where in the world is shefali?

books books books!

2010-07-27T10:44:00.003Z

one of the joys of (paid) unemployment has been the opportunity to read a copious amount of books. books that i've been dying to read for months that i just hadn't got around to reading yet. one of them is the delightful and superb, outliers, by malcolm gladwell. i read blink a while ago and i had forgotten what a terrific writer, gladwell was. not to mention a mind boggling philosopher. highly recommend it.

a few others:

the junior officers reading club, patrick hennesey
the privileges, jonathan dee
chowringhee, sankar
seven days in the art world, sarah thornton
juliet naked, nick hornby
power play, gavin esler

What the world needs ...

2010-05-31T15:52:00.001Z

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go out and do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

-- Howard Thurman

.sdr. @ my iPad

finally... a weekend in london!

2010-05-17T15:50:00.002Z

err... after all this travelling even i am bemused by the fact that it was lovely to have a nice relaxing weekend in london. so there was rain. whatever. it was nice to not pack an overnight bag, take a train to gatwick / stansted / heathrow and then board a budget airline to some destination randomly around europe.
a few weeks ago i was in venice. so so amazing. the last time i was there was for ma's 50th birthday and it was a short visit so i didnt see much. but good golly gee - what a beautiful city! so so amazing. walking around the little lanes hoping to get lost was such a delight. food was pretty terrif too!
a week ago, was in lisbon. hadn't been but went to catch up with two childhood friends. soans and saldanha. the double act! was great fun. food was amazing - goan and all that. nandos and all that. even though it rained, one could just imagine that it is a beautiful city in the summer! on the sunday, benfica won their league so it was quite amusing to see grown men act like five year olds (but to be fair, we dont need a football match to witness that ;)).
this weekend is london bound. as is the next. and then the last weekend in may is at ange's wedding in devon. should b ace!
after that!! home! yay! for a month! DOUBLE yay!

To walk or not to walk ...

2010-05-07T17:01:00.001Z

It's been 30 years since Britain last has a hung parliament. Times were different then. But in this day and age, there are so many questions that this election has raised rather than answered in this "first world" country:
a) how is it that Nick Clegg (!) holds the balance of power?
b) when is a "coalition" not exactly a "coalition"?
c) how could there be no more ballot paper at some polling stations?
d) what's with the inconsistency of closing times at some polling stations?
e) ever heard of electronic voting?
f) leaving with dignity. When you've lost, you've lost mate ... Walk away!
g) how can non-citizens (ie me!) vote?!?

This is the first time in a long time that I've avidly watched an election of a country not my own (albiet that I voted) but I have to say the mixed reactions are something. And it's not only because dimbleby and paxman had a tiff on air, in true toff style ;)

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Travel travel travel !!

2010-05-01T13:58:00.001Z

After the chaos of march April was filled with Damascus, Istanbul,
Paris (again) and now Venice. One of the true joys of living here.
Menawhile I was also fortunate to host some pals from oz who are
touring London and Europe!! Finally they got here. Great fun was had
by all.
Next up - lisbon next week. Then hopefully a bit of quiet in London-
town!

.sdr. @ my iPhone

what a month and a half this was ...

2010-03-31T23:01:00.002Z

travel wise ... after getting back from aust in mid jan, the next few months were manic. and it doesn't seem to stop.
chamonix, geneva, milan, paris, edinburgh, damascus! (not to mention istanbul this easter weekend!).
work wise ... chaos. messy. and oh so not needed. but in the end it worked out to my advantage so am glad to say that while it has been a spectacular opportunity, for so many reasons, leaving is a going to be a huge relief. idiotic boss not included!
hope everyone is well! looking fwd to goss! dont hold back ...

LOVE :: 1 Corinthians 13

2010-02-23T13:20:00.000Z

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love the entendre! ;)

2010-01-31T00:05:00.000Z

.sdr. @ my iPhone

2010 ... i cant believe you are already here!

2009-12-31T07:13:00.002Z

seriously! where did the past 9 years go! its amazing to think so much has happened. i definitely didnt think i'd start the 'teenies' in london! gosh.
i think 2010 is going to pass fairly quickly. but i wonder where i will be this time next year. i feel next year will be the last year for me in london. but more importantly, where to next? and even more pressing, what next?!
either way ... happy new year all and heres to a happy and prosperous 2010!

"hope is the most fragile part of our lives"

2009-11-29T19:21:00.000Z

I was at mass today and the homily centred around the feeling of hope. While the priest was making his sermon he said this : "hope is the most fragile part d our lives. It transcends every other emotion".
I had never heard that before. And I certainly didn't think that it was "fragile" but when you hear and really listen, u think that it's so true. It is fragile. It is completely breakable. It needs to be taken care of. I have to admit that I don't pay it the attention it needs. Well that stops today.
I think the underlying message was not to hope and wish for better tomorrows or regret the yesterdays. But to live each day to the fullest and appreciate what we have.
In the words of one of my favourites, Omar Khayyam, "be happy for this moment. This moment is your life".

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Friendship by Khalil Gibran

2009-11-09T21:43:00.000Z

I love this...

-----------

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Chloe @ LFF 2009

2009-10-31T19:19:00.000Z

Chloe was showing at the 2009 London film fest. Starring julianne Moore, liam neeson and amanda seyfried (who I must stop referring to as the mamma mia girl!). Anyhoo ...
The film centres around this successful married couple - Moore and neeson - and how she suspects he is having an affair. Then to find out if he actually is, uses seyfried's character as bait. Interesting but given it was an Atom Egoyan film you know at some point it's going to go all crazy and take a drastic turn. Which of course it did.
Now where it went was intense and quite complex. Of course all that seems obvious most certainly isn't. You have to watch it to figure it all out really.
The point of the post is really to ask: Would you employ someone as bait? I asked some friends over dinner and 5:1 they all said they would. I was the lone nay sayer.
Don't know if it's naievity or just me being plain stupid, but did I miss something?

.sdr. @ my iPhone

London Film Fest 2009. - the story so far!

2009-10-22T20:03:00.001Z

It's a funny thing film fests. On the one hand I love going to them. But on the other. It's one of those places that you see the only thing that in normal circumstances you would assume, strange ... Fanatics. And I mean that in a good way. Given I am one.
The people / fanatics who love film. Unequivocally. And I do. It's kinda nice to be part of a society who come for the pleasure of watching a totally make believe world.
As Pooh once said to Tiger who asked "what is it that I am meant to do" to which Pooh replied " you can be anyone you want to be. It's called imagination".

Ps. The other thing that seems to bind film fest fanatics are the iPhones. I've never seen so many in one spot!

.sdr. @ my iPhone

A girl has to eat .. you can say that again!

2009-10-18T13:08:00.002Z

I was at a hen do last night and there were a couple of reasons why it was such a pleasant eve:
1. The hen is one of my favourite people and doubly so because Ange laughs at my ridiculous humour and
2. The others present were super-duper interesting. It's always great when ace friends introduce you to their ace friends.

One of them happened to be a fellow blogger who actually has a very important blog: she's a foodie!! Cassie reviews restaurants all over London and so finally a reviewer who I can actually trust! It's a super site - funny, insightful, honest and critical. It's going to be my first point of call now everytime I go out to eat.

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Anish Kapoor @ the RA

2009-10-15T16:37:00.002Z

So so amazing. Would strongly encourage you guys to see this. Superb! It's only on till 11 dec so go soon. Of course, this only applies if you live in the London! :)

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Too much knowledge

2009-10-08T16:44:00.000Z

Hmmm. There is the saying, which I love, that says too much knowledge isn't a good thing. Well!
Today I went to a conference about compliance and ethics which is my field. (yes ethics. And yes my field. Whatever). The other attendees were also global heads of compliance and quite senior people in their org. Anyway I went in reasonably confident that we're on the right track and things are plodding along in development as we go. But! Flipping heck the more I heard, the more worried I got!!! Couldn't believe how much more stuff we have to do at work!!! Total yikes factor!! And don't get me started on the whistleblowing hotline!!

