| Translated from Love |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|09:12 pm] |
So tonight's my "splurge night"--in the four weeks I've been in India, I've stayed at some mid-range places, some budget places, some funky interesting upper-mid-range places like the Apani Dhani Eco-Resort, which does not have AC but does have solar-heated showers. But for one night I booked a luxury hotel in Jaipur. The drawback of hotel splurging is that amenities add up. At the cheapest dive I stayed in--too cheap to provide towels--the wireless was technically free, other places it was 50-100 rupees a day if it was available, whereas here it's 600 rupees for 24 hours. (Incidentally, this was one reason I loved the Hotel Surya in Varanasi. They had budget rooms available, but had nice restaurants and a spa. I spent more on a massage than I did for one night in the room, and it was a bargain both ways.)
Anyway, I was ready for dinner but reluctant to pay the tenfold-high price for the in-house restaurant. But I decided it would be worth it because the amenities guide in my room said they have live music from 7 PM onwards, and I have the money to spend if I have to. And yet the in-house restaurant is the annoyingly spelled "Hightz." And ironically called such, because it's below the ground floor. But I went in, found a table for one, picked up some stuff from the buffet, and ate. I hadn't deliberately chosen a place looking at the music stage, but once I sat down I saw there was a platform with some Indian instruments and microphones. Empty.
After finishing some salad and soup from the buffet, I asked one of the waiters when the music would start. He said, "Soon." Eventually, when I was picking at the not-very-good entrees, two men in white kurtas came and adjusted the microphones, and noodled on the instruments for a little bit, tuning them and checking the sound. Then they went away.
I read a little in my book I'd brought with me. And waited. Then I asked a manager, before I got dessert, whether the musicians would start soon, asking if they were running on musician time. He said, "No, it's not that. We thought that because no Indians were here, the foreigners would not want to hear music because they couldn't understand the words." But since I'd requested it, they would start.
The musicians came in and nodded to me. I seemed to be the only one paying attention, and while it seems like an honor to be an audience of one, it's actually kind of uncomfortable. Of course, it was more uncomfortable for being pointed out--like if I stop to listen to a street musician when no one else does, I know the musician was playing before I stumbled in, and will continue playing after I leave.
The manager came over to my table. "Do you understand the words of the song?" he asked. I said that music is a universal language, and wasn't sure how much more I could explain.
I kind of want to find a tabla-player or other drummer and just say, "Let's jam." He could lay down some bhangra rhythms and I could belt out, I don't know, "Rehab" or something like that. But probably Hotel Mansingh is not the place to do that. |
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| Bollywood Moments |
[Aug. 22nd, 2009|11:40 am] |
I haven't updated LJ since I got to India--the trouble with having a scattered web presence, I guess. When I get to a short-term Internet connection, I go all Facebooky and don't take the time to LJ. But I'll share my Bollywood story with you. I decided this evening would be a good one to spend in AC in the dark, so I got the hotel desk clerk to look up the nearby multiplex. Love Aaj Kal was playing, and it has the sexy sexy Saif Ali Khan in it, so I walked to the cinema. It was a short walk, but a walk constantly followed by autorickshaw drivers calling out to me and asking me if I wanted to go to Dasaswamedh Ghat or the Durga Temple. I told them that I don't need a car, because I got two feet.
There wasn't a line at the cinema, which surprised me for a Saturday night. There were three prices for tickets; the highest, Gold, were at the back of the auditorium. The teller said as I paid for the ticket, "Just to confirm... you want one ticket... and the film is in Hindi only."
I said, "I figure if anyone can teach me Hindi, it's Saif Ali Khan." She laughed.
I resisted the temptation to say, "Damn, 75 rupees for a Coke and popcorn? Such a ripoff!" While I'd probably pay less than 20 for the combo elsewhere, still, 75 is less than $2 US,
There were posters for an upcoming film called Daddy Cool. While it does not look like a very good movie, I soon heard the theme song over the PR, and yes, the song is a Hindi version of the Boney M song. (A little research shows that its producers deny it's a copy of the English film Death at a Funeral, which means it probably totally is.)
