Rock On

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Rock On is a mature movie with dollops of bollywood magic in it.We Indians need Bollywood magic in all our movies.The masses cannot digest a movie with no movie magic.So , in the end infusing a bit of bollywood magic makes good business sense.

Moving on with the review...(we'll come back to the bollywood magic later)

Let me digress a bit.What can I do .It's a force of habit...Being forced to watch a scene where Farhan Akthar is in the shower , or the cameraman's close up of Purab Kohli's buttocks in the scene where he sings 'I will survive' and by watching Ranbir Kapoor in his shorts and Six pack Sharuk and all other bollywood leading men with chiseled bodies ,

I realised something ...

Times have changed !

A gradual role reversal is happening.Women are now choosing mates more based on their looks than intelligence and men prioritize intelligence in the women that they want.(Well, at least men like Me !)

This was proven in a BBC TV programme called Tomorrow's World, where in an experiment devised by noted British psychiatrist Dr.Raj Persaud, the viewing public was presented with two pictures of members of the opposite sex who definitely varied in terms of physical attractiveness- one was obviously prettier or more handsome than the other.Beneath each picture was a kind of lonely hearts column Dr.Raj Persaud had composed in which the person in the photograph was inviting the viewer of the programme to accompany them on a romantic weekend in the Caribbean.The wording was more or less the same, but there were subtle differences which should have been so minor as to operate
below conscious awareness.

In one script , for instance , the person invited you to swim in the shimmering blue sea;in the other you were invited to swim in the shimmering azure sea.The viewers were then asked to choose the person they would prefer to go away with.Complex vocabulary was used as a proxy for education or intelligence.(I agree)

The surprising finding was that women went more for looks in their choice of men, while the men prioritzed intelligence in their choice of women.Just the use of words like 'azure' significantly swung the audience towards the lesser physically attractive person, indicating that the public generally were voting for intelligence over looks, yet amazingly this was more marked in the voting of men.

This would be good news to all women who think they are not pretty enough and really bad news to all men who think they are not !

Now back to the review that we had originally intended to write...

Rock On is a movie about rock.No , not the one that you threw at that dog that chased you.Its about Rock...Its about distortion effects,electric guitars,huge amplifiers that would scare the bejeesus out of your deaf granny, the drums,the chord progressions,the electrifying solos and riffs, the mangled vocals...its about the fame, the fortune,sex booze and drugs and loving adoration of millions of fans...its about the whole Rock lifestyle itself.


In the story the past and the present are interlaced together, with Sakshi the lonely wife of Adithya is trying to get closer to her husband by trying to reunite the band members of her husband's past.


'Live your Dream , says the tag line.Flashback reveals that the foursome...Adithya,Joe,KD,Rob just do that when their band,'Magik' wins a talent hunt and lands a contract for an album and music video.

They seemingly have everything now...rock music, each other,drugs,girls and then fame and fortune soon enough.But trouble arises between band members, and a once powerful friendship breaks apart and ends up disbanding Magik.

Questions posed to the viewers are ...

1)Will the band members of Magik come back together resolving their past differences ?
2)Will Magik prove to be magical enough to solve all their problems?
3)Will Rob Nancy die right after the Grand Finale ?

Let me spoil your fun ...

1) Yes.After initial reluctance from Adithya and Joe,the band members reunite and make magik together.(Pun intended !)
2) Yes.Magik brings Adi and his wife closer.KD gets a new girlfriend ! Rob Nancy fulfills his dying wish, and hopefully Joe will benefit from all the publicity the band got, although one never finds out.
3) I would have really hated the movie if they killed Rob Nancy right after the Grand Finale.But they don't ! C'mon , if they killed him right there, it would be very filmy and melodramatic.(something I'm very familiar with !).Instead the story writers decided to kill Rob Nancy two months later.

Let me just add...India is not ready for pure Rock.At least not the masses.We still miss the tablas and dholaks and sitars and guitars mixing together and making beautiful music together which is truly unique in all respects and truly Indian in flavour.So ,in the beginning I did not like the soundtrack of the movie very much.But the songs fit seamlessly in the movie and grow on you...it simply takes time.I still don't like Zahreeley (Too noisy !), but Tum Ho Toh and Sindbad the sailor are my favourite.(hmm...I wonder why ?)