.sdr. @ my iPhone

London film fest 2009

2009-10-07T14:53:00.001Z

Very excited. There are some cool films on. Going to see quite a few. The only thing is there aren't that many Asian films and almost none from the middle east. Hmm. I miss MIFF. Now If only the royal mail would get their act together and i could get my tixs!

Here is my list ....

.sdr. @ my iPhone

The visitor.

2009-10-04T23:37:00.001Z

A bit late seeing this given it came out last year but gosh what a film! Richard Jenkins is amazing. Hiam Abbas even more so. It is such a true reflection of what one feels when one enters the US. Immigration rules rule; human rights not so much. No wonder the Pakistani IOC guy put such a spanner in the works for the Chicago bid. He asked Obama whether visiting the US would continue to be such a "harrowing" experience for foreigners. Amazing.
Tom McCarthy is a wonderful director. Think again if you thought the Station Agent was a one off work of genius!!!

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Barefoot is now on Facebook!!

2009-10-03T16:08:00.002Z

Become a fan. It's for a worthy cause helping so many people have a better quality of life! And if that doesn't work. It's because I'm asking you to!! ...being friends and all (especially since I created the page!)

.sdr. @ my iPhone

And they're off...

2009-10-02T15:49:00.003Z

or in chicago's case, out! yay! always been a complete skeptic about the olympics. A total waste of money and expenditure when we are in the midst of such collosal turmoil in the global economy today.
Obama went there for five hours to make a personal plea to the IOC for the games. Flying a ridiculous number of miles for just five hours!!!! "carbon footprint? what carbon footprint"?! Well done. Pity it didn't work out for ya!

.sdr. @ my iPhone

Ping!

2009-10-01T18:32:00.002Z

The new iPhone app that let's you do IM like a bb!!! Soooooo cool. Now if only people would buy more iPhones! Lol.

.sdr. @ my iPhone

It's TRAGIC ...

2009-10-01T11:07:00.003Z

That timberlake and biel broke up. But what's even more tragic is if they hadn't, blackbook wouldn't have been able to write their genius take on it!! Lol.

one of the funniest things ever!!!

2009-09-21T22:21:00.002Z

the september issue

2009-09-07T13:16:00.007Z

everyone says that this is a film you should see if you love fashion. i wouldn't. go see this film if you:
a) want to understand what makes a leader
b) understand how perfectionists work
c) know that mediocrity is an irrelevant concept
d) want to see how two very creative yet incredibly stubborn people work together.

absolutely, it makes a diff that you like clothes and understand style. but thats not really what this is all about.
i saw the september issue on saturday and i have to say it was one of the most riveting pieces of celluloid i have ever seen. the film follows vogue editor in chief anna wintour around while she and her people put together the september issue of 2007, the largest issue ever published.
the other thing everyone is raving about is her relationship with creative director, grace coddington, who truth be told, is visionary (its amazing to think one person has so much imagination and what an eye for structure and composition!).
but for me, the film was all about wintour - what came across is that she sets the tone, she sets the benchmark and she is completely in control; unwavering in her strive for a product that is absolultely faultless. you have to admire that. and if it all comes with 'bitchy', well then so be it.
the film was was directed by rj cutler (who produced the war room), and it was a superb documentary.
its known that the devil wears prada was a pseudo-film about wintour, but i have to say, after seeing the september issue, i would in a heart beat give up my career to work for her.

worlds best art gallery...

2009-09-01T13:05:00.002Z

jonathan jones in the guardian today, said that his fav art gallery in the world is the uffizi in florence. which got me thinking (rare as that is!). i love art. i love art galleries even more. and having travelled to certain cities to only visit exhibits or art galleries felt that i should say something on the matter!
so uffizi is good. agree. but to me the best is the d'orsay in paris. hands down. close second is the guggenheim in ny. close third is the albertina in vienna. next is the ngv in melbs, and then finally, the national portrait in london. if i had to round up the top six, the tate mod would be in there... good thing i live so close to it gotta say!

i love this !

2009-08-28T22:54:00.001Z

they seem so so happy! what a super way to walk in ...

i am so rubbish

2009-07-21T20:09:00.003Z

my posting skills have deteriorated and i know some have been saying 'wtf' so am sorry - the keep you up to date bit has been a bit redundant! *sigh*.
anyway...
after eleni's fabulous wedding in melbourne in mid june and after pa's super birthday party i came back to london and work! crazy work. but should say that i was working from melbs as well which was a bit dire. caught up with a few people which was lovely. had a cousin's only dinner which was super nice and incredibly revealing (! new york psychologist mich ... really ... new york?!).
knew july was going to be a bit hectic but didnt realise just how hectic! first few days after settling in went fine, then eleni and john came to visit which was so lovely. i went for an ace wedding in oxfordshire. so much dancing. so much fun (thanks n and r for inviting meeeeee!). following on, went to sardinia for three days. and even though i am not much of a water person, it was just so spectacular and relaxing. quite impressed was i.
next up, new york for a week (for work!). and then ma and pa are here for a month and a bit. can't flipping wait!

since the last post ...

2009-06-07T22:37:00.004Z

been to vienna and madrid. which were both so fantastic. forgot to say in my earlier vienna post that the fine arts museum is amazing but i preferred the albertina. and i still dont understand why they shut up shop so early (after having spoken to viennese chums, it seems thats quite accepted!)
madrid was good - i went alone and caught up with chums. but the highlight for me was the personal tour of the prado ! (gracias carmen / bea!) . five hours worth but it was so amazing. i saw all the spanish painters that i've admired for yonks - velazquez and goya. but i discovered a spanish artist that i had not heard of before - jose de ribera - who was spectacular ! very carravaggio like and i guess thats why i loved it. but what a delight to discover. the other thing that i loved was the thyssen museum - great private collection thats turned into a museum. so very nice.
thanks heaps to pals who made the time to see me!
but otherwise ...
its been ace to hang out in london and experience some (random) fabulous weather. and what an absolute treat to have alphonso mangoes (but the trip to southall to get them was pretty much the only time i'll be heading there - ahpos or no ahpos!)
next stop -melbs this week till 23 june ! can't wait. pa's 65th birthday and Eleni's wedding ! :)

the UN - a completely redundant institution

2009-05-15T12:13:00.006Z

i should rephrase the heading to say - the un (and all its affiliates!) - totally redundant institutions.

i was in paris this week. at unesco. the educational, scientific and cultural organisation of the un. i was there on behalf of work at a conference to discuss antiquities, illegally obtained artifacts and cultural property and stolen pieces of art. from our point of view, it appeared that we were the only private sector organisation attending the session. and might i add, we were referred to as 'the private sector' with such distaste that we might as well have not appeared.

this session of the organisation - an intergovernmental committee - meets once every two years to discuss cultural property and what one does with them. the parthenon marbles were referred to (note they werent referred to as the 'elgin' marbles!). [of course greece and uk talked so civily about the return. what they really wanted i suspect was a total bon-fight with the greece delegation compeletely whooping the uk's ass - obviously]. but wait ... i digress!

the upshot of this three day love-in was remarkable. what was extraordinary was the way they made decisions, ie not a single one was made. everyone was most polite (thank you chairman this, and your most welcome, the distinguished member from blah blah that), but not one single decision was made in this three day event. the bureaucracy was staggering. the US had a comment to make about every single thing, even on things that weren't their concern. dont be surprised - i wasn't. the delegates debated (pardon the alliteration!) for a good 15mins, grammar and composition of sentences. we were completely bemused, yet mortified that the level of inefficiency and inadequacy of the system.

you then have to wonder: why do member states contribute finanically to the un when they do sweet f-all!?! surely our tax £'s could go to saving the planet. and after experiencing the public sector at its best (i'm being cynical - they were completely insufferable!), its no wonder that the private sector looks at them with such distaste!

mind boggling!

