tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:02:53 +0000The ramblings of a full time, philosopher, part time traveller, former banker, and sometime cynic. Living in London, trying to be good, but so restless...http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/mailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)Blogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1740445051202140273Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:57:00 +00002009-11-16T23:02:53.048ZartLifeTravelLondonIt’s been some time since my last post; not as long as previous absences from this blog, but still, a gap significant enough for some momentous developments to have occurred in the interim. First things first – I’m now back at work. As of the beginning of this month, I re-entered the workforce, after nearly eight months away from professional life. The time I took off in the middle has been one http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/11/changes-slow-and-gradual.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1665844081364461045Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:16:00 +00002009-10-24T15:28:15.872+01:00UKphilosophyracismPoliticsThe UK media and blogosphere is currently convulsing over the BBC’s decision to let the odious head of the racist and xenophobic British National Party onto its leading political TV show, Question Time. I am going to spare myself the need to hold forth on whether the decision by the Beeb was appropriate, and will also refrain from commenting on the performance (for let’s not pretend that all the http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/10/shoddy-scholarship-is-no-excuse-for.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-6048066511150504060Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:10:00 +00002009-10-12T13:22:19.190+01:00dancingBollywoodA friend of a friend is currently in Turkey, there to learn dance, and not surprisingly is being harassed to death about teaching her classmates how to shimmy and do the Bolly . She's struggling a bit with ideas, and since youtube isn't readily accessible in Turkey, can't even do an online crash course. So come on folks - spread the love, spread the dance, and send her your suggestions!Check out http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/10/bollywood-troop-rally.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4742762911620155504Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:35:00 +00002009-09-22T23:48:21.407+01:00LifeDeathLive your life. Live every hour, minute, second of it. Live it to the fullest, soak in every little experience that you can squeeze into this short, temporary, fading life of yours.Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying light.*It’s such a fucking cliché. We hear these empty phrases, hollow platitudes all around us. Pop http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/09/damn-those-fcking-cliches.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-2894671203558588204Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:56:00 +00002009-09-20T02:12:31.760+01:00vampiresfilmslive bloggingKicking off: Okay then. First time for a live-blog on The Buddha Smiled. I keep meaning to try this, and should have really done this before, but hey, better late than never. Starting out with Swedish vampire horror movie, “Låt den rätte komma in” (or "Let the Right One In", which was the title under which it was released in English markets) may sound unorthodox, especially since I tend to focus http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/09/let-right-one-in-live-blog.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4099622066679639978Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:03:00 +00002009-09-15T01:10:19.591+01:00IndiaLifeTravelLondonBollywoodSo if you’re a regular reader of this blog (or even someone who’s stumbled across this site via my Twitter or my blog, or are just a friend who’s here out of curiosity) you will be very aware of the fact that I am what could be described as a die-hard Bollywood fanatic. Perhaps one of the best things about living in Central London is that it is very easy to access the latest cinematic offerings http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-i-hate-bollywood.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-2299554019387826910Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:04:00 +00002009-09-14T23:06:59.800+01:00New YorkdancingBollywoodDoesn't it suck that I missed this when I was in New York in August? I would have loved to have been there at Times Square when the Bollywood flash mob hit town:Though I have to say I'm not quite with the very weird blue and silver shirts these dudes are wearing. I have my own personal tastes in Bolly bling, thank you very much!Maybe I should organise secret Bollywood flash mobs in London... any http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-i-love-bollywood.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-363340252907876556Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:05:00 +00002009-10-16T15:23:18.178+01:00New YorkrelationshipsTravelloveLondon(The following posts are excerpted from my trusty Moleskine travel diary that I carried around in my backpack and wrote in occasionally while backpacking. The excerpts below were all written when I was in New York or Philadelphia in August 2009 for a week.)Time flies when you're having fun.Life in the crazy Big Apple is hectic, busy, stressful, not so cheap. Fancy bars, stylish restaurants; http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/09/travelling-thru-big-apple.