Friday, April 29, 2005

Movie howlers

Reading the list of mistakes in Bollywood movies in Lavannya's recent post, I was reminded of a junk email that I got from one of those "joke sites", which listed Hollywood movie bloopers. That junk mail went the way of all unsolicited crap, but now I wish I hadnt deleted it - it was really funny.

The good news is that I found a website that has bloopers listed from hundreds of movies - and not just mistakes, but all kinds of other trivial details that will delight and occupy any jobless Net browser. Well, I never said it was an intellectual site! Big Smile

Anyway, you can find it here

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Cottages in embroidery


Quotation from William Shakespeare (dunno from which play)... and part of my thumb, all preserved for photographic posterity! This and the next one are both tiny embroideries - about 5" by 5", max. I had plenty of time, plenty of daylight and plenty of inspiration to finish them :)


Cottage with flowers... seems like rather a strong breeze blowing in from the west, they're all bending in one direction! Bad planning, that.


Dunno what these flowers are, but they pretty!


Mini-daffodil after a rain shower

Monday, April 18, 2005

Window box


This embroidery is about 8 inches square. It's supposed to be a section of brick wall with a window that has old-fashioned green shutters and a window box overflowing with flowers.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Bits and bobs...

I'm reading "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl right now - a very interesting book, very literary but still pretty riveting. What I like best about reading (apart from the obvious like a good plot, good characterisation, snappy dialogue, yada yadayada) is the occasional phrase or colloquialism that grabs my attention... perhaps something that makes me laugh when I think about it (Terry Pratchett is excellent in that respect), perhaps a description of a scene or place that I can literally visualise even as I read (Stephen King, believe it or not, does some fantastic descriptive writing that is sheer poetry - better than poetry, even), etc.

The Dante Club provided me with one such phrase - "the violet hour". The moment I read that, it was like deja vu - it describes exactly what I've always felt about the twilight hour but never realised in words. Twilight was (is) always my favourite time in all the years I was in Chennai. The colour of the sky during that short, perfect but intangible phase when the sun is nearly set but night hasnt quite fallen - an indescribable blue/violet that just cant be duplicated... that, THAT is the "violet hour". I've known this all my life but discovered the words for it only now. It might be insignificant to everybody but me, but oh, the pleasure gained from this sudden, unexpected epiphany... it rounds off something in my personal universe and makes me feel a little more content. It makes me feel orange, to put the feeling into colour. I'm a happy woman today :)

***

Anybody who hasnt seen "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" should try and see the movie at least once. I saw it a long long time back - probably on TV at some point, although I dont remember when exactly. Or even where. It's an old movie (early 1990s, I should think), starring Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates and Mary Stuart Masterson. I saw it again yesterday, and it was as watchable as I remembered it. It's such a lovely feel-good movie... and yet it isnt mushy romance. There is a core of reality that makes its presence felt through each scene.

Set in Alabama, the movie incorporates the serious social problems of 1930s America (racism, for starters) ... but it is also about friendship, loyalty, women's emancipation and - surprisingly - a murder that is solved only at the end of the movie.

I found the movie absolutely compelling... it moves you to tears, it makes you laugh, it shocks you, it makes you rage against racism in the Deep South, it touches you - it completely involves you in the plot. Could anybody ask for more? Actually, yes, fans of mindless action could ask for more. But for the discerning movie-buff,
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
is a gotta-see.

***

While I'm on the topic of movies, "Hitch" is another one that's worth watching. Especially for fans of Will Smith, which I indubitably am. I'll say that again - indubitably. That's a satisfying word allright. Indubitably. Anyway, the movie is very funny and yet Will Smith manages to carry off a moment of deep emotional hurt without overdoing it - I guarantee it will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine. Eva Mendes is his lady-love - she's very very girl-next-door. Good time-pass, this movie. (No, I'm not going to swell the already hefty ranks of amateur movie reviewers. I stop here.)

Thursday, April 07, 2005

How to protect your banana

Well, well, well... the world is full of weird things and weirder inventions. Amazing how much time is spent on developing what seems like a totally unnecessary addition to the already existing consumer crap. But I guess we dont know what we cant live without until some enterprising fast-talker convinces us we cant live without ______ (fill in your choice of useless-but-gotta-have invention).

My favourite unnecessary invention is the one that protects your banana. Everybody knows that bananas are easily bruised and quite vulnerable to an extra hard squeeze, so protection is vital. The good news is, banana protectors are available in a range of colours. There's even a glow-in-the-dark green banana guard, so ANYBODY can find their banana, even if it's pitch dark! (Those of you who have been sniggering, please note that I'm only talking about the fruit. Some people need their imagination to work on a higher level than the gutter - heheh.).

Check this out...
Banana Guard

I'd be interested to see if anybody can come up with a more unnecessary invention! And it neednt even be your own!