Nachooooooooooooooooo

...ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

...says Jack Black...a.k.a The Great Lucha Libre...NACHO.

After an extremely disppointing Superman Returns (how the fuck could they fuck this one up?), Hollywood vindicated itself to me through Nacho Libre. It was an endearing tale of an extremely huggable Nacho, the monastery cook turning into Nacho Libre, the wrestler. Jack Black was spectacular...the sincerity with which he carries out his antics adds tons of charm to the movie.

A good and much needed laugh.

Love and peace,
~Amrita

writer's block

...or something like it. There's a lot of things that I want to write about....but just cant bring myself to. It's one of those phases in life when I want to do a lot but am just feeling too "blaaaah" to do any of it. hehe.

So I might as well talk about some things that dont really matter to the rest of the world to an earth shattering extent.

Movies that I am DYING to see:

- Nachoooo Libre
- Krrish
- The Devil Wears Prada
- Wordplay
- Superman Returns
- The Pirates of the Caribbean -2
- Lady in the Water

Awesome experience of this week:

Broadway Under The Stars. When Broadway literally moved to Central Park's Great Lawn. What a show!! Thousands of people gathered together under the cloudy and threatening New York skies. In front of us was the stage. Backdrop: A few thousand new yorkers, a big clump of trees and the impressive NYC skyline. As the sunset and the performances started...we sat back....let the cool wind wash over us and watched the city lights come on. It was a surreal feeling. Niceness! :-)

And in other news...

Looking forward to moving into my own apartment desperately. Hmm...not much else to say right now....it's 4 am in the morning and I have overdosed on sleep...hence cant sleep tonight. Maybe i'll stay awake till Bono's interview on ABC this morning. Or was it NbC? eh...

Keep reading my people... I promise to get the creative juices flowing again soon.

Ciao ciao ciao
-Amrita

what am I doing

....this weekend?

Saturday:
Wake Up
Watch Germany vs Sweden (The Swedish goalie was awesome)
Watch Argentina vs Mexico (Oh Mexico!)
Sleep

Sunday:
Wake Up
Watch England vs Ecuador
Watch Portugal vs Ned
Sing
Eat
Sleep

Good plan.

World Refugee Day

Take a look: Today's Pictures at Slate.

(Pic copyright Magnum Photos)

World Cup Ads

My 2 favorite World Cup ads at this point of time are embedded below. And let me just add here that I love the fact that for a LOT of video spots, ESPN has been using U2 tunes. So far I've heard COBL, Elevation, Vertigo, It's a beautiful Day. It's AWESOME. Catches the spirit completely.

Here's the Jose + 10 ad by Adidas. Love it.



And here's an amazing ad from FIFA women's world cup in 2003.

My blog is back!

Yippee! My blog is back. Something had gotten messed up with Blogger and my blog had become unaccessible. But thank goodness its back *fingers crossed*

A very interesting article I came across today: India's influence soars.

-Amrita

Stuck

Excerpt from Coldplay's "Square One"

"oh, you just want
somebody listening to what you say
it doesn't matter who you are
it doesn't matter who you are

is there anybody out there who
is lost and hurt and lonely too
they're bleeding all your colours into one
and have you come undone
as if you've been run through
some catapult had fired you
you wonder if your chance will ever come
or if you're stuck in square one "

It's deja vu all over again with respect to matters of the heart. So am I stuck in square one? Or will things get better? I'm a good person....I really am. So I believe they will.

~Amrita

Please to be rafting

So this weekend was adventure packed! Went to Lake George in upstate New York with 16 others with the intentions of white water rafting in the mighty Hudson River Gorge. On Saturday (10th), we drove into Bolton Landing where we had reserved very cute cabins at the Twin Bay Village. I had seen the weather report before leaving New York City and knew that it was going to rain big time and the clouds were rolling in steadily when we reached.

The Lake itself was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of Lake Tahoe a lot. The Village of Lake George was thumping with activity as it was a huge biker rally weekend. So we saw bikes of every brand, make and size imaginable. Anyway, so we checked into our cabins. One of them had a neat boardwalk closeby and the view of the Lake was breathtaking from there.

The Tongue Mountain Hike

While planning the trip, I had made one thing clear....we had to go on a hike!!! We just had to. Even it was only 1 mile. So despite the rain, we set off on a hike at the nearby Tongue Mountain. We were ready to get completely wet.....but the canopy of trees kept us dry. It was a bautiful experience to hear rain falling steadily around us, but not getting wet at all. The hike itself was very enjoyable but scary at times. Courtesy spooky stories delivered by K, Sam and Seems.... pbbftt... :P

Ooops....Blackout!

