the second was Kate Beckinsale - what she wears and how she executes the stunts. With the fourth installment, the hopes are up because of Kate Beckinsale returning to franchise after being absent from the third part. Although she wears the same outfit and the stunts are performed like a seasoned martial artist, the film fails to provide any excitement because of the shoddy way of executing the action scenes. The movie is directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stern. The absence of Lens Wiseman in direction is sorely missed. The plot is too silly. The movie ends in such a way as to provide a way to kick off the next in the series while you wish the climax could have better crafted in order to avoid a next in the series and also save the audience from more pain.

Stay away from this. If you really want to see Kate, then revisit the first and the second in the series. That will save you a lot of disappointment.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Tags: Movies,Kate Beckinsale

Sharing glamorous photos

2012-02-08T15:00:00.000+05:30

Do you know the difference between artistic nude and pornography? I don't! Although several photographers have tried to explain the difference to me, I still have trouble differentiating between the two! In the eyes of a professional photographer, these are two different things. So I let it be as it is. The tricky part is not the differentiation but whom do you share these pictures with. This is what I understood when I attended a monthly gathering of photography enthusiasts in Paris.

During such gatherings, many photographers showcase their best works with the rest of the group. So here I was with a professional photographer analyzing the results of the various photo shoots by another professional photographer. The results were stored on a Samsung tablet. Being a novice, the person I was with patiently explained the finer points in detail. According to him, the finer points were the composition and post processing. Even a novice can hardly argue on these points.

That is when a woman moves nearer to us hoping to participate in the conversation. She has no idea as to what we are discussing. The passion might have been evident on our faces which made her interested. On seeing the woman, the person I was with placed the tablet on a table near to him but far away from the woman. The ensuing conversation was awkward and funny at the same time.

Woman: *raises eyebrows* So, are you not going to share the photographs?

Person I was with: *sheepish grin while searching for an answer*

Me: *looking elsewhere trying hard to suppress the smile*

Person I was with: *weak voice* They are not mine.

Woman: *not buying the answer and looking intently for more explanation*

Acquaintance: *gathers courage* Actually, these are glamorous photos. These have to be shared by the owner.

Me: *almost chokes on hearing the word glamorous*

Tags: Musings,Paris,Photographer,Artistic Nude,Pornography

Free Hugs campaign

2012-02-07T14:45:00.000+05:30

I was at Manga and Sci-Fi show in Paris last week. One thing about Paris... There is always something or the other happening over here every weekend. The huge convention Porte de Versailles with 7 pavilions is never empty.

I am not a big Manga fan. I don't like the way it is drawn. In a way, I love the Ram Waeerkar kind of sketches. I had a no clue what to expect in the show. The show turned out to be interesting because a lot of people came dressed up as Manga characters. Most of them were teenagers.

What caught my attention was the "Free Hugs" campaign. There were a lot of teenagers holding up placards with "free hugs" written on it. There were hugs and laughter being shared everywhere. The concept is so reminiscent of Munna Bhai's Jaadu ki Jhappi. So I researched on this using Google. The campaign has a site and also a wiki page.

What was more interesting was the remark about controversies surrounding this campaign. Who could imagine Munnabhai being dragged into controversies for such a noble deed? But yes, there are controversies. I am not sure what is the nature of these controversies. But the website clearly states to check with local law authorities before embarking on this mission.

Tags: Travel,Paris,Manga,Free Hugs

When do you send a distress signal to your boss?

2012-02-06T18:45:00.000+05:30

Recently, a friend forwarded an email to me. As soon as I read the content, there was a sinking feeling inside me. The friend was experiencing issues at work and the email highlighted those issues to the major stakeholders. But on reading the email, I felt it was the beginning of the end.

My friend is what many says a middle-level manager. In the organizational hierarchy, he reports to important people above him and he tracks a whole lot of important people under him. Tracking is a mild word as he also has to ensure the work is completed with acceptable delays. If you have heard the famous saying involving a horse, water and drinking, then you already know how difficult it is to make independent-minded intelligent people to stick to deadlines especially the ones in which they were not involved in the decision-making.