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7572013328353219471Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:54:00 +00002009-07-27T05:16:14.391+01:00JavavolcanoesindonesiaBromoBaliTravelYet another travel post. It's a manic Monday morning here in Indonesia, and things are hectic in Bali; can you believe that its only noon, and I've already had a swim in the pool, a laze by the beach, spent two hours reading in the shade, and have had to drink two mojitos? The afternoon's not looking any better; I have a massage at 2 pm, and will probably have to schedule another session with http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-hard-life.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-149326659545969848Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:41:00 +00002009-07-21T06:22:04.381+01:00vampiresMoviesindonesiaTravelBollywoodSo here I am in a little (well, okay, its huge) internet cafe in little (okay, its not massive, but it ain't no village either) Yogyakarta. For the uninitiated or un-Indonesian among you, that's pronounced Joge-Ja-Karta. I think that the pronunciation was a little joke that the Javanese played on the Dutch colonisers. Everyone knows that the Dutch pronounce the "J" as a "Y", so why not mess with http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/07/volcanoes-vampires-voldemort-vatever.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-6265496510416960979Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:46:00 +00002009-07-16T13:21:24.416+01:00CambodiaLifeTravelSo I never did get around to replacing the tagline on this blog to say, formerly full-time banker, now full-time traveller, etc. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't back home in London for long enough to spend the time fiddling with Photoshop to get it sorted (yes, I'm tech-savvy, and yes, I know how to use Photoshop. I even used to tell my office IT guys what to do when my PC froze and I didn't http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/07/return-of-prodigal-still-travelling.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4919322060336853052Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +00002009-06-15T15:51:22.548+01:00Okay, I know I've been absolutely appalling at keeping this blog updated and fresh with witty, intelligent posts about life, the universe and everything. Instead of therefore putting forward arguments in my defence, I will humbly lower my head, say mea culpa, and apologise profusely.I'm sorry. Mea culpa.With that now out of the way, I can get to the more interesting news, and that is that I have http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/06/change-of-status.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-6896585310231147903Sun, 15 Feb 2009 11:39:00 +00002009-02-15T11:42:36.092ZSo this is TOTALLY random and completely pointless, but if you're bored and need to either pass the time, cheer yourself up, or are generally just in need of something silly to do, take a look at the The Hero Factory where you can "create" your own superhero character. I, for instance, am the Amazing Supersonic Angel.I would make an awesome X-Man...http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/02/amazing-supersonic-angel.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-188195978839312814Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:14:00 +00002009-02-07T14:44:34.431ZLifemeMoviesBookspopular cultureWorldGiven that so many different friends are doing these, and have tagged me in their lists, I have buckled and am posting my version. So for all those people who wanted to know me better, or didn't, here goes.1. I am a sucker for forwards, tags, and other random facebook-related pseudo chain-mail epidemics, as this particular post amply demonstrates. (A side note - don't you love the word "ample"? http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-all-about-meits-all-about-me-baby.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7044184328902110129Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:50:00 +00002008-11-26T19:57:03.847ZbankingWorldYes, its been another couple of months since my last post. Hopefully, for those of you who haven't spent that time hiding in a cave somewhere in the depths of the Atacama desert and were hooked into any business news service, you'll possibly be able to connect my inability to post long, contemplative or generally witty and well-worded missives with the complete meltdown in the financial markets http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-so-we-wait.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5760187195338732009Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:03:00 +00002008-09-04T12:07:42.140+01:00Like many parties in the world, the Jasper Fforde series of novels that centre around Thursday Next is yet another one that I am late for. Showing up late often means that you’ve missed some of the festivities and have to play catch-up to get yourself to the same state of mellow bliss that your fellow revellers have less difficulty in reaching, given that they usually have a head start in workinghttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-among-sequels.