We came back from our hike to Bolton Landing where another surprise was in store. Complete blackout. No Power anywhere. So we whiled away time and waited for it to come back. Hanging out in utter darkness with some 10 other people, drinking vodka and waving flashlights around turned out to be a lot of fun in the meantime :-) hehehehe. The power did return eventually and we played a hilarious and a tad competitive game of dumb charades. It was too much fun. The night ended on a happy note....but due to the rain, extreme cold and the aftermath of the blackout, there was skepticism about actually going rafting the next day.

Please to be rafting NOW!

Sunday morning dawned nice and dry thankfully and brought with it a fresh jolt of enthusiasm to raft. We will face the cold! Yes we will!

So the company we went to was Wild Waters. Highly recommended. They make the whole rafting adventure very comfortable and friendly. We got to wear really cool wetsuits! They shuttled us up to the load in station....all the while giving us clear instructions on how to save our asses if we fell in the water etc.

I was nervous when I caught sight of the river and the surging rapids. I was nervous when we sat in our rafts and got basic instructions from our super duper cool guide Gabe. I was nervous when we carried our raft down to the river. I was perfectly home the moment I jumped into the raft and started paddling.

17 miles, 20 or so rapids, 5 hours. Amazing experience. Most of the rapids were class 3...a couple were a low class 4. The best part of our time on the water was that our guide was always spicing things up for us. He made us do spins, go under rapids and also surf rapids. During a surf, we actually paddle upstream and pile in the front of the raft to create a wave. Hahaha. That was awesome...we had to try real hard to do it though. Gabe also let us go on a mini hike atop the Virgin waterfalls. He was cooool.

Oh did I mention, the rafting company also gave us food? We got to eat lunch by the river which was a blissful experience. I hate peanut butter and I still ate it....food just tasted better outdoors. :P We also got steaming hot food after the rafting adventure. All in all, an amazing experience.

Pictures

But of course there were pictures.

Here are the ones taken by the rafting company: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amrita/sets/72157594163057488/

And here are the ones I took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amrita/sets/72157594163768880/

This is just wrong

Ferrari and Maserati right next to each other....few feet away from me physically....but oh so far away *sigh* This is soo wrong....but soo beautiful that I couldn't stop staring....*drool*

Here's a picture taken from my brother's apartment on this random Sunday afternoon...

Life...or something like it...

So after 6 crazy years of college and grad school life...I'm now faced with that big question..."Pepsi or Coke"?


:P


And also sometimes..."OK! Now what?"

The apt search is done. The moving out of dorm thing is done. I start work next month (this is right now the most frequently asked question in my life). Till then I'm planning to do a list of things....rafting, camping, hiking, kathak lessons, roller blading etc. And of course I will be checking out what the "summer" in the city has to offer.

hmm...June 5th....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!! :) Love you...

What else? Go watch "An Inconvenient Truth"...it's brilliant (and scary). "Da Vinci Code" was OK. Movie took longer to see than the book took to read....ha! ;)

Oh Music! .... Still hooked to Franz's new album. And Kasabian, DMB, Extreme...etc.

I must get back to regular blogging....
-Amrita

P.S: Pepsi is always the right answer

My Early Morning Nemesis

During my stint at the Columbia dorms, I had an early morning nemesis....actually I had two....but i'll describe the first one here.

So i'm in peaceful dreamland....zoned out completely....counting the zzz's....
It's Saturday after all.

And suddenly..."BLAAAAWWWWWRRRNNNNNNN"

Jolted awake.

What might that be you ask? That, is the horn of the "Norwegian Dawn"....a ginormous cruise liner which unassumingly sails down the Hudson River before docking at Pier 88 in Midtown Manhattan. My dorm is located on said river and at this area, it's not very wide.

After the rude awakening, I find a river facing window and look out groggily to see the cruise liner fit in very uncomfortably amongst barges and patrol boats.

Anyway...so this was at leasst a monthly ritual....and yesterday...at the Fleet Week, I saw the Norwegian Dawn docked at Pier 88. And lo and behold, the moment I set my eyes on it, it let out another long "BLAAAWWWRRNNNN"....hahahaha!

Here's a picture for you...

Graduation Round-up

Yes, I got my degree!! The pictures are here. The stories are below.

SEAS Class Day - 16th May 2006

The day dawned rainy and gloomy. It was like a cosmic joke. I had butterflies in my stomach and a frown on my face. The ceremony was supposed to be in the afternoon so we held out hope that the skies would clear up eventually. (Did I mention that the parental units made it to the city finally!!! :-) yeah...). Friends stepped in to bring some much needed cheer....and by the time I reached my dorm room to get dressed, I was back to my enthu self. Got ready, took pictures with my buddies Han and Pranay and headed over to the South Field Lawns at Columbia.