Coming back to the email, the targeted audience of email had all three levels - top, middle and bottom. The content was unsettling. The middle level, in this case my friend, was raising concerns to the top level about no-shows and lack of seriousness from the bottom level. I have seen such kind of emails in the past. For me, it is the beginning of the end because everything else has failed. That is why someone complaints about his team to his superiors. In a way, it is as good as saying I cannot manage this team! I like hierarchy. My liking has nothing to do with either how fancy it looks on the chart or how boosting it is for the ego. Hierarchy helps in faster resolution of issues and better decision-making. While all levels should not be far away from ground realities, every level should not be involved in day-to-day activities and related heartburn. There are powers associated with each level. If you now take a look using my perspective, managing the team is my friend's responsibility.

Is he right in sending the distress signal? In my viewpoint, no. How can this be corrected? There are many options. One of the many options is inducting new members into the team. Probably, everyone is bored with their respective assignments. It might be the right time to inject fresh blood for new outlook. Whatever you choose, sending a distress signal like this makes you lose the trust of your next level. That, according to me, is the beginning of the end of a relationship.

Tags: Musings,Email,Distress

Paris in snow

2012-02-05T19:45:00.000+05:30

The early bird catches the worm. This is true when you want to take photographs especially the ones with snow. If you wait for long, you end up photographing the muddy slush. Well, I didn't know all this when I got up today morning. On seeing the street covered in fresh snow, I suited up and was out of the door in record time.

The streets were empty. In my part of the city, the streets are always empty. What is surprising was even the avenue in front of Grand Palais was empty. There were people jogging despite the snow, tourists with their suitcases taking one last picture before leaving town and even others walking their dogs.

All through the month of December, the travel websites were writing about Paris in winter and putting up pictures of Paris covered in snow. Living here, I know there was no snow during Christmas and it was a hoax. But today, it is different. There was snow everywhere if you were an early bird. Now, there is only slush.

In case you missed, I have captured it in pictures. I am glad it snowed on Sunday. If it was during a working day, I would not have been able to capture it the same way as I could today.

Tags: Travel,Photos,Paris,Snow

Photos: A kiss

2012-02-05T11:00:00.000+05:30

While in candid mode, the most difficult picture to shoot is that of lovers kissing. Even though this is the most sought after, this is also the most difficult. First of all, you can't predict a kiss and then you have so many settings in the camera to get the shot right. So you can imagine my surprise when somebody happily posed for me while kissing his girlfriend.

I was at the Manga and Sci Fi show in Paris. The man was wearing a Spiderman mask. After posing for normal pictures, he pulled his girlfriend to his side, raised the mask and kissed her. He wanted me to capture it. It was mostly like the movie except he was not hanging down and clean shaven like Tobey Maguire.

Tags: Photos

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2012-02-04T15:30:00.000+05:30

At the end of the previous movie, Professor James Moriarty(Jared Harris) received the remote triggering device from Miss Adler(Rachel McAdams). So the sequel opens up with a bomb blast in Europe. According to Dr Watson(Jude Law), when the world attributes the reasons for the mysterious bomb blast throughout Europe to anarchists, Sherlock Holmes(Robert Downey, Jr) has a different theory. So begins the intricate game between two brilliant minds to outdo another. Miss Adler is killed in the first few minutes of the movie and there are other characters like Mycroft Holmes(Stephen Fry), Madame Simza(Noomi Rapace) and Mary Morstan-Watson to fill the void.

In the sequel, Guy Ritchie expects the viewer to be familiar with the ways of Sherlock Holmes. So there is no voice-over while Sherlock Holmes evaluates his options when cornered by the villains. Hence the action is very fast, confusing the first-time viewer of this series. There are two enjoyable things about the sequel - the game of shadows between Holmes & Moriarty and the action scenes. The entire plot can be likened to a chess game between Holmes and Moriarty where both of them try to weaken the other by hitting where it hurts the most. Holmes tries to thwart the diabolical plan of Moriarty while Moriarty tries to weaken Holmes, physically and emotionally. The chess board also prominently comes into the frame at two places - when they meet for the first time and during the climax.