2009-05-11T10:55:00.003Z

i think its me. seriously. perhaps its habitual. but i seem to find myself more often than not in ridiculous circumstances. life. work. study. stuff. and then too often they pile up all at the same time i have to trudge through it. then i realised that i get overly hyper. and it has nothing to do with the lack of sleep or the 3-4 hours of sleep that i normally get. so am quite at a loss to know what to do about it! hmmmmm...
meanwhile. this has been a busy couple of weeks / months.
i was in vienna a few weekends ago and it was great. altho its one of those cities that once you see you never ever have to go see it again. ever. nice and all. beautiful. but pretty much done and dusted in two days. and whats with everything shutting at 10pm?!?! we went to the opera on one of the days; saw the ballet. superb. box seats. 8EUR. cant beat that at all!
this week off to paris for a unesco conf. nice.
weekend after next, off to madrid. quite excited to go there because i've never been and am so so looking forward to seeing the prado! especially since i have my own personal tour !! (thanks bea for organising!!!)
THEN! I am home in melbs between 12 - 23 june!!! will be on melbs mobile. hopefully you guys have it. or if not, will have crackberry so will be on gmail! can't wait to see you guys!

'may i be acceptable in Thy sight'

2009-04-19T18:24:00.003Z

i watched till the whee hours of a morning (like this doesnt happen always!), a documentary on the prodigious john coltrane. and as much as i love his jazz, what i didnt know was that in addition to being a mesmerising composer and musician, he was also a remarkable lyricist. and to be honest, after reading this, it sure beats any prayer i've ever read.

I will do all I can to be worthy of Thee, O Lord. It all has to do with it. Thank You God.
Peace. There is none other. God is. It is so beautiful. Thank You God.
God is all. Help us to resolve our fears and weaknesses. In you all things are possible. Thank you God.
We know. God made us so. Keep your eye on God. God is. He always was. He always will be.
No matter what... it is God. He is gracious and merciful. It is most important that I know Thee.
Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, throughts, fears and emotions--time--all related... all made from one... all made in one.
Blessed be his name. Thought waves--heat waves--all vibrations-- all paths lead to God. Thank you God.
His way... it is so lovely... it is gracious. It is merciful--Thank you God. One thought can produce millions of vibrations and they all go back to God... everything does.
Thank you God. Have no fear... believe... Thank you God. The universe has many wonders. God is all.
His way... it is so wonderful. Thoughts--deeds--vibrations, all go back to God and He cleanses all.
He is gracious and merciful... Thank you God. Glory to God... God is so alive. God is. God loves.
May I be acceptable in Thy sight.
We are all one in His grace. The fact that we do exist is acknowledgement of Thee, O Lord. Thank you God.
God will wash away all our tears... He always has... He always will.
Seek him everyday. In all ways seek God everyday. Let us sing all songs to God. To whom all praise is due... praise God.
No road is an easy one, but they all go back to God.
With all we share God. It is all with God. It is all with Thee.
Obey the Lord. Blessed is He.
We are all from one thing... the will of God... Thank you God.
--I have seen ungodly-- none can be greater--none can compare Thank you God.
He will remake... He always has and He always will. It's true--blessed be His name--Thank you God.
God breathes through us so completely... so gently we hardly feel it... yet, it is our everything.
Thank you God.
ELATION--ELEGANCE--EXALTATION-- All from God.
Thank you God.
Amen.

John William Coltrane (1923-1967)

something to blog about ...

2009-04-18T01:08:00.002Z

so i know its been ages since i last blogged. time just ran away from me and also there was so much going on.
but.
went for this tonight. amazing. brilliant. still in a daze. just one of the best things i have ever seen!

what to say only!

2009-03-12T00:05:00.005Z

its been ages since my last post but i've been so busy.

first there was huge work stuff to contend with - besides a trip to paris for work (!) - its just been so incredibly hectic with the rest. then there was the social life ;) and then best of all, ma and pa are here in london so we've spent the last few weeks gallivanting around town!

oh and i happened to see not one, but TWO awful films. i think it must be a record:

delhi 6: a hindi film where i had NO IDEA what was going on
the international: a clive owen / naomi watt thriller-comedy. i actually dont know whether it was a thriller or a comedy. half way through we started talking during the film. and then by the end we were having full on convos about the middle east (well ... almost!). it was the most ludicrous film! i blame naomi (of course, clive can do NO wrong!) :)

can he do this? YES HE CAN!

2009-02-04T18:28:00.002Z

news today that obama has capped executive salaries of those companies that received goverment bailout $'s to 500k pa. he said it was not only fair but also 'basic common sense'. no kidding. the $87,000 rug incident am sure didnt go down well.
if you look at the firms that received the bailout money - aig / bank of america / citigroup / goldmans / morgan stanley / jp morgan - they all contributed to obama's presidential campaign. and lets not talk about the inauguration gala costs last estimated to be around USD 150 MILLION that were suppplemented by 41 million raised by obama's peeps themselves from private donors (including banking execs)! seriously - you needed to spend THAT much on the inauguration of what, basically a 10 min swearing in ceremony, that your CHIEF JUSTICE stuffed up! i mean, YOU KNOW!
by all means cap salary, curb corporate spending, reduce the bladi-blah. whatever! but in the spirit of openess, honesty, fairness and transparency, perhaps also return the money those firms contributed to YOUR campaign and to tax payers, their funds for the hoopla inauguration! i'm sure that too will "alleviate some of the pain tax payers are suffering". and dont be a hypocrite - really - we know its - barack, the great big hope and all that, but seriously, two weeks in, lets HOPE its not - barack, the great despair.

che part 1; australia part -1

2009-01-05T02:29:00.006Z

che part 1
steven soderbergh directed. benecio del toro acted. the life and times of ernesto 'che' guevara. part 1 is uptil the revolution and culminates with che's address to the un general assembly in 1964. its beautifully filmed. the film is based on che's book about the revolution and i love the way the story is an amalgamation of different genres of film - real time / black and white / verite / photographs / action and to some extent, silent picture. del toro is brilliant but then anyone who saw him in traffic or the usual suspects or 21 grams or sin city or things we lost in the fire would attest to this man's genius. plus his resemblance to the real che is uncanny!
initially the film was 4 hours long. premiering at cannes in 08 it was thought to be too long and so was split into parts 1 and 2. i for one, can't wait till part 2 !

------
update:
kidman disses her OWN film ... nuff said really!

australia
directed by baz lurhmann. nicole kidman and hugh jackman acted.
the mind boggles as to why jackman took the role. i mean de niro he's not, but even then... this was a horrible career move. the film certainly confirms that kidman is the most overrated actress on the planet. lurhmann should have stuck with his red curtain-ish trilogy. even better he should take directing lessons from mr soderbergh!
dismal doesnt even begin to describe what i felt. more like embarrassed, aghast, ill and ripped off. i have half a mind to support the australian cricket team - thats how bad it was!

the reader

2009-01-02T03:02:00.003Z

i went to see the new kate winslet film - the reader - this evening. having read the book by bernard schlink ages ago, i was expecting alot. and also since this was a stephen daldry film with ralph fiennes, lina olin, bruno ganz and alexandra maria lara (who were both in downfall - which was mesmerising btw), i was expecting a lot. am so glad to say that for my first film of 2009, this definitely didnt dissappoint. it was excellent. and it was incredibly subtle in its execution. winslet was great (but i think kristin scott thomas still trumps her in i've loved you so long) and fiennes was super as usual. lots of issues, especially seeing as this film has been sorta slammed for sympathising and 'beautifying' the holocaust and the camps. but even then, i think its eloquent, beautifully shot, thought provoking and very well acted. debateable whether its a cinema film (dvd flick will do), but still, go see it!

2008 ... hmmm ...

