Early morning I check my email...

"Scenes from a Bollywood movie are scheduled to be shot on the first floor of the Harper Center and in a classroom on Sunday, February 8. 

Chicago Booth students who wish to be “extras” should contact Jeremy Beiermann, production coordinator, at jeremy16@gmail.com.  Be aware that it will be a long day of shooting.

The movie, titled “What’s Your Raashee?” stars Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja.  The director is Ashutosh Gowariker, considered one of India’s leading film directors.  

Mr. Baweja plays a Chicago Booth student who is suddenly called back to India.   Only the beginning of the movie takes place in Chicago. "

Who is Harman Baweja? Who is Ashutosh Gowariker? I don't mean it in a pejorative way, just that I don't know and I need to google them.. (off to google)

And I had a lot of stuff to do in school that day... 

Islands

I have just returned from Manila. Again. As many people would immediately point out. But, this trip was different. My fiance and I had taken upon ourselves the task of bringing to the same room, four members of the species Parent, and uncounted members of the species Relative. A traditional engagement get-together. Meet-the-parents. Call it what you want. As luck would have it, the project turned out to be an unmitigated success.

My dad, mom and I spent three full days with my fiance and her folks in Manila.

January 9-10, 2010 has been picked for festivities in Nasugbu, in the Philippines.

We are looking at:
http://www.fuegohotels.com/terrazas/body.html
http://www.nasugbuchurch.com

This will be followed by complementary festivities in Chennai, a week or so after. Save the dates, people.

It is interesting to see how members of the species Parent interact. I have seen many an 'arranged' Indian pre-wedding discussion. This one was possibly no different, in spite of the cultural barriers that both sets of parents had to cross. "We own that piece of land." "We have two houses here, and all that jewelry belongs to our daughter." "What diseases does his grandpa have?" "Did her grandma have high blood pressure or cholesterol?" "You should have a child no later than..." "He used to hate coffee when he was a kid." "She likes to play the piano and sings well."

Setting us up for success, that is all.

On another front, work is depressing. We have new people in top leadership positions, and as is always the case, that comes with a re-organisation. I heard my boss whisper loudly in Hindi, "I hate my job". He is now trying to find a crack to slip through. Which means, he does not care whether I do my work or not. I have a fancy office in town, work right outside Mohamed Sultan and Clarke Quay, lunch at Robertson Quay, get to wear crisp, clean clothes, and have nothing to do. And, it came with a promotion. Maybe, I was having much more fun slaying dragons on my island paradise, in coveralls and gloves, eating Mee Goreng and Roti Prata for lunch.

I wish to read. I wish to write in a manner that others want to read. I wish to own a diving resort in a beautiful tropical outpost, and be both boss and customer. I wish to travel the world second class and take very beautiful photographs. In Black and White. I wish to speak at least a dozen languages. I wish to be an expert at something, in a way that my opinion counts.

Well, none of those things will happen in the next two minutes.

Amazon UK

I have been prattling about Amazon UK to whomever would listen for a couple of weeks now, and here's why. "The Godfather Trilogy: Coppola Restoration" is $80 from Amazon US, and S$99 in stores here, but £15.53 (after VAT) from Amazon UK. The entire Monty Python movie collection is £9. The West Wing Box Set (all of which I purchased season by season for around S$350) is £47. Any number of great movies are selling for £ 3. The UK economy must be in real strife - I've never seen such prices for so many great items. So go and grab what you can while they've temporarily lost their mind.

CNY

Totally exhausted after the 4-day CNY weekend. There is only so much lying on the couch you can do before adrenalin kicks in, and the last few hours of vegetation yesterday were really tiring. A bit less life, and we'd have been officially classified as flora.

Vijay had come down from KL, and the three of us (Sat, Vijay and I) have left permanent imprints on the couch. In an unbelievable spurt of enthusiasm, we hauled ourselves to Mustafa at night on Sunday and got a whole bunch of Hindi movies. Before and after that, the delivery outlets in Singapore were working overtime to feed us - the winners being Sarpinos and Bombay Cafe, but no McDonalds, in a stunning upset.

On to the movies themselves. Watching (re-watching) quite a few of these movies after a while is interesting for the change, or lack thereof, in your opinion of the film. We saw Lage Raho Munnabhai, Dil Se, Rangeela, Dil Chahta Hai, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Jab We met, Jaane tu ya jaane na, Iqbal and Tridev (Tridev was just me and boy, do I want those 3 hours back!).

I was blown away (probably the wrong metaphor to use about this film, but what the hell) by Dil Se 10 years ago, and time has made no difference. The riveting first half with its breathtaking visuals and songs - Rahman at the peak of HIS powers - gives way to a breathless second half in Delhi and, 10 years later, we were all once again speechless at the end of the movie. This movie's debacle is the proof that India's audience mostly comprises morons. Their loss.

Dil Chahta Hai, on the other hand, was surprising. I remember liking the movie when it came out. This time around, we were aghast, wondering why the hell we liked it in the first place. It's not boring. Instead, it inspires a visceral hatred in me now - hatred for the rich, carefree fucks who populate the movie, hatred for the meaningless sap which forms the second half of the movie, and most of all, hatred for Aamir Khan's smug asshole of a character, who suddenly discovers his human side. He's not even two-dimensional, and the same goes for Saif Ali Khan, who's just an empty canvas. The only character with even a bit of depth is Akshaye Khanna's. And the less said about the females, the better.