Guy Ritchie is brilliant while executing the action sequences because of the way he chooses to speed up certain segments and slow down others. On top of this, the judicious use of background score helps immensely. The two action sequences that stand out are when Holmes & party escapes from Moriarty's factory to catch a speeding train and the climatic fight between Holmes & Moriarty. When Holmes, Watson & Simza runs through the forest to catch the train dodging bullets and cannon balls, the motion slows down to highlight the speed of the bullets and destruction caused by the cannon balls. In the rush, Watson leaps into the air, apparently to avoid an obstacle, and a bullet grazes his coat. The emphasis is on the coat flapping all over the place and the bullet grazing. But how does a man with a limp execute a perfect leap? We don't ask that question because the visuals are too powerful. When Moriarty's man picks up the rifle to shoot, the music stops and all you can hear is him blowing air out of his mouth before he takes a final shot at the escaping party. The climactic fight happens in the mind of Holmes and Moriarty. So there is a lot of back and forth between the reality and the imagined fight. When Moriarty punches the wounded shoulder of Holmes, you are actually sitting up in excitement because of the way it is shot. While the action scenes are good, the flip side of the movie is the slow pace between the action scenes. Eventually, the movie ends up as a tedious wait for the next action scene.

Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law has already established themselves in their respective roles with the first installment in the series. They continue to do their act. They bond well on the screen. Robert Downey, Jr uses slapstick during action scenes reminding you of Jackie Chan. Jared Harris as the cool calculating Moriarty does his part well. Stephen Fry and Noomi Rapace has nothing much to contribute towards the movie.

Wait for the DVD. The action scenes are good. But that alone doesn't make it worthwhile to make a trip to the movies.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Tags: Movies,Robert Downey, Jr,Jude Law,Noomi Rapace,Jared Harris,Guy Ritchie,Action

Books: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

2012-02-03T07:30:00.000+05:30

Raoul Duke and his attorney Doctor Gonzo drives to Las Vegas for motorcycle race and then a drug conference. They start from California on a convertible loaded with drugs. In the next few days, they are high on drugs, committing felonies and imagining things. All these told in the first person narrative of Raoul Duke forms basis of this novel written by Hunter S Thompson.

During the first few pages of the book, you are interested in the narrative. The protagonists does a lot of absurdities under the influence of drugs. This evokes laughter. The vivid description of their hallucinations are also funny. But as you progress, it is excess after excess. The protagonists are never sober. They try hard, and also succeeds, to get high again when the sensation begins to subsides. After a while, the book turns repulsive.

I have not figured out the purpose of the book. If the purpose of the book is to highlight the indulgence of the era, then it has succeeded. If there is any other deeper meaning, then it is lost on me. If you have read this book and was able to figure the message, do drop by and comment.

Tags: Books,Hunter S Thompson

Photos: Flower formation

2012-02-02T21:45:00.000+05:30

At the end of the performance, the girls opened their fans and stood in a formation that resembled a flower in full bloom.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: Flags, Glasses and Makeup

2012-02-02T17:30:00.000+05:30

At first, it was the glasses caught my attention. I felt it was big for her eyes. Then I noticed what she had done to her eyelids.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: I want to tell you a secret

2012-02-02T11:00:00.000+05:30

I don't remember what they were looking at. But their pose seemed too good to let go at that time.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: A girl with a flag

2012-02-01T17:00:00.000+05:30

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Symphony in the Metro

2012-02-01T14:45:00.000+05:30

Just when I thought the worst part of the winter is over, there is an alert for snow during the winter. Apparently, the winter has only started. I wish the weather was more predictable. During last winter, it snowed mostly during December (of 2010) in Paris. That made me think I can survive winter if I survive December. It is February today. The temperature have now dipped below zero after remaining above it for all of December and almost all of January.