2008-12-31T14:57:00.012Z

well, to say i'm thrilled that this year is over is a mild mild understatement. its been such a waste. lets recap:

jan: hols in oz; start new job
feb: plod along in new job; realise that new job is rubbish and its shitola (thanks for the word j!) ; spend a month trying desperately to get out of new job;
mar: hols in seville. yay. interviews to get out of new job. find another job. (restrospective realisation that taking this new job was folly). take a month off in between jobs. hols in oz. discovered and started using interesting swear word till i realised that it was no swear word at all: shatooth! (sounds kinda deadly though doesnt it?!) :)
apr: start new new job. the only pro: walk to work from home; cons: boring financial services firm; boss who puts OCD sufferers to shame (refuses to admit SHE is OCD!). spend easter in bombay. wonderful. fantastic. home.
may: new new job goes on. whatever.
jun: plod along in new new job. spend copious amounts of time on the internet pretending to do work. realise i am poster child for 'lbdfa'ing' generation!
jul: hols in oz (do you notice a pattern!). [note: only a month into my new new job, i took three weeks off... wtf aside, what does that say about the firm!?]. meanwhile i asked my boss if she could give me more work, she goes, ' i have nothing to give you'. verbatim. no jokes. what am i to do!?
aug: important month! istanbul! one of the coolest places on the planet. new new job sadly continues. realisation that finance really sucks (i mean, we knew it sucked but now i knew it really sucked!) . getting out of the biz best decision ever. then some eventful eve in aug, having dinner with some chums and in customary fashion am asked about my job. i moan. complain. say its boring. rightfully someone says, then what the hell are you doing. get out. to which i reply. good suggestion. whoo-hoo and all. deadpan. but actual doing a lot riskier.
sept: mixed month. low point: finding out pa has cancer. but over time, we do the operation, its sucessful. we're grateful. he's doing well. high point: turned 30. great party. lovely gifts. new new job continues but now with me realising its only a matter of time before i resign
oct: prior to me resigning decide to take another hol. of course off to oz. for another two weeks. amazing. loving it. get back to london, i resign
nov: spend time at work in blissful abandon. do absolutely nothing. literally. at least before there was a 5% image factor, now i just cant be bothered. send even more emails to pals from work email about random nothingness. incredulously, have time to design my own hyfunda cartoons on the financial meltdown. "clearly i have nothing to do". on resignation day, go out to celebrate. responsible pals at dinner say if your unemployed, how about working for us?! very exciting. very new. love the field. its NOT in finance. global remit. i run the show. what more could i want?
dec: start new venture. grand times.

and now here we are ... so if i look at it and am incredibly honest, its just dec thats really tickled my fancy. and besides the travel, nothing much has been done. golly gee - here's hoping 2009 is flipping fantastic!

happy new year people!

merry christmas everyone!

2008-12-24T19:28:00.001Z

sam this is one of the nicest coolest things i've ever received... hope you dont mind me sharing!

----------

This
Xmas,
I would
like to put
up a tree in my
heart, and instead
of hanging presents,
I would like to put the
names of all my friends.
Close friends and not so close
friends. The old friends the new
friends. Those that I see every day
and the ones that I rarely see. The ones
that I always remember and the ones that
I sometimes forget. The ones that are always
there and the ones that seldom are. The friends of
difficult times and the ones of happy times. Friends
who, without meaning to, I have hurt, or, without meaning
to, have hurt me. Those that I know well and those I only know
by name. Those that owe me little and those that I owe so much.
My humble friends and my important friends. The names of all those
that have passed through my life no matter how fleetingly. A tree with
very deep roots and very long
and strong branches so that
their names may never be
plucked from my heart. So
that new names from all
over may join the existing ones. A tree with a very
pleasant shade so that our friendship may take a
moment of rest from the battles of life.

May the happy moments of Christmas brighten your days, and may each new day bring you much peace, joy, happiness, wealth, and good health.

he ducked!

2008-12-17T01:58:00.002Z

i mean how is a man who is so stupid, have the good sense to duck!?!?! mind boggles!!!

maybe its because i turned 30 ...

2008-12-05T17:25:00.003Z

or maybe its just because i was so fed up with finance and disillusioned with the market that i thought - you know, surely life is more than this - a 9-5ish job where you pretty much do the same thing everyday and all things being equal, you end up making money for people who already have so much. and sometimes you have the good fortune to work with wonderful people, and sometimes, not. its very hit and miss. what, at the end of the day, does that say!? tbh - nothing much!
so i've taken the rather drastic step of ditching all this ! the whole industry - finance sucks and for the past eleven years, whether i'd like to admit it or not, has been the bane of my existence. and rather than moan and pontificate about what i would like to be doing, i decided, you know what, i might as well just get on with it.
this is the best time to make the leap, the economy being in the crap and all. and if it doesnt work, well thank god, at least i would have tried. as ma said to me the other day, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' (this is as good as the other famous ma comment and my favourite ... 'waste not, want not'!) :)

im taking the road less traveled ...

2008-11-12T00:53:00.004Z

the road not taken, robert frost

two roads diverged in a yellow wood / and sorry i could not travel both / and be one traveler, long i stood / and looked down one as far as i could / to where it bent in the undergrowth;

then took the other, as just as fair / and having perhaps the better claim / because it was grassy and wanted wear / though as for that the passing there / had worn them really about the same;

and both that morning equally lay / in leaves no step had trodden black. oh, i kept the first for another day! yet knowing how way leads on to way / i doubted if i should ever come back.

i shall be telling this with a sigh / somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and i - i took the one less traveled by / and that has made all the difference.

... words to live by!

is it just me, or is there an inverse relationship between confidence in alistair darling and confidence in the market?!?!

2008-10-13T14:00:00.013Z

clearly i have too much time on my hands ...

after the hoopla ...

2008-10-02T00:05:00.004Z

it was a great few days of celebration after my birthday but pretty soon after reality really set in.
as some of you know my dad has cancer. so this year even though it was my 30th, it was with incredibly mixed emotions that i 'celebrated'.
he was meant to be operated on before my birthday but then for a sundry of reasons that got pushed back to the 23rd. the great news is that the operation was a success and they were able to get all the cancer. the recoup is where its at! for me its always been easier to go to hospital because it impinges on my social life ([! :) :)... its true!] and i just want to get it over and done with. but for dad it was tough because he had never ever been to a hospital in his life; quite a role reversal when the daughter explains to the father, what happens during the pre-op, the anesthetic, post op recovery blah blah ...
just wanted to say thanks so much to all who were here, who supported, prayed, encouraged, thought good thoughts, sent out positive vibes and really just by 'being' made it so much easier for me while here in london. you really find out who true friends are in times like this.
am off to melbs in oct for a bit but then back in london. hope to catch up with melb homies while i'm home; will be there from 11 - 25 oct.

thank you!

2008-09-23T00:06:00.002Z

who knew that in the week after my birthday weekend, lehman's would go kaput, merrills would no longer exist and the economies of many countries would pretty much tank and be almost as worse as the great depression. gosh!
having dealt with the aftermath at work, i realised that i hadnt done this yet; so just wanted to say thank you to all for coming to my party, the copious amounts of cards, the multitude of gifts, the plethora of emails and the abundance of good wishes and birthday greetings! thank you! i had a blast. hope you had too.
s xoxo
ps: pics were taken. and sent out. buzz me if you didnt receive them; will resend! :)

birthday party !

2008-09-13T12:32:00.006Z

some of you have received emails, facebook, f-2-f , texts and whatever else with the invite. so hope to see you tonight. party starts at 7.30.
wear whatever you fancy - some are dressing up, some dressing down and well ... something in the middle. so you know ... its pretty much a veritable feast. the good thing will be just to see you guys and have a ball.
i am turning 30!!! OMG... FINALLY!!! :) :)
s xo
ps; call me if there are probs, but its basically on marylebone high street!
pps; my birthday is actually tomorrow but thanks to some who pre-wished! :) was darn cool :)

istanbul !!!!

2008-09-02T00:26:00.008Z

one of the most amazing places on the planet. full stop. case closed. we went for a birthday party. fantastic weather. great sites. history. food. terrif people.

even better shopping and oh my gosh, the architecture, the culture, the mood - difficult to be surpassed!

and to boot, they sure know how to party! nightclubs open till 5am - where in the world does that happen!?!?!

Hemingway, a bet and 6 words …

2008-08-26T13:45:00.004Z

As some of you may know a farewell to arms is my favourite book of all time. I have still to find a book that I can even imagine beats this one. then I came across an article in the guardian which retells a story about hemingway where he made a bet with someone that for ten bucks he could tell a story in six words or less. suffice to say, he won the bet. the story: ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’. the story, even the potential hint of a story, could quite possibly have beaten a farewell to arms. pity it was never taken further.

the paper also ran a competition and these were some of the interesting (ultra) short stories that caught my eye:

He didn’t. She did. Big mistake (AL Kennedy)
Dad called. DNA back. He isn’t (Helen Fielding)
In the end, everything simply began (Ali Smith)
Stop me before I kill again (Hari Kunzru)
‘Mind what gap?’ (Hilary Mantel)

… and here are my lame attempt(s):

“i wasn’t there when it happened!”
"i thought you loved me?"
time was up; nowhere to run.
three women. two men. one child.

its pure laziness !!!

