The Summer Wind...

Has come and gone...

I realized two things this afternoon:

1) Its October first ("Suck"tober, if you will)
2) I still had the central air on

I have recreated the central air feeling by opening a window - what a novel idea!

Now please join me in a moment of silence for my dear departed friend, the summer...oh how I will miss you!

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya...

I went to go see Inside Man this past weekend ... great movie! Having both Denzel Washington and Clive Owen in a Spike Lee movie, I expected to get my money's worth, but imagine my surprise when the opening scenes of the movie started playing "Chaiyya Chaiyaa" from Dil Se! Amazing!

At first I was totally confused and really had to think about where I was, but I was pleasantly surprised that A.R. Rahman's song had made it to Hollywood. I am still rather confused as to what the song had to do with the movie. Sure, its a great song, great beat and is incredibly catchy, but where's the connection, Spike? Did you check out what the lyrics are when translated?

Whatever the reason (maybe Spike just likes the song?) I am glad to see more Hindi songs sneaking into mainstream America...Maybe we can get Clive to dance on a train with Shah Rukh next?

My new kicks...

So I finally got new sneakers. Maybe this will help me improve my running time! Ok they are not magical sneakers, but they seem to have everything under the sun to help me run better - abzorb, stablity and something called TS2 - Transitional Support System. Supposedly this "Provides optimal support while enhancing transition from heel strike to forefoot". I will have to report back...

Mmmm Chocolate Carrots....

My wildest dream has finally come true ... there IS such a thing as chocolate carrots! This is for all those who thought I was crazy talking about chocolate carrots...Thank you Lindt! I knew I loved your chocolates for a reason!

Will Smith to star along side Amitabh Bachchan?

I recently found this article about how Will Smith is intrigued by Bollywood. Apparently Smith is a fan of Aishwarya Rai (is anyone really suprised?) and Amitabh Bachchan. Excellent. Of course he is a fan of the two biggest Bollywood stars!

Of course one of the first movies that Smith saw was "Sarkar", or the Bollywood remake of all three Godfather movies. Of course this is a great movie, but I want to see him sit through a REAL Bollywood movie. All three hours of song, dance and drama. Not to mention the numerous wardrobe changes during a 5 minute song a dance scene that spans that globe with the slighest of ease.

Ahh...the magic of Bollywood...Nothing even comes close. How can you not love it?

"Courage"

Found this article that lists the top quotes of 2005. Pretty good at capturing some of the year's most memorable stories:

Top Quotes of 2005

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

One of India's Great Debates

I just found this interesting article via MSNBC and Newsweek about the raging debate between politicians and big business. Ok, so that alone doesn't make it interesting, that seems to happen all the time. What makes it so interesting is that the debate is waging in India over the infrastructure in Bangalore, India's technology capital.

The great debate is over whether the money should be invested to improve the city's dilapidated infrastructure (roads, drainage, transportation) or whether the capital should be invested in more rural areas of the state of Karnataka. The politicians, who believe in the latter, feel that by investing the money in the rural areas, more businesses could thrive there, boosting that economy, creating more jobs, etc. Big business feels that capital improvements should be made in the existing city of Bangalore, as its currently a flourishing city drawing international companies to do business there.

I see both sides of the argument, however I side with "big" business on this one. Build up what you have now, show the international companies that India has what it takes to compete on a global stage and then move out to other areas.

Urban Renewal?