In the acting department we found that Farhan can act , but should refrain from singing in the future ! Let it be done by professionals (Himesh should also be banned from singing and also from making movies),Arjun rampal is perfect as the ageing rocker (hats off to the director for not focusing on arjun rampal's fingers during his solos and hats off to arjun for at least learning basic and barre chord shapes), Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny are equally good.Prachi looks cute throughout , Shahana Goswami is great , and I find her sexy as hell ! (go figure!), and koel purie's role is miniscule and forgettable.

Now for the Bollywood magic I promised you...
1)It happens only in bollywood.The crowd goes wild and ecstatic to an unknown song played by an unknown band.Hey , the crowd even sings along although it has never heard the lyrics before !

2)It happens only in bollywood.You can buy top class equipment (including a wireless amp transmitter) after one gig at a dandiya !

3)It happens only in bollywood.There's a huge traffic jam, and Joe walks out of his stranded taxi and onto the stage within the brief time frame of a single song and a short drum solo ! Did he get Scotty to beam him up onto the stage ?

All in all, Rock On a good movie with good performances.A courageous attempt at introducing Rock to Indian masses, which by initial reports are proving successful.

Celeb sightings & misc. stuff

So many things happening today...

Saw the entitre cast of ' Rock On' at Mumbai Domestic.

Told mom I saw Farhan Akthar...Mom said "Who ?"

"Mom, mom , mom...dil chahta hai, lakshya, rock on..."

Mom is still blank.

"Mom, mom ,mom...son of javed akthar ..."

"You mean the guy in boogie woo..."

"NO MOM... Akthar...not Jaffrey...Arrgh ! "

So there you go...I saw Farhan Akthar and nobody that matters really cares.

Well...Farhan,purab, luke, and prachi were there.All of them  wearing ' Rock On' T-shirts...

Arjun Rampal was missing though...well who cares ? Definitely not mom !

Farhan and purab are not as tall as I thought they were.Luke looks like a geek from 'Napoleaon Dynamite'Prachi is really tiny(and very fair).Thanks for spoiling the larger-than-life illusion.

Aman Verma was there too...midway through the security check in , he had to wear sunglasses because apparently that's what celebs do indoors...even not-so-famous-celebs-especially-when-they-get no-one asking their autographs and then they start getting insecure.And Aman, say no to chemical peels...you are as pale as a leper.

The Girl next to me had this habit of regularly staring at me...Briefly considered chatting up with her, and then maybe you know...but then her mom , the great wall of Chyna (yeah, the nutcracker ) made sure that the girl would not even turn towards me anymore.Well...Plenty of fish in the ocean ....

Doesn't Dostana remind you of 'I now pronounce you chuck and larry '(which was hilarious)

John and Aby make a handsome couple...Priyanka ...Ooh-la-la !...I'm still ogling at the golden bikini image hovering in my mind's eye.

Drona:I see poor CG sandstorm effects . 

Well,Remember LS 2050(do you ?) .It only proves that great FX  alone do not make or break a movie.

Bled my fingers on the guitar today...2 weeks without her...Hoo boy...I was showing signs of withdrawal effects.

Moti...Please don't scare away the cute ones away...Atleast not until I get their Phone Numbers.

(And moti , what are you doing reading my blog?, I thought you were not allowed on the net !)

What is it with Indian moms and hair oil ?

Right now I have enough oil on my head to cause a major environmental disaster !

I must accept the fact that my waist is no longer 30 " and stop squeezing myself into impossibly tight fitting jeans.Its 32" for crying out loud !

My current poison:'The Cleft ' Doris Lessing.

That's all for now

Adios.

Intelligence and Unhappiness: Likely, But Not Inevitably Linked

What began with a quote from Ernest Hemingway about a relationship between intelligence and unhappiness turned into a torrent of people commenting on the connection within their own lives. Some enhancement and clarification is in order.



“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

- Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)



The original of Why Intelligent People Tend To Be Unhappy may be read at



Link


We have little reason to believe that unhappiness has a genetic component or that people with above average intelligence—or anyone else—will necessarily be unhappy.

Intelligence is not only difficult to define, some people claim that it is a construct with no validity in nature. Albert Einstein himself claimed that all babies are born geniuses, then we overcome that potential in the following years of childhood (paraphrased).