2008-08-12T10:29:00.004Z

that’s really the reason why i haven’t blogged in yonks. after i left london for my trip home via dubai (see below) i pretty much had one of the most relaxed holidays ever and was so laid back that i didn’t blog at all while i was at home or since. but as i was reminded recently by a few friends, i hadn’t in a while and so really ought to get back into it.
trying to summarise four weeks worth of stuff is a tad difficile – my editorial skills are only that good – but here goes:

hols to melbs (ha ha)
emirates flight – i really could go on (and on and on) about this but simply… highly over-rated ; its just a darn pity that their flights are very convenient all around the world
work continues to be ‘interesting’ (read from that what you will!)
saw a bucket load of films: dark knight (okayish…i know.. sad to say but i went in with extremely high expectations and tbh it was a whee bit disappointing); wall-e (very cute); mamma mia (its with meryl… nuff said… but oh wait .. bond sings!!!); outsourced (terrific and very very funny); before the rains (hmmmm.. don’t bother); dan in real life (outstanding!); pareeneta (hindi flick, hadn’t seen one in ages, i liked); before the devil knows your dead (sidney lumets latest! .. . interesting); elegy (based on philip roth’s dying animal.. with ben kingsley, penelope cruz and patricia clarkson… for me, clarkson stole the show, even though she was on screen a fraction of the time!)
read a few books: the race (richard north patterson – brilliant brilliant brilliant); a scandalous man (gavin esler – the beeb’s man in Washington – really good book); heat and dust (ruth prawar jhabvala – of howards end / remains of the day fame – excellent!).

travel wise: off to istanbul and paris in august. will post pics on facebook / ofoto!

Dubai!

2008-07-12T02:15:00.002Z

so dubai remains a dump. but this time its a dump with really rude people. in dubai for a couple of hours transit - am catching up with joanna and bill who i haven't seen in yonks - and immigration was a breeze. well... the dude asked me for how long i was visiting and i said 5 hours and he just gave me 'the look'. and i was like 'what'?? then while i was waiting some security moron came by and told me in arabic (!!!!) that i shouldn't be bystanding. and then i was going to respond 'bismilla' but i think that means 'lets eat' so pretty sure that definitely wasn't going to work! and i would have been deported! never knew though that transit = bystanding. things you learn! ho hum!

anyhoo the next thing you know the arrivals area has these huge fans that blows water. presumably to keep people cool. go figure. but i mean wtf?!?

the upshot: i have new found respect for peeps who live here! i know i sure as hell couldn't do it!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

am off !

2008-07-11T10:10:00.001Z

leaving london today for hols... dubai and melbs. so will be on london no while in dubai; oz no while in oz ;). gmail and bb pretty much all the time :)
see some of you soon!

:-)

2008-07-10T00:54:00.003Z

quote of the month!

2008-06-30T22:33:00.004Z

... this is something dubya might have said but oh no ... its actually ex vp dan quayle... you gotta love these republicans!

it isn't pollution that is hurting the environment, it's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.

no!!! really? you think!?!?! WTF!!!!! ... idiot!

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, 13 Septemer 2008

2008-06-27T02:10:00.003Z

i've emailed but in case you didnt get that ...

as some of you know, i normally loathe celebrating my birthday. But as i was reminded recently, this year its a big one – i’m turning 30 (and i can hear some of you say – thank god – finally!)... So i guess given that i’m getting older *sigh*, i’m breaking with tradition and actually have a birthday party this year. my birthday is actually on the 14th, but i thought it would be good to have a party on the s and bring in my birthday :)

SO!

please keep this date free!!!

i’m still finalising the venue and will email nearer the time for numbers and rsvps (btw... it will be black tie due to popular demand:)). but for those of you drawing up travel plans or who are o/s and might be traveling to londonium in the next half of the year, please draw up itens that let you be here on 13th Sept! it would be fantabulous (it is so a word!) *roll eyes* if you could be here and celebrate with me!! :)

forgive me for not blogging; it has been 15 days since my last post ...

2008-06-16T22:59:00.006Z

i would love to say i've been frightully busy but truthfully i've just been slack. and when i mean slack i mean i've been reading, watching films, making travel plans that alas, have not eventuated, eating, not drinking, and loafing around with chums. so in summary:

satc - sex and the city - was not all that good. clothes and real estate were fabulous; the rest we so could have done without
indy - disappointment. i'll always remember last crusade as the last indy flick
penelope lively's moon tiger - i would love to say it was ace and so worthy of the booker, but to me it was ok. well actually it was a bit like the english patient (the egypt parts) but with the lead being a woman (and we all know how that turned out)
nyonya turned out to be worth the wait
as did odettes
im still looking for a good italian (c'mon people??! anyone... anyONE?!)
work continues to evolve - i still get to leave the office at 6 so really no complaining from me
multi-tasking and delegation is da bomb :)
london weather continues to dominate conversations and yet oddly, speaking about it just doesnt seem to be making it better. i've been told this fri, 20 june is officially the first day of summer. it better be.
ravi and anouskha shankar rock the house - even though after like the 18th minute of the raag you are so completely over it
zakir should be just as good
travel wise, dubai and melbourne are on the horizon for july. italy a strong possibility for end june. but otherwise, london seems to be where its at
commodities are the way of the future
barack. oh barack. what can i say. darn it !!
potential purchase
regretful purchase
future purchase
useful purchase ... (do you notice a trend?! )
officially the greatest font ever created - mrs eaves ligatures!

otherwise all going along so so. the only hiccup - i think someone out there has my number mixed up with someone else's cause i get calls asking for 'doreeeeen' in this heavy jamaican accent. never mind that on my answering machine i do mention you've called me ie shefali... mind really boggles :( the next thing i'm sure to hear is "doreen is that you", with some bob marley reggae stuff in the background... the spice of life :)

quote of the month!

2008-05-30T17:32:00.003Z

Former Notre Dame footballer Joe Theismann:

"The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football.
A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

... you tell em Albert ! ... i mean Joe...

Lights are not on; everyones home!

2008-05-27T23:50:00.003Z

update:
he came, he installed, he did not conquer. i dont understand it. the dude laid the cable but did not attach it to anything !!!! virgin media suck.
meanwhile... after he left, while i was shifting back all my furniture in place, i accidentally dropped my modem and guess what... yep, the broadband started working again. so you know, moral of story, if all else fails, just drop it like its hot :)
-------
my net has konked out. K.O.N.K.E.D. O.U.T.! and i am completely lost. i never really realised how much i depend on it and technology.
what i love though is the virgin media people. after the debacle of last time, am not holding my breath for the repeat. apparently the cable they installed was the wrong one, so they have to re-lay the cable line. found this out after a call to the help desk based in india.
india tech guy: how can I help you ma'am (ma'am?!?!?)?
me: my broadbands not working
itg: have you tried turning it ie the modem off and on? (he said ie .... Am not joking!)
me: yes. it still doesn't work
itg: ok well your network area reach is good (wtf does that mean?)
me: ok. So what now?
itg: are there lights on your modem (huh???)
me: yah but the 'ready' light isn't.
itg: oh
(that sounds ominous)
itg: so basically that means that your broadband is not working. (no. You think? you don't say!!!!).

Upshot. Some dude is coming out here to lay new line. Hope it doesn't take the marathon effort of the last time or the guy saying to me: where's the cable?!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

some things are better left unearthed!

2008-05-17T03:19:00.001Z

you know how when your a kid, you think everything that you did, saw, heard, ate, drank, blah blah was the best there ever was. well nkotb (new kids on the block to the uninitiated!) has decided to re-group. first plug was on the today show in nyc ...

... kinda sorta rest my case ! :(

quote of the month!

2008-04-28T22:01:00.006Z

when asked if she received any romantic grand gestures, emma snowden jones replied:

"some mistake that i married spelled my name in rose petals!"

you cant buy this sort of humour :)

its T4 stooopid!