Thankfully, during the whole assemnly and procession, the skies were clear!! My dear friends were tuned in to the live broadcast of the ceremony and kept sending me messages over the phone about it. They were sooo adorable!!! :-) Then, just before I got up to go on stage, the skies opened and it started raining....yeah ....i know.....cosmic joke part 2. I apparently ran across stage cos my audience barely registered my presence there. Heh!! Anyway, what do you know....it stopped raining the moment I reached my seat again. If it wasnt for my audience's congratulatory messages and hugs, I would have killed someone. :-) But all in all...It was a very fun ceremony. Caught up with all my CS buddies (...except Han 1....ass went to China).

There was a celebration later at night with a handful of my buddies which led into a late night animal imitation session....dont ask! But....all in all....good times!!! :-)

Columbia University's 252nd Commencement Ceremony

It was a beautiful day! Sunny and warm....hoards of families and students. The SEAS students were handed Rappers to clap with...which was hilarious and so cute!! Zvi Galil, our dean...was worshipped by chants of "Zvi, Zvi, Zvi"....he was ultra coool. Beautiful ceremony and they actually played "Beautiful Day" by U2 immediately after it. :-) I was engulfed by a sense of pride and thankfulness while being conferred the Ivy-League degree. Amazing journey.

The LOOOT!!

The things that make working yourself insane worth it...
- a shiny new iPod Nano gifted by the CS dept at CU.
- some bling from the parental units
- $$$$ from the parental units
- $$$ from my sweet zootopes
- a mystery gift from my best friends....which will be unvealed later today.
- a future gift from my brother....he just doesnt know it yet....ha!

So...

So now the question is....2 months of free time...what all can I fit in? :-) ;-) There will be road trips...oh yes there will....

Love,
Master Amri

Forbidden Love

After months of waiting to see it, I finally watched Brokeback Mountain. I literally just finished watching it and I have tears down my face. It is such a beautiful movie.

As I fumble on my keyboard in the dark, I am surrounded by the intense sadness of a love lost...torn apart by society and personal inhibitions. I dont want to banalize the intensity of the relationship shared by the two men in the movie by describing it more.

But I will say that Ang Lee has directed the movie spectacularly! And of course Jake Gyllenhal and Heath Ledger are a treat to watch. This is the first time that I've enjoyed a movie more than the book it's based on.

Song of the night: "The Wings" by Gustavo Santaolalla on repeat mode.

Oh.My.God

I'M GRADUATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have still not found time to write a proper blog entry ...shocking....I know!!

But...the next time I tune in....I will have a Master of Science in Computer Science from Columbia University.

What can I say now? HELL YESSSSSSSSSSS!

Excuse the excitement....

Love,
Amrita Rajagopal

Hi Again!

So finals are done. I'm stuck in grading and emotional hells right now. So even though there's lots to talk about....I cant bring myself to. But I will leave you with a hilarious but very good video which my friend CK found.

The Evolution of Dance!

Concentration Camp

(Phrase borrowed from Ragure...)

This 6-day Concentration Camp is powered by:

1. Nescafe Instant Coffee
2. Amrita's Best of Led Zeppelin mix
3. Led Zeppelin - 1
4. Led Zeppelin - 2
5. Led Zeppelin - Houses of The Holy
6. Graham Crackers
7. Led Zeppelin - Coda
8. Led Zeppelin - Presence
9. Led Zeppelin - Early Days
10. Led Zeppelin - Latter Days
11. Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door
12. Advil
13. Giant hugs from Tiglu
14. Led Zeppelin - 3
15. Led Zeppelin - 4
16. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
17. Wonderful phonecalls from my friends and family (hint to those who dont call me)
18. Extreme

Over & Out....hope y'all survive without my coolness for the next 6 days....

-Ammu :-)

May Movie Madness

Tribeca state of mind

The extravaganza began with Tropfest on Friday night. As part of the Tribeca Film Festival, this year USA had a mini version of the Australian short film festival. So they screened (for free!!, with free popcorn as well) 16 short films. 8 Tropfest classics and 8 finalists from this year. They were all pretty entertaining. The best part of the whole evening was that the films were screened outdoors on a giant screen, by the Hudson River, overlooking Statue of Liberty and Jersey City on one side and the World Financial Center Towers on the other. Fantastic experience. We froze in the cold...but it was sooo worth it.

At the same venue, The Hip-Hop Project was screened the next night. I was expecting more from that movie frankly. But it was still interesting.

Cutest.Creatures.EVER!