Given the confusion over the meaning of intelligence, we might conclude that intelligent people are those who are smart or unusually skilled in one or more fields, though not necessarily brighter or more talented than the average person in most human activities. In Hemingway’s quote, he likely meant people he considered to be smart in the activities that were important to him.

Happiness is even more difficult to define. It’s so individual that we can conclude that happiness is self-defined and self-imposed. That is, a happy person is happy if he believes he is happy.

Like the concept of romantic love that was invented by the French in the 13th or 14th century CE, happiness too seems to have been invented as a concept as opposed to being a natural instinct or imprint. That may partly explain why happiness is so elusive for some people today, as different people have different explanations for what it means. You can only be happy by your own definition of happiness.

To a drug addict, happiness may be a hit of his favourite narcotic. To a gambler, playing his favourite game of chance. To one person it might be personal fulfillment, to another security and satisfaction within a relationship.

More intelligent people (however you define intelligence) are no more vulnerable to unhappiness naturally than anyone else. However, the circumstances of their lives may make it easier for them to adopt unhappiness as a way of life.

All children progress along four main streams of development: intellectual, physical, social and emotional/psychological. Schools are designed to promote intellectual development. When parents of many young children are asked what they want for their kids when they grow up, some will be specific about a profession or taking over the family business, both of which show a preference for developing the child intellectually.

Some will say they just want their children to be happy. Since that word is so hard to define, those parents may be turning their kids loose to be influenced by whatever powerful forces outside the family influence their small world, such as television, video games, music or the drug dealer outside their school.

Many parents, a growing number in this world of pandemic obesity, direct their children into sports and athletic activities to advance their physical development.

Only a small minority of parents understand the importance of social and emotional development in their children. For many kids, these progress in conjunction with other activities of an intellectual or physical nature. But not in all children. Some kids don’t receive enough exposure to the right social and emotional influences at the times they need them.

As “giftedness” has a genetic component—smart parents have a good chance of having smart kids—we can expect children with a bent toward intellectual interests to develop along this stream comfortably, perhaps surpassing their peers in their knowledge and intellectual skills.

More often than not, these intellectual pursuits tend to be fairly individual in nature as all development is individual. If they are enjoyed in the company of other children, the others may be similarly underdeveloped socially and emotionally. We tend to go with our strengths, so if we are strong in intellectual ability we will tend to follow that path, perhaps to the detriment of our other streams of development.

Social maturity may be defined not just as being able to function comfortably in dialogue with one other person, in small groups of two to six or in larger groups such as at a party, but also to have the ability to build a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with one or more others, such as friends or a spouse.

Emotional maturity could be defined as the ability to cope with whatever detours and downturns life may throw at us and to know where to turn for support when it is needed. These events destroy the lives of some people.

Think of the four streams of development (intellectual, physical, social and emotional) as the base lines for a pyramid which is the growing child. The interior of the pyramid would be the environment and support systems available to the child.

If any one side of the pyramid takes strong precedence in growth over the others, the pyramid may not only not grow straight, it may collapse due to insufficient strength in its weaker sides. A person can have the same strengths and weaknesses. And the same potential for collapse.

A smart child who does not develop the skills and knowledge that form the part of him that is his physical, social and emotional sides will have the same potential for problems as a teen or an adult as an average child who is underdeveloped physically, socially or emotionally.

What we need to understand is that social and emotional skills can be taught. If all children do not receive these lessons from their parents, they can be taught by teachers in schools. Universal needs lend themselves well to universal support systems, such as schools.

Of course all of this does not take place in a vacuum. Parents must know the full range of parenting skills and provide good role models for their children. Everyone a child comes in contact with has the potential to influence him in some way for the future. The person a child respects or idolizes most should be the kind of role model that parents want their child to follow

Whatta Match -2

Whoo Hoo !

An absolute firecracker !

India defeated the mighty Aussies...and are now through to the finals !

Also , In the last few days...
Sensex crossed 16000
The Rupee gained over the UsDollar(and USD went below 40 )

India also beat the mighty Proteas !

Finals

India V/s Pakistan...

Folks , It doesn't get any bigger than this .Believe me it doesn't !

Sidewalk Art of Julian Beever

http://www.arborsci.com/CoolStuff/JulianBeever.htm
Cool 3D sidewalk art...