2008-04-20T11:19:00.005Z

i got back to london yesterday, but my bags didnt. and i didnt fly into T5. after the fiasco there i thought, 'how superb, i'm flying into T4'. so after getting on and what not, we land at heathrow only to land on the tarmac, not at the gates cause oops, there wasn't any 'free gates' left. i have no idea what that means, but what it meant for all of us was getting off the aircraft down rickety stairs and then into buses that would take us to the terminal.
then we get through to the terminal, get to immigration where i get the third degree (yes, still!), and then through to baggage. so then i'm waiting. waiting. waiting. and then you know when you wait that long and realisation hits that your bag is not coming around, well thats what happened to me.
so i went to the desk where the girl there says to me 'oh sorry'. like thats going to compensate for my bag getting lost. then she says 'and you must have been thinking, thank god you landed at t4 huh? ironic dont you think?'
now ordinarily, bags getting lost is never a good thing. but when this dude came up with this, i was like, you know what... you know as well as i know that there is nothing that could be done now except find my bags, so i guess humour at this time is as good as any.
the upside, and this is how ridiculous BAA actually are: my bags did get to heathrow but some stooooopid person put it on the wrong conveyor belt :( mind boggles.

melbourne

2008-04-14T08:49:00.004Z

since i'm on sabbatical, i thought i'd hop on a plane and head home for a few weeks. i've been in melbourne now for the past two weeks (nearly) and its been so fantastic to literally do nothing. have to say though if socialising were an occupation, i'd be the ceo's ceo ... :)
the latest in oz:

the new governor general (ie the queen's rep in oz) is a woman
the oz olympic squads outfits were showed off
the aussie stock market isnt doing all that well
australian rules football reached new levels of thuggery

its not 'unemployment', its a 'sabbatical'

2008-04-01T00:11:00.008Z

finally bit the bullet and resigned. i so had enough. it was just horrendous the whole kaboodle. and the good thing is you know you've done the right thing when your boss .a. refuses to accept your resignation .b. patronises you when your trying to explain why your trying to get out of the flipping place .c. accuses you of talking in riddles and .d. blames you because they are shit. you gotta love these people! seriously! i wonder.

anyway !

this means that i'm now 'on a break'. and i dont think i've ever used these words more often in any circumstance: 'im reassessing my options'. 'taking a break'. 'perhaps a change of career might be good'. 'i'm taking a sabbatical'.

its nice to be unemployed. i say hesitantly. but it was nice to wake up today with no place to go except lunch, coffee, another coffee, dinner and then a film with a whole bunch of different friends. now if only i could find a way where unemployment paid, my work would be done!

ps; this month marks the two year anniversary of my blog ... i know ! even i'm amazed! shatooth! :)

bombay!

2008-03-25T21:49:00.003Z

of course i refuse to call it mumbai. but i was in boms for a week - easter and a few weddings, as it turned out!
arrived on wednesday and a pal pretty much turned up and said so guess what i did this morning ... so me being me and such a simpleton, i go 'what' and she goes 'i got married'. gobsmacked didnt even begin to describe the feeling. so that night, which was my first night in boms, i was off to a wedding reception! pretty good way to start a holiday i have to say.
the rest of the week was spent in a daze, first preparing for easter, then playing holi, then running errands and doing numerous other things (meds, chimmanlals and bankers was the order of the week!) and then just lazing about catching up with pals who were visiting the city. i dont think there was ever a night i did go to bed before 4 ... in the AM!!! it was excellent fun and i found myself often wondering while i was there, why i dont live in bombay. if you forget the pollution and the madness of the traffic (!), really the standard of living is sorta kinda excellent. got me thinking - alot - about a possible move back there for a while this year. hmmmmmmm ...

just when i thought journalism couldnt get any better ...

2008-03-18T15:25:00.004Z

gail collins and olivia darby i salute you! :)

90% discount ... still no ones running!

2008-03-18T00:02:00.003Z

normally when there's a 90% discount, invariably you see people pounding to the doors to get a bargain and the most important thing of the moment is, 'how sharp are my elbows'?... well it doesnt seem to be the same in financial circles.

news today that bear stearns has been sold to jp morgan at 2$ per share - thats a 90% discount on the market price of yesterday!!!! and this is in addition to the fed bailing them out. diabolic. perhaps this is payback. a while ago when ltcm was going through its upheavals and the government bailed them out, bear was the only firm not party to the bailout. yet it makes you wonder what the rest of the investment banks are up to. rumours surfaced late today that lehmans is under the pump and that ubs has been rebranded to - "u've been split"! talk about ominous. 'long bear' anyone?! :)

Indian HC, London

2008-03-14T09:38:00.002Z

so am off to india next week. and in the usual fashion have decided to leave getting my visa till the last. hasn't helped that there was an issue with my pio processing but that's another story!!
anyhoo ...
i got up at the crack of down - 6 in the am!!! - to come down to the embassy to queue for 2 hours (!!!!!!!!) till they opened the doors at which point you get a Q card (no pun intended)! then you go into the hall and your q no is called up. then you give them your stuff to process and they take your passport, form, blah blah. then you have to come back an hour later to come and collect your passport with visa.
phew!
have to say though that even though there is so much waitin there is method to the madness!! g bharat! shatooth! :)

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Seville! Day 2 ...

2008-03-09T16:34:00.002Z

Spent yesterday afternoon and evening lounging around Seville. Since its almost summer weather around here - 25 degrees yesterday - it got dark really late. Spent it at a square surrounded by prada, max mara and loewe. Nice. Today was spent lounging around again. The Spanish do it very well so we were trying to adapt! Wondering around the place we found a super place for lunch. Just near the cathedral and the quaint barrio of Santa Cruz. The brilliance of the lunch however was marred by some irritating English men who were loud and pretty obnoxious. So we left straight after lunch. Then lazed around some more before heading to the hotel and sunbathing on the roof terrace and pool. I have no idea why I should give this all up to work in a bank!!!

Seville! Day 1 ...

2008-03-08T12:19:00.002Z

I don't know why more people don't visit Seville. Its a beautiful city. There is lots to see. And don't get me started on the food!!! Amazing! The hotel we're staying at is incredibly central. I think we lucked out! Its only been day 1 but so far so good. And yes, the orange juice does taste better in Seville!

quote of the month!

2008-03-06T01:09:00.004Z

"being humble is so 2007"

you just gotta love erykah badu !

if your going to translate ... TRANSLATE!

2008-02-22T17:04:00.007Z

i read michael wallner's book april in paris recently. its written in the german! having said that it is set in the 1940's during the nazi occupation of paris. the story revolves around a german officer who falls in love with a french parisienne resistance member. so obviously there are bits in the french. all this has been translated into the english. but here's the point ...

if your going to translate the entire novel from the german to the english, why haven't you translated the french (bits) into the english!? seriously ! it is such a lovely little novel but it was incredibly frustrating to read the story and then get stuck on some of the key dialogue because i couldnt understand the french. and even my (limited) french linguistic skills wasn't good enuf. i dont know perhaps... if it was in the hindi i might have fared better :(

march travel plans

2008-02-17T23:43:00.008Z

march looks like a busy month. travel plans so far:

seville: 8th - 9th
oxford: 15th
boms: 20th - 26th

does anyone want anything from either of the above??? do say!!!

contact wise, will have my crackberry with gmail or gtalk so you can get me there. and of course london mobile. but in india will also have bom mobile ... hope to see some of you around the traps :)

[and sonja!! please could you let me know before you want me to meet ya, where it is that i am meeting ya!]

It’s really a sad day when …

2008-02-08T12:32:00.002Z

update:

i have since quit!! yipeeeeeeeeeee...

-------

… you realise that the best thing about your new job is the canteen and the fact that your picture on your security pass is probably one of the best darn pictures you’ve ever taken !!
i wish i was joking. but i am seriously freaking out. i think i’ve made a mistake and have no idea what to do about it. especially now, given the state of the markets. the other day i was in a conference call and my boss nodded off! this was week 1. so what did i do – i read the entire financial times! cover to cover – even the bloody commodity prices :(
today marks a month that i’ve been here and am rethinking this whole thing. but i have no idea what to do. at least i have a job which is more than i can say for some people. so am thinking of ways to make it interesting; get more involved, etc..
i just hope the canteen doesn’t go pear shaped :( dire dire straits …

its been a while ...