Saturday night...after watching the hip-hop project, we desperately needed a lughter fix. Saw Ice Age 2. It was adorably hilarious. That's the best way to sum it up. We laughed our heads off. Seeing a woolly mammoth dangling upside down from a tree, a sloth leading a cheer ....these two scenes brought me to tears of mirth. Love. Love. Love that movie.

"Black Friday"

(Bollywood movie, Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Special preview screening on Monday at Columbia)

If you were addicted or haunted by the melody of "Bandeh" (by Indian Ocean) before....wait till you see it in the movie itself. Oh. My. God...I was spellbound. No one could move long after the lights came on.

"Black Friday" is a brilliant movie. And thankfully for Anurag Kashyap, it's finally being released in June. It's intense, very intense....gripping...and this was just the release version of <3 hours

Anurag Kashyap is the coolest dude ever....he's so unassuming and down to earth. He was modest enough to be nervous while answering questions. He even casually admitted that most of the scenes in themovie were shot gorilla style and without permissions. Super cool.It's hard to believe that such a chilled out character gave us scripts like Satya and Paanch!

Carry On Please

Thank God for British humor! I love the Carry On series...really silly humor...but sooo good. So thanks to Netflix, I saw Carry On Matron this morning. Funny. Funny. Funny stuff.

Tee Hee Hee...

I am VERY excited about the release of Mission Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code. I also want to watch Akeelah and the Bee, Thank you for smoking and Water.

Yes, in case you're wondering...I am also trying to study for my finals! :P

-Amrita

Songs of the day:
-Album "Brothers in Arms" by Sire Straits
-"Sounds of Silence" by S & G...did you know that the G is a Columbia graduate? awesome!
-Gangster OST
-Album "Nervermind" by Nirvana

To The Max

Wishing you maximum happiness as you celebrate your birthday.

And I present to thee ...the one and only...

...

The Original of The Species

....

The First Pink Helmet!!























Love ya,
~Amri :-)

Steven Pinker//The Blank Slate

I attended a talk by Steven Pinker last evening on his book 'The Blank Slate'. I've been curious about his research for a long time....so it was a lot of fun hearing his theories. Needless to say, the book has been added to my reading list.

Pinker argued against the 'tabula rasa' models of psychology and how the human mind is indeed not the proverbial blank slate. He's from the evolutionary psychology side of thought. For example, he explained how twins separated at birth and brought up by very different set of parents, end up having the same qualities and mannerisms. So if the brain was indeed a blank slate, their mannerims should depend on their experiences, and the twins should be very different from each other as their upbringings were different. Pinker argued how the 'tabula rasa' thought process conveniently forgets about 'genes'. According to evolutionary psychology, a human brain/soul is shaped by genes, culture etc. So this would explain why, the twins even though brought up differently, end up being similar. Cos they share genes!!

One of the many funny anecdotes was when Pinker discussed his theories on the attraction of sexes and agreed that it's a very strange occurence. He talked about how his friend always said that one should not get married to someone cos of his/her cute lip or nose. Instead, one should marry their best friend. You like them...they're fun...it's the best solution.

What made me laugh about this? According to this theory, if I were to get married today....I would have to marry aBee...my best friend from the male of the species.
...
*2 seconds to process thought*
...
B...you know I love you dearly....but you're laughing your ass off as well as you read this.

:x
-Amrita

Songs of the day:
~'Mujhpe tufan uthaye' from Tehzeeb OST
~'Black Friday' OST

9 parts of desire

Now dont get me wrong...I LOVE this song by Trickbaby. Since the first time I heard it 2-3 years ago...

But only 9? I beg to differ... (MALE readers of this blog may want to look away right about now)

1. Music
2. Chocolate
3. Coffee
4. Johnny Depp
5. Clive Owen
6. Pierce Brosnan
7. Johnny Depp + Chocolate (Ali, Smiti...stop obsessing over him...he's mine)
   
8. Pierce Brosnan + Coffee
   
9. Clive Owen + Music ('Starshine' by Gorillaz if you please)
10. The Edge and his instruments...(mind out of the gutter now! I'm talking about guitars of course! Now where's my halo?)
    
11. grand finale: Nikhil Chinappa (for those who dont know him....he's a VJ for MTV India. i've had a crush on him since I was in high school...it's a long story...)

*ahem* That put things in perspective...now if you will excuse me....
^Amrita

Albums of the week:
1. Fanaa OST
2. Bombay Bud Orchestra
3. Incredible India
4. Gangster OST
5. Global Village by Karunesh
6. Broken English by Karsh Kale
7. Global Spirit by Karunesh
8. Bluffmaster OST
9. Division Bell by Pink Floyd

heh....9 parts to that huh?