Strangely, there were no trailers, and the movie started promptly on time. It was not at all hard to follow the plot. I'd read a review that suggested it might be, because Saif was in a double role, but really, there was Metro Saif and Turban Saif, and no confusion there. There was only one point where I was totally clueless, but it worked itself out. Still, I might have benefitted from the Bollywood tendency to sprinkle sentences with English. |
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| Taking pictures in India |
[Aug. 3rd, 2009|07:13 am] |
People say, "Take lots of pictures!" but they never tell me what to take pictures of. So, give me a guide here.
Poll #1439003 Photo Ops
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9What should I capture in photos?
Any other requests? Comment! |
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| My trip itinerary |
[Jul. 25th, 2009|02:08 pm] |
For the curious, here's where I'm going, starting August 4:
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| Sunny Summer Teevee |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|11:56 am] |
There's a new sitcom based on the teen movie Ten Things I Hate About You, and from the pilot episode it's strangely neutral. It's not bad, not stupid, not distasteful--but it's also not particularly intelligent or funny. As the AV Club's review says, it seems like most high-school based shows these days are all about navigating tricky social terrain, figuring out who's allowed to be popular and who is exiled to the unpopular. At least this show skips the typical cafeteria scene where the New Kid is informed of which tables represent which social faction. Or maybe they're saving that for next week.
The casting puzzled me in this show. The role of Kat, tomboy/liberal activist, is played by Lindsey Shaw, who is good, but I can't get her last role out of my mind: Claire, the snobbish popular sister in Aliens in America. The bad-boy role of Patrick, a breakout role for Heath Ledger in the movie, is played by Ethan Peck, riding a motorcycle and brooding in the corner. And I know this might not sound right in comparison with Heath Ledger, but Peck is just so pretty that the other characters' whispering about his bad reputation seem implausible. (Though I was half suspecting that he'd eventually tell her he wanted to drink her blood.)
Basically, there were three main female roles and three main male roles (for teens): the feminist shrew, the queen bee, the aspiring popular girl; the ruffian, the quarterback, and the geek. I couldn't help but get the feeling that any one of the actors could have worked in any one of the roles, with just a little help from styling.
My reaction to this depends on whether I trust the show. Like when Dollhouse premiered, when there were some questionable decisions, I trusted them, because I believe that Joss Whedon does what he does on purpose. If this is purposeful--if we're supposed to realize that our cliques and reputations are just roles that we play, and that for all the drama and world-ending importance teens feel, in the end, teens are just teens--then it could be cool. But I have no clue how they'd ever verify that yes, it's intentional. I did notice some casting decisions that seemed deliberately motivated: an African-American as the popular cheerleader (Dana Davis, who played "As Seen on TV" on Heroes), and, perhaps into responses that all the teens on TV are skinny, skinny girls, Jolene Purdy as a goth-chick friend of Kat's.
The other show I've gotten into this summer has one example of absolutely perfect casting. The show: Better Off Ted. The actor in question: Portia de Rossi. The show follows employees of Veridian Dynamics, a vaguely sinister corporation. Each episode features a commercial for Veridian, in the vein of those spots for GE or 3M, proclaiming a bright future with Veridian Dynamics products. de Rossi plays Ted's boss, Veronica, with a steely sociopathy that never fails to surprise.
It's by the creator of Andy Richter Controls the Universe. I can't be the only person watching Better Off Ted, can I? |
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| Karaoke Inventory |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|02:27 pm] |
So ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) drood challenged me to make a karaoke inventory like he did, so I dug through my iTunes and my memory to see how many songs I've performed. My list is long, but not as long as his, and my memory probably isn't entirely reliable--some of these I wasn't sure, but I think I sang them one time or another. And I'm sure I missed a couple; if you've ever been to karaoke with me and remember something else, refresh my memory.
And if you ever go with me to karaoke in the future, don't expect this setlist, because a lot of them left me saying "never again" after singing them.
( Especially Donna Fargo. ) |
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| See what I did there? |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|04:25 pm] |
I was at the Starbucks in Meijer (superdupermarket) getting a little caffeine to carry me through the groceries, and noticed a Talking Heads compilation on the CD stand. The barista, a middle-aged woman putting the last drizzle of caramel on my macchiato, said, "Those are going fast! That's the last one left! It's really popular these days!"