So we had to counteract this empty meaningless drivel with something we thought would be a good serious film - Mumbai Meri Jaan. And it didn't disappoint. It seems realistic and has rounded, believable characters. Definitely worth a watch. Also, Iqbal was a delightful little offbeat movie and certainly a far cry from the masturbatory wasteland that is Dil Chahta Hai. Sorry, I really realllllly hate this movie now.

But that's all over, and now we're back at work. Oh, to be a character from DCH, and lead carefree lives. I'd handle the crushing inanity of my existence (as a character in the movie) if it meant flying back home in first class to my lavish mansion upon every minor setback, and all I'd need to do would be to look angst-ridden, while relaxing in my Italian sofa and watching a monster TV.

Our Beijing correspondent confesses to being special, to not being a riffraff foreigner, to going to those bars, to potentially producing monkey offspring and to people touching him less.

And he sings.

Part1

Part2

Very nicely done, Rahul! TV stardom in the making. I can't believe you've picked up so much Mandarin.

Only in India

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/jan/21defamation-case-against-rahman-anil-kapoor.htm

Someone redi translate redi please redi

I smsed Renu today asking her to come to clean the house. This is her sms reply, word for word:

Hi 2day early i cal y friend want come tommrow have work i have to change anybodyat home or no last time i come time sercart not give open door that why thanks i tonigt sms.

What the FUCK does this mean????

Must blog something.

Quick updates:

1. In 2nd week of 2nd semester now. Dying under big pile of to-dos: classes, assignments, internship applications, interview preps, etc.

2. Still fun though. Trying not to think too much about huge possibility of bleak summer with no/unpaid internship.

3. Driving rocks. This is where US totally kicks Singapore's lil ass. And cheap booze.

4. Missing Singapore food (5-star, murtabak, Samy's, etc).

5. Harboring hopes of my Singapore frens coming to visit soon.

These kids and their damn MTV

As I was watching and listening to the inauguration yesterday, I couldn't help thinking about Jon Favreau (not the Iron Man guy, though same name). He's Obama's speechwriter, and he's 3 months younger than I am. So remember, if you're feeling satisfied with what you've done in life at any point, think of Jon Favreau.

Obama and Star Wars

Something amusing I wanted to share...

"In a prelude to the inauguration, Bishop T.D. Jakes, a senior pastor from Houston, used Scripture to offer the incoming president four lessons for his administration. "In time of crisis, good men must stand up. God always sends the best men into the worst times. This is not a time for politeness or correctness; this is a time for people to confront issues and bring about change. You cannot enjoy the light without enduring the heat."

"The problems are mighty and the solutions are not simple, and everywhere you turn there will be a critic waiting to attack every decision that you make. But you are all fired up, sir, and you are ready to go. And this nation goes with you. God goes with you."

"I say to you as my son who is here today, my 14-year-old son -- he probably would not quote Scripture. He probably would use Star Wars instead. And so I say, 'May the force be with you.' "

Yes sir. 

Yengemudi Booze Index (a la Economist Big Mac Index)

I never cease to be amazed by the price difference for booze in Peninsula Plaza. There are 3 shops within 15m of each other - the 7-11, a mama shop 2 doors down from 7-11, and a Burmese shop inside the complex and hidden from plain sight on the 2nd floor.

Now, I've always considered mama shops the cheapest ex-duty free source of booze in Singapore, and the price for an Absolut 750ml bottle at the mama shop is $49 - reasonable enough. The 7-11 people are bastards and I'm not surprised at their price tag of $85 - you'd need to be really drunk AND need a lot more alcohol to buy it there. But this is 7-11, and that's the price you pay for 24 hr service. The smart thing to do for them would be to introduce a two-tier pricing - have reasonable prices (say $55) till 10pm, and then unleash the nocturnal monopoly power afterwards. The boozehounds have no real choice, so they can do what they want. And I suspect they'd make up in volume what they'd lose in ASP during the pre-10pm hours.

The big surprise is the Burmese shop - $38!! There's no other reason why the price should be significantly different from the mama shop, so it seems having a store in plain view is worth $11 per bottle. I wouldn't be surprised if the rent is 30% higher for the mama shop.

Update, update

Let me kick things off with a rather mundane post. Since it's been a couple of months since we met and all, here are some updates:
-Economy sucks, but I still have a job, so there's nothing to complain about, really.
-CNY approaches!! 4 days of revelry!! Oranges galore!!
-I hear about temperatures in different parts of the world, and don't know whether to be miffed at the monotony here, or glad that I don't have to add 50 kilos in winter wear to my already overweight frame
-The GBP is really tanking, so buying from amazon.co.uk is the way to go.

That's it. Life here is really like the weather. What is everyone else up to? How's married life and driving and working in the US? How's internship/job situation for the MBA people? Why are you still in Hong Kong? Have you gone through the Beijing chicks at least once? Are there windmills to tilt at? And where is our resident German, haven't heard from him for a while?