The most interesting part of dipping temperature and changing weather is traveling by the public transport i.e the omnipresent Metro. During normal days, you find zombies with distinct and strong smell of deodorants on the way to work. With winter, the scene changes slightly. The zombies and their smells are still there. The difference is brought by the coughs. Somewhere in the compartment, someone starts coughing. It is not a loud sickening cough but a low-toned cautious cough, loud to bring comfort while not too loud to make others uncomfortable. Just when that someone finds his comfort and stops coughing, another person sitting far away does his/her coughing act. When this stops, somebody else picks up this act. If you listen carefully, it is like a symphony conducted by an invisible maestro.

Using the public transport makes you susceptible to all kinds of illness associated with the change of weather. I was advised to wash my hands after traveling in the Metro. Until now, I have not followed this golden advice. As a result, I fell sick last week. What did I do? I decided to work instead of staying at home. The grand scheme was to spread the illness to everyone at work. But damn it! These guys seem to be disease resistant!

Foot note:

If you are my boss, please keep the following keywords in mind. "fell sick", "work", "instead", "staying at home".

If you are my colleague, send the link to our boss and tell him to read the footnote no matter what...

Tags: Musings,Paris,Cough,Winter

Photos: A good listener

2012-02-01T11:00:00.000+05:30

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: An angel with braces

2012-01-31T19:45:00.000+05:30

The passersby would jump in front of these girls to take a picture often using these colorfully attired girls as the backdrop. When the girl in the photograph noticed a woman trying to pose in front of other girls, she moved in closer to the woman to be in the frame in order to make it a better picture. All of the photographers took our cameras out to capture this impromptu gesture. Many of us weren't quick enough to. When she saw our encouraging gestures and frenzy to capture the moment, there was embarrassment on her face which quickly turned into a shy smile. Luckily, I was able to capture the smile.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: A girl carrying flowers

2012-01-31T16:30:00.001+05:30

I love it when the person smile instead of turning their face away after realizing their picture being taken. This was one of the instances. If I am asked to do this once more, then I would have the flowers cover a part of her face.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: Yellow Dragon

2012-01-31T08:15:00.000+05:30

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: Enjoying the fireworks

2012-01-31T02:30:00.000+05:30

The boy was sitting on the shoulders of his dad. He was watching the fireworks but had his ears closed using his fingers.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: Peeping out of the costume

2012-01-30T22:00:00.000+05:30

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Photos: Fan play

2012-01-30T14:30:00.000+05:30

The woman decided to warm up for the Chinese new year parade. I decided to capture it.

This was taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Paris.

Tags: Photos

Chinese New Year Parade in Paris, 2012

2012-01-30T00:15:00.000+05:30

Though Chinese New Year was on January 23rd 2012, the parade in Paris was scheduled on January 29th 2012. The starting point of the parade was 44 Avenue d'Ivry and the time was 1330 hrs. But the parade started a bit late at 1400 hrs. It was a cold day. I wish it was warmer. If it were, there was no need to wear gloves which in turn results in easier control on the camera.

Everyone who had a camera had descended on this street. It was difficult to get a good shot of anything. When you get ready to shoot something, somebody steps directly in front of your camera and ruins the shot. But then there are painted human dolls who are shy to pose in front of the camera. They turn their face away. Then there are angels who love to pose in front of the camera. The latter category makes it worthwhile to take pictures.

You can find the glimpses of the parade by playing the embedded video.

For more pictures, click the following links
Fan play
Peeping out of the costume
Enjoying the fireworks
Yellow Dragon
A Girl carrying flowers
An Angel with braces
A Good Listener
A Girl with a flag
I want to tell you a secret
Flags, Glasses and Makeup

Tags: Travel,Videos,Chinese New Year,Parade,Paris

Books: Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide

2012-01-28T15:15:00.000+05:30

A photographer always roams around with his/her camera with an intention to capture anything or everything around him/her. In order to be comfortable with the camera, the photographer should be aware of the governing principles behind a picture. Using this book, Bryan Peterson attempts to accomplish three things - the basic principles behind a good photograph, how to expand your thinking with respect to photographs, various equipment that comes handy in the field.

The book is ideally suited for amateurs and intermediates. As most of the concepts are explained in detail, this helps you in experimenting with your photos. Another good thing about the book is the set of photographs, found in every chapter, along with f point, shutter speed etc which helps you comprehend the importance of using different settings to extract the best out of your camera. If nothing works, you could start imitating blindly for a start.