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4292923169245399238Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:05:00 +00002008-07-15T11:15:30.512+01:00BooksWhat I'm Reading...Memory and the art of remembering is something that writers and philosophers choose to dwell on at great length - perhaps because in so many cases the creative process itself is a means of commemorating a past, and the act of creating a story is often the path to remembering something. Over the past two hundred years, authors ranging such as Kafka, Kundera, Borges and Murakami have spent a great http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/07/art-of-forgetting.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5626973268869559311Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:29:00 +00002008-07-10T13:45:22.404+01:00FranceMoviesWhat I'm Listening ToOver the weekend I had a classic "crazy" moment and ended up renting about a hundred different movies (okay, not a hundred, but more like seven). I then proceeded to spend hours watching them, even after squeezing in a night of crazy clubbing on Saturday, and reached Sunday evening in a state of bliss. Don't you love insane weekends like that?One of the movies I rented (alongside more staple http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/07/les-chansons-damour.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-3103632270284694641Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:42:00 +00002008-06-11T23:19:58.680+01:00IslamreligionPoliticsWorldLondonSerendipity is a word that we apply to happy, unexpected but ultimately personally satisfying discoveries; things like finding that perfect little café that has the best cheesecake in the whole city. Sadly, no similar word exists (and if it does, I certainly am not aware of it) for discoveries that are unexpected but can be quite distressing. Sometimes, personal epiphanies or revelations about http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/06/veiled-insult.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4112317658990050353Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:42:00 +00002008-04-22T22:52:57.438+01:00From my pen...LifeWhat I'm Listening ToLondonIt is dark outside, and I am lost in my own private purgatory. The rain shatters against the thin glass of the window; the tiny droplets slapping against the clear panes before trickling down in tiny rivulets while the lightning paints silver zigzags against the dull grey of the overcast sky. I am lost in my own musings, wondering about life in general. The brightness of the giant screen in http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/blood-on-my-lips-holy-red-wine.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-6112883120303574186Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:17:00 +00002008-04-18T16:18:27.368+01:00"The meek may inherit the earth, but only the shrewd will collect the rent...."http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/quote-of-year.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-188475801310425158Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:18:00 +00002008-04-16T19:25:13.142+01:00TibetOlympic torchIndiaNew IndiaChinaPoliticsAnd so the day approaches.Tomorrow, on the 17th of April, 2008, the latest leg of the Torture Relay will take place in New Delhi, capital city of the world's largest democracy.Tomorrow, on the 17th of April, 2008, over 13,000 security personnel will line the broad expanses of Rajpath down to India Gate, creating a corridor for 70 Indian citizens to carry the torch of shame, each of whom will havehttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/ab-dilli-door-nahin.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-8343708458813194582Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:15:00 +00002008-04-07T20:56:32.820+01:00TibetOlympic torchChinaPoliticsWorldIt's been almost fifty years since the 1959 invasion of Tibet by China, an act of aggression which merely formalised the sustained political, military and social pressure that an increasingly strident Communist government had been applying for several years to the isolated country. The political and religious elite fled soon thereafter, crossing into India where they were granted political asylumhttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-tibet-matters.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4431248955108715355Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:36:00 +00002008-04-06T18:05:38.873+01:00TibetChinapopular cultureWorldLondonAlmost a month after protests to commemorate the 1959 invasion of Tibet by China turned violent in Lhasa, we are seeing no resolution to either the tension within the territory, nor to the growing complexity of international politics surrounding China, Tibet and the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Activists and supporters of many causes, including Darfur, Falun Gong, the environment and general human http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/torture-relay.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1890774721500557104Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:38:00 +00002008-04-03T14:43:44.800+01:00WorldBollywoodSo I was browsing the net trying to find the Tibetan name for India, which, if memory serves me well, means "the Land of Dance". However, old age and the stress of the current markets is obviously catching up with me, and as a result, I'm reduced to random googling to get the answers to many of my questions about Life, the Universe and Everything.Having said that, the joy of random googling is http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2008/04/bollywood-samba.htmlmailsiddharthsingh@gmail.com (The Buddha Smiled)2