2008-01-28T00:10:00.000Z

... since i last posted something on the blog.
i was hoping 2008 would be manic free but i think the hope was unfounded. after spending christmas and new years in melbourne i came back to freezing london and realised that somehow this is my 3rd year in london. time does fly. i fully didnt expect to spend so much time here and am surprised that i have stayed this long. what also freaked me out is that this year i turn 30 !!! and while im not really fussed about it, i realised that this is the year for radical changes. so i'm seriously thinking of leaving london, leaving europe, leaving banking doing something totally radically different. so far the suggestions have been photojournalist (my personal fav), screenwriter, film director, academic, humanitarian type work, public service or a gofer in advertising (god can you believe me - being a gofer!!! gawd. its my least fav!). what do you think?! i've always said for yonks that my ideal job in life would be to work for either gourmet traveller or conde nast traveller magazines. of course the best would be national geographic but i'm thinking baby steps.
having said all this i recently started a new job at an investment bank in london (had to get some dosh somehow - i guess all in aid of that new leica :) !!!) but until i find a way in to the alternative career i guess the main thing is to enjoy what im doing it. london's not exactly floating my boat so maybe leaving london would be the first step. lets see.
seems like lots is happening this year. and god i hope most of it is good because 2007 was a rubbish year :(
ps: for those planning travel this year, somehow please could you hustle, borrow, steal, pay, or schoomze your way to asia - specifically lombok, indonesia, around 14 sept. i'm hoping its where i'll be celebrating my 30th! (or if this is too far from civilisation for most dudes to handle and the lombok plan goes to hell, bali! ... so far bali and singapura has been at the top of the list... i've taking votes... it seems where i'll be spending my birthday is a democratic process - at one point i even considered celebrating my birthday in august !! wtf! :) i dont know when i entertained this idea; getting mellow in my old age i guess...but i dont mind - around the time its my birthday is the first ever grandprix in singapore so you know... ulterior motives :)) ... more on this to follow... or just email me for details!

two weeks already ...

2007-12-24T03:44:00.000Z

i cant believe it but ive already been home two weeks. time does fly. and i'll tell you what ive noticed.

the first is that a 24 hour flight when one has the flu is like firking 44 hours!!! awful. i wouldnt recommend it. postpone the trip if you have to and can, cause travelling while sick is definitely not the best.
the second is that even though melbourne is in summer, we are faced with monsoonal rains!!!! i mean seriously!!!!! what to say only. i mean i'm all for the farmers and stuff. but c'mon!!! no summer in europe and now it seems like no summer in australia either. i am not impressed! :(
third, melbourne has moved on. case no 1. my fav sushi place is now a whole in the wall. literally. the joint has been gutted to make way for a new shop (and god forbid we need another lush outfit!). but there you have it. case no 2. there are shops where previously there weren't any. AND they now have bouncers. at the shops!! i mean one skimpy top is the same as the next (... or perhaps not when one shop is gucci and the other is sportsgirl) :) whats melbourne coming to.

the lovely bit has been catching up with family and friends. and my fav restaurants! you know its all about the eating with me - dont pretend otherwise!

given this post is on christmas eve, i know this is a shitty and lazy way to do this but merry christmas people (to those celebrating anyway!) :)

ps in two weeks ive read a lot, so two quick tips: richard north patterson's exile, and miranda july's no one belongs here more than you .... the latter is brilliant, charming and are short stories so really no excuse to not read it; the former, riveting, incredibly good, but terrifyingly so! and this is the same author that ive been raving about for years ... think degree of guilt and eyes of a child. same dude.

barcelona

2007-12-05T21:55:00.000Z

so was there with two pals a weekend ago. its the first time ive been to spain and have to say it didnt disappoint!
barcelona was great. helped of course that shopping was terrific - altho most surprisingly i didnt do that much. was good that ruch and vas both had been before so i was the follower (rare i know!) :)
it was a three day-two night event. the hotel was one of the funkiest i'd ever seen (lobby was in bright red, our room was in black and purple!). weather was unbelievable. cold but sunny. and to top it all off the food was amazing. cal pep where you pretty much sit at a counter was excellent. so much so that we were the only three girls at the restaurant and left at closing! and that we left when 'pep' was cooking for his staff (and yours truly very happily had a bite to eat off the chefs plate even though i had eaten the whole night, had desert AND coffee! but gosh darn, it looked so delish - helped of course that there were potatoes in the meal!) :)
we walked around alot and i saw the gaudi house which to be honest freaked me out a bit. not a huge fan of gaudi but was cool nonetheless. and then finally the sagrada familia. started in 1882 but yet to be finished it is still quite an impressive church (or as they like to call it for some reason, a 'temple'). but when we saw it the renovations were still on. mind boggling still!
overall, a terrif trip. one of the best i've had in while! :)

elizabeth, sleuth, lions for lambs, om shanti om

2007-11-29T03:06:00.000Z

four flicks. all in one week.
elizabeth. the golden age. sequel to elizabeth - virgin queen. have to say the first one was brilliant. both directed by shekhar kapur. both with cate and geoffrey (im having tea with them next week, i'll tell them you said hi!). only this time it had clive owen. and oh.my.god. this flick so needed something else other than the script, the costume, the setting, the score, the other actors. he is so good in this. the flick was good - dont get me wrong. but it was terribly slow. and during the flick, i was even tempted to discuss the oslo accord with the homies i went with .. it was THAT slow. have to say though, after it i came out thinking, i want my own personal walsingham. bad no?
sleuth. i cannot begin to tell you how bad this film was. there aren't, i dont think, enough words to describe what an appalling waste of two hours of my life this was. jude law. michael cane. kenneth branagh. harold pinter. all first class superlative artists ... individually. come together, and they create a monstrosity like sleuth. it was sad for me - because i love love love kenneth branagh (even the shakespeare crap) and everything he's ever directed, i thought, god this dude is good. but then i watched this. disappointing doesnt even begin to describe what a let down it was. but perhaps this might be an indication - siddharth, farah and i went to see it. farah fell asleep through the whole film, and sids and i talked during it. nuff said me thinks!
lions for lambs. ive said it before, i'll watch meryl streep in a paper bag. and really, it is impossible for her to not be good. i mean shes even good in a bad film. as was the case here. and thats a tall order given redford directed and starred in. (oh and some other dude called tom cruise or something was in it. but we wont mention him)... anyway .. the film is about two young american soldiers who are sent off to afghanistan on some kamikazi mission. the linkages: redford plays a professor who taught them; streep plays a reporter who has been called in to report on it; and cruise plays a senator who thought about the kamikazi plan in the first place. to be honest, it just doesnt work. streep was amazing, redford looked old (far far cry from his spy game days) and cruise, well ... why bother. so would recommend if you had nothing to do and were able to skive the dvd off a pal.
om shanti om. its been a long time since i saw a hindi movie in an actual proper cinema. normally just see them at home with ma and pa unless there is absolutely nothing else to watch on tv. the last time i saw a hindi film in a cinema was in bombay 11 years ago where i was asked most politely to leave by the usher because i was laughing so much. would have been fine, except the film was a 'drama' (and in my defense all i have to say to that is - rajnikant!). anyhoo. om shanti om came out. people have either been raving about it or dissing it. and if you take it for what its worth, light entertainment, its actually pretty good. of course there's music and dancing and the plots a bit thin. and what makes it even more enjoyable is when you go with pals who've seen it a couple of times, know the songs, and provide surround sound entertainment when the songs appear on screen. terrific!!! this film sure aint going to win an oscar, but by golly, i would watch a 100 om shanti om's any day over that crap sleuth :(

four weeks is a long time

2007-11-15T00:03:00.000Z

so much has happened ...