When it comes to subjects like light metering etc, the book becomes a bit too complex to understand if you have not used this before. This is why and where you might have to come back after a few months to revisit the book.

Tags: Books,Bryan Peterson,Photography

Le Camion Qui Fume - the truck with delicious burgers

2012-01-27T20:00:00.000+05:30

A food truck in Paris with a website, a facebook page and a twitter account. If that doesn't sound impressive, then you should go check it out yourself. This food truck moves around a lot and they are never at the same place twice in a week. So if you decide to check them out, the first thing to find out is where they are at a certain day of the week. Luckily, they announce their route on their website. On Wednesday, there were nearby my work place. By nearby, I mean two train rides away. But that is all closest they will ever to me in any point in the week. In this case, the mountain has to go to Ali. There is no other way. I took a friend along with me in this quest.

Once we reached the location, it was easy to spot the truck. There was a huge crowd gathered on one side of the truck. The crowd consisted of people from the nearby offices. There may have been people like us in that crowd who was ready to hop-on-hop-off many trains to get here. Our order number was 43. At that time, they were serving order 28. The journey from 28 to 43 took over an hour. Torture, it was. How is it possible for any human being to act normal with the smell of burger and fries in the air? It is impossible. Like all food trucks, they have limited items on their menu. They make everything fresh after the order. They shut shop when they run out of stock. The burgers are juicy. The fries are crisp. These fries are better than the McDonald's fries but way low on the scale when compared to the In-N-Out fries.

There is one regret from the trip. I forgot to check-in using FourSquare. Being a food truck, I assumed this wouldn't be a FourSquare location. But I was wrong. I have pictures to share but not the pictures of the burger and the fries. The reason is simple. When we got our burgers, we were so hungry that we could think of eating and not taking pictures. The experience can be summed up as what my friend said after he finished his lunch. "I just had a gastronomic orgasm!".

If you are going to try this one out, kindly avoid the rush hours.

Website: http://www.lecamionquifume.com/
Twitter: @LeCamionQuiFume

Tags: Restaurants,Burger,Fries

Photos: Dancing with fire

2012-01-26T19:30:00.000+05:30

Tags: Photos

The Pleasure Coach

2012-01-26T07:30:00.000+05:30

"What do you do?". A good conversation filler when you have nothing else to talk about. This comes in handy when I have nothing else to ask. It helps to kill the silence. What do I get in return? She tells me, "I'm a pleasure coach". Are you speechless? Are you at a loss of words? Are you wondering what nature of the job is? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, then you can imagine the various expressions on my face when I heard this. Believe me, I'm a bad actor. Many would vouch for this fact. But that is another topic of discussion and I'm going too fast.

Here is one of the beautiful evenings when Paris is at it's best behavior. I am meeting with a group of photography enthusiasts for an evening to shoot pictures in monochrome. There are several themes like cafe tables, interiors, squares, crowd etc. So, we split into groups of six. There is this beautiful woman in my group who reminds me of a friend. She reminds of my friend because she likes to bend the rules. If you are a stickler for rules, then you can also says breaking the rules. This woman doesn't care about traffic signals and cross the road when signs says do not. She acts like a Parisian. As she is from NYC, I am not surprised. Towards the end of our mission to photograph the various themes, I ask her this question and you know what followed.

If you have not yet wiped those various emotions from your mind and waiting for me to give you an explanation about the nature of job, here is it. The pleasure coach is nothing but a relationship expert. How does a pleasure coach achieve this? Simple. By making sure the passion is rekindled or passion is enhanced. She had an anecdote to share illustrating this; an anecdote which omits all the finer details like names, place etc. A married couple approaches her for igniting passion in their failing relationship . She meets with them separately first. Then, she meets them for a joint session. During the joint session, she instructs them on several things including how to touch each other. When the guy touches the girl, she cries with joy saying "It's been so long since I felt like this".

I like the anecdote which proves communication is everything. When you can't communicate, you need external help. You can find more details by following this link.

Tags: Musings,Pleasure,Coach