I said, "Yeah, I used to listen to Talking Heads a lot." Putting it back, because I don't really buy CDs anymore.
"My son likes them a lot now," she continued. "I guess they used to be popular, and then they weren't, and now they are again."
Overwhelmed by cleverness temptation, I just went for it. "Same as it ever was."
She handed over my drink as if she didn't notice. "Yup, now they're popular again." |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|07:58 am] |
You may have seen this before, but seeing the debate raging over at the AV Club, I thought I'd take a little poll here:
Poll #1418039 PS22 Chorus
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22This video shows...
The chorus actually has other videos on the site that apparently have gotten widespread attention, including a handful of Tori covers. |
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| That Last Post, Redux |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|06:43 am] |
It seems like a pattern in my involvement in user-created community groups, that I'll get involved, become committed and responsible enough to be trusted, then have a leadership role--or at least a decision-making role--offered to me, without really having to seek it. It happened with Toricon 2002, it happened with the LJ Buddhists community, and it happened with the Detroit International Social Meetup.
I like organizing, and it's rewarding. Yet I do wish people would stop tempting me to say, "If you don't like the way I'm managing the group, you're welcome to start your own damn group and see how that goes." |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|05:55 pm] |
We've been watching Expedition Africa, a show that can be summed up by its credits: it's produced by Mark Burnett (producer behind Survivor and The Apprentice) and aired on the History Channel (channel of lots of boring shows). It straddles the line between "documentary series" and "reality show" as it chronicles a group of semi-experts who attempt to re-create Sir Henry Stanley's journey to find Dr. Livingstone.
The group's self-appointed leader is a grumpy old geophysicist named Pasquale, and it seems that every time there's a disagreement, the show cuts to a talking head of Pasquale complaining, "They keep trying to navigate by democracy!"
After Pasquale's fifth time sneering the same expression, I turned to Stee and noted, "He hates democracy." And Stee said, "Well, so do you."
And I guess he's right. Not about a system of government--politically, I'm not a socialist or a monarchist. But in non-governmental systems, I think sometimes people assume they're entitled to decision-by-decision voting, and things don't work that way. I also get a little annoyed when I'm on DDO and there's someone on the Social panel looking for a group to do a quest, but the quest isn't listed, only the phrase, "Group decides what quest to do." If there is no group yet, you can make the decision, and the group will form around that decision. It would be like selling tickets to an undecided movie, saying, "Once the theater's full, then we'll decide what movie we're showing."
It's an element of the social world of Web 2.0, the Wikipedia/Meetup/Facebook/etc. social network, that decisions are made mostly by the people who've stepped up and devoted time and energy to the project. Armchair voters' viewpoints really shouldn't count as much as the decisions of those who have been committed to the project, whatever the project might be.
I'm thinking about this because I've been a little annoyed by organizing a Meetup. Not by the people who actually show up, but by the people who RSVP "No" and enter a note with the RSVP saying, "Why can't any of the meetups be closer to me?" or "Please schedule these on Thursdays, because I work Wednesdays." I feel like reminding some people that they've been invited to an event. If they can't come, it's not the host's fault. If they don't want to make their own arrangements to come, then they make their own decision. |
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| Pilgrimage 2009 |
[Apr. 13th, 2009|06:07 pm] |
So after a few weeks of timidly checking Travelocity for flight options, I finally took the plunge and committed to spending another August in India. Once again flying through Delhi, definitely returning to Benares and Bodhgaya, possibly returning to Shimla, probably not returning to Calcutta. Thinking this time I'll hit these places I didn't get to last time: Amritsar, Haridwar/Rishikesh, Mathura/Vrindavan, Rajgir, and leave some time to decide whether or not to find the fabled Temple of Rats in Deshnok.
It's fun to be excitedly planning for world travel. I kind of missed that. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|07:38 am] |
Poll #1381183 a certain hyphenated word
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33Is "wife-beater" an appropriate term for a sleeveless undershirt? |
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1 (11.1%)