I'm Not Okay(I Promise)

Well if you wanted honesty, That´s all you had to say.
I never want to let you down or have you go, it´s better off this way.
For all the dirty looks,
For photographs your boyfriend took,
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?
I´m not okay.
I´m not okay.
I´m not okay.
You wear me out.


What will it take to show you that it´s not the life it seems?
(I´m not okay)
I told you time and time again you sing the words but still don´t know what they mean
To be a joke and look
Another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook for the last time
Take a good hard look!

I´m not okay.
I´m not okay.
I´m not okay.
You wear me out.


Forget about the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
You said you read me like a book, but the pages are all torn and frayed

I´m okay.
I´m okay!
I´m okay, now
(I´m okay, now)

But you really need to listen to me
Because I´m telling you the truth
I mean this I´m okay!
(Trust me.)

I´m not okay
I´m not okay
Well, I´m not okay
I´m not o-fucking-kay
I´m not okay
I´m not okay
(Okay)

Eagles- Hotel California (1976) Live!

Hotel california - the eagles (1976) Live..

lucie silvas - nothing else matter

Chris Daughtry singing "Home"

I'm home now.

Robbie Williams - We are the champions

Robbie Williams - Let me entertain you Argentina 2006

Hotel California - Eagles (How to play; Guitar Solo)

Me directin' the guitar solo of "Hotel California"
from album; Hotel California / EAGLES (1976).

Equipments for this video;
Greco Stratocaster '78 customised old guitar,
Marshall 1989's JCM amp with Pedals;
Fuzz, Phaser, EQ, Comp and Reverb.

!!! NOTICE !!!
This is for ONLY beginner guitarists and my buddies who requested this to me.
I'm not certain how you understand my English and guitar plays, so I'm poor at speak in English well. besides...sometime I got a few mistakes in this video. :D

I just played this song 'cause I had wanted to show purely a lot of people this song is really great and hope to want a lot of people to play this song.
I'll dedicate this to my buddies and guitar players anyway, Thanks.

Kaante - Socha nahi ta

One of my all time favourite rock songs...dripping in melancholy and sadness over betrayal.

Life in a metro - Alvida the full song

Alvida , possibly the best indi-rock song that has come out.

Kuch Is Tarah-Atif Aslam

Kuch Is Tarah by Atif Aslam
From Doorie (2006)Brought you by DesiSector

midomi

http://www.midomi.com/
Discover Music and People
midomi.com makes it fun and easy to find and discover music and people. For the first time, you can use your voice to instantly connect to your favorite music, and to a community of people that share your musical interests. Listen to voices, see pictures, rate singers, send messages, buy music, and more.

Spider-man 2 music vid

Train - Ordinary.
I'm waiting for spiderman-3 to come soon. I know its gonna be as good as the previous two movies.
Hey , even mom liked spiderman 2 , and she's the toughest critic alive in India !

"Ordinary"

Whose eyes am I behind
I don’t recognize anything that I see
Whose skin is this design
I don’t want this to be the way that you see me

I don’t understand anything anymore
In this world that I’m tired of
Is taking me right up these walls
That I climb up
To get to your story
It’s anything but ordinary

And when the world is on its knees with me its fine
And when I come to the rescue I get nothing but left behind
Everybody seems to be getting what they need where's mine
‘Cause your what I need so very but im anything but ordinary

Can you save me from this world of mine
Before I get myself arrested with this expectation
You are the one look what you’ve done
What have you done?
This is not some kind of joke
You’re just a kid
You weren’t ready for what you did

And when the world is on its knees with me its fine
And when I come to the rescue I do it for you time after time
Everybody seems to be getting what they need where's mine
‘Cause you what I need so very but im anything but ordinary

I think im trying to save the world from you
You’ve been saving me too
We could just stay in and save each other

Im anything but ordinary
(ordinary)
Im anything but ordinary
(ordinary)

Night Ranger "Sister Christian"

Abhishek Bachchan Moto ROKR AD

Motorola ROKR ad featuring Abhishek Bachchan.Rocking ad by motorola.Funny and wierd.

This is what defines "cool"
Abhishek is making a complete fool out of himself and and still getting people to like him.
That is COOL.

P.s. I wish Abhiash a eternally lasting happy marriage.

Friday Night Fever -MTV India

Watch out for sexy 'belly dancing ' Maria !
She's brazilian ...and definitely HOT !