first my mac blew up. literally. i was sitting at home, just you know, chatting to some pals, and next thing i hear 'phewff' (well you know what i mean!), the mac blows up. so had to buy a new one.
then i tried to set up a pal with another pal. loooong story. we think it may work, but it may not.
then the home office visa saga continued with them telling me an lse transcript of results doesnt count as valid evidence that i graduated. lets not mention that it says on the transcipt 'graduated in december 2006'... s'all im saying ....
then a pal became my stalker. loooooong story. scary tho. and to be fair, no longer a pal. there was the matter of her (yes HER!) being forced to leave the country :)
then i got a new job. leaving the old one is a good feeling but you know starting all over aint the best. new job. new people. new place. the flipping commute. the dreaded tube. ... but i am excited :)
then nixs came to visit. loooong story. nice tho.
then it was eid. still waiting for biryani and mithai (seriously farah - really yaar. where is it?!?!)
then i discovered a pal who i knew ages ago at oxford who used to cry cause she didnt know her descartes from her dewey has become a hifalutin hollywood actor. and in a wes anderson flick no less.
then a pal got married in aust. short story. she found a dude. hes lovely. you know 2+2 = 5 and all that.
then the hassle to get a tix home to aust after finishing the old job and getting a new job took on new meaning. admittedly i did nothing (!). ma / pa did it all. but you know me being indecisive didnt help. i said it added a bit of pullava to the pull-over but hmmm, that didnt appease.
then a pal went awol. loooooong story. freaky tho.
then a pal aced her gmat exams. short story. shes pretty smart but hmmmm for a while there it was touch and go.
then it was diwali. had a drurully lovely eve at a pals home. and this is in addition to another pals diwali party where i came home at 6 in the AM (havent done that in a while. the dancing by two certain someones was amaaaaaazing tho! ... wow-O)
then i got my lawyers bill for my visa rubbish and after the fall-of-the-chair-recovery, my first thought was 'holy crap' i should do this job; investment banking has nothing on immigration lawyers for the jip factor ;)
then my phone went kaput. ok so i dropped it. what !?!? i have had it for a while so i guess after 5 years to come up against the first major hurdle, not so bad!

and now here we are ...

home office - shome office!

2007-10-23T22:56:00.000Z

immigration departments. whats up with them!? globally. universally. rubbish. not one have i found to be useful. and the british one is no different.
am applying for a conversion visa from my working holiday to a permanent work permit thingy (officially its called a 'highly skilled working visa' and to be honest, neither am i skilled nor am i 'highly skilled'). anyhoo...
am applying for this thing through a lawyer. and while filling in the application, one of the requirements is you have to prove you can speak english. so either you can hand in toefl scores for non english speaking home countries or you can send in a letter from your undergrad uni to say that the degree was taught in english. now a reasonable person would think that if your in a non-english speaking country then absolutely you should get a letter from the uni to say, yup taught in english. all good. 'youd think' right!?!?
well!!!!
highly bloody unlikely. i had to write to oxford, lse and rmit to say please could you give me a letter to say i was taught in english! OXFORD!!! LSE!!!! (caps meant to emphasise the ridiculousness of the home office request). i mean 'c'mon!!!! and then i rang up the home office to check and i was like 'are you sure, because i was educated here in ENGLAND and AUSTRALIA?' and they were like 'yes we still need it so that you can prove you speak english' and then i was like "but we're a colony. you taught us!!!!"... (well ish) .... and he goes 'na i need an official letter on university letterhead' . so then i tried a different tact and i go "but i am SPEAKING TO YOU IN ENGLISH NOW ON THE PHONE!!!!!" (pronunciation might be a bit off but grammar is spot on!) and then he goes 'err. hmm. aaah. yes still we need it". seriously. i couldn't roll my eyes any more - they would have fallen out of the sockets!!! :(
so the upshot - they still have not processed my application; i had to get a letter from rmit as well (which was another looooong saga - apparently a technological university doesn't know what an unamendable read only pdf is!) :( and my life is in limbo. otherwise, you know ... ho. hum.

the quiz to end all quizes

2007-10-12T19:30:00.000Z

i love the show 'inside the actors' studio. and one of the things james lipton asks his guests at the end of the show is this quiz which i reckon is one of the coolest things i've seen / heard in a while. anyway i thought about some of the questions he asks his guests and i figured you guys could answer them too (cut and paste the q's in the comments section and then answer).

my answers are below:

1. What is your favorite word? Irrevocably
2. What is your least favorite word? The
3. What turns you on? Laughter
4. What turns you off? Ignorance
5. What sound do you love? Silence (oddly enough)
6. What sound do you hate? The noise that comes from scratching your nails on a board
7. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? Photographer
8. What profession would you not like to participate in? Loo cleaner
9. What's your favorite curse word? there are so many, but I'll take a good "BC" anyday (for the non-indians this is an awful awful word ... i wouldn't recommend it but there are times when, gosh this just rolls of the tongue!)... for the english speaking... "oh shit" works just fine too. :-)
10. If Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? i dont know whether i'd like to hear him say it, but i think he'll say - "Why are you so late?"

2 days in paris

2007-10-06T16:05:00.000Z

i'll watch julie delpy in anything. truly. especially after her superb performances in broken flowers and kieslowski's three colours (she was red!). and this is not forgetting or ignoring the brilliant brilliant before sunrise and before sunset. so to find a flick that she wrote, directed, edited, acted in AND composed music for, is truly something else.
in 2 days in paris, she is marion, a photographer who returns to paris for two days with her american boyfriend, jack (adam goldberg), to introduce him to paris, her parents and her numerous ex-boyfriends. i think its a film about finding one's self and realising who you are when you are with someone else, because sometimes you pretend to be someone your not. it helps of course that the film is set in paris which really is one of the greatest cities in the world. but i think as a flick, when you think that it really revolves around two central characters only, the pace is comfortable, the dialogue funny and the setting glorious. all around a delightful film. and if you happen to see it, look out for jeannot and anna, marions parents in the film who also HAPPEN to be delpy''s parents. nice touch ;-)

firken hell - cabbies in london - maybe not :(

2007-09-27T02:47:00.000Z

right so today i had a lunch meeting and given we dont get that much of a lunch hour i thought i'd take a cab to the place. so what follows is pretty much the convo between the cabbie and me. its (almost) verbatim and i swear i'm not making it up. trip was from finsbury square to grays inn road (and for the non-london people thats a good 10 min cab ride on a good day, good driver, no traffic). and obviously my snide comments are also inserted:
cabbie (c): where to LOVE?
me (m): grays inn road
c: the theobalds road end or the other end
m: the other end
[i get in the cab after this little chin wag on the street. two secs later]
c: so where are you from. let me guess. india
m: right
c: i bet its mumbai right
m: yah bombay. good one
c: so what do you do here?
m: i work here
c: well your english is really good - you being indian and all
m: thanks. i learnt it on the boat over here [i smile]
[he looks in the rearview mirror]
c: sense of humour too. very nice
m: too?
c: well, it goes with the rest of you
[i am NOT joking]
c: so how old are you
m: i always thought men were not supposed to ask women this question
c: why? you dont want to answer it
m: well i dont have a problem with it - but women generally do when you dont know the guy who's asking the question.
c: are you one of those women?
[i am REALLY not joking]
m: me? no actually i couldnt care less. how old do you think i am?
c: you have your (sun)glasses on so i cant tell
[then im thinking, in for a penny in for a million! SO ...]
m: well ok i'll take off my glasses [which i do]
c: wow, nice eyes
[at this point im like, well you might as well go for broke]
m: so how old do you think i am?
c: 23-24
m: really? you think?
c: yah at least
m: well no. actually i turned 29 two weeks ago
c: you definitely dont look it. you worried about getting older?
m: no not really
c: not even 30?
m: no
c: 40?
m: no
c: 50?
m: no absolutely not
c: wow thats refreshing
[then he nearly hits a pedestrian so momentarily thank god the convo stops. but not for long ...[
c: can i ask you a personal question
m: sure
c: are you married?
m: no. am quite quite [i distinctly remember using 'quite twice!] single
c: really? you?
m: yup
c: so you live here. where do your family live?
m: australia. my parents have retired there
c: so. your here. 29. single, where do you live?
m: bankside / southbank
c: yo have an aptt there?
m: yup
c: so your single. 29. your parents dont live here. they are retired. you work here. live in bankside. your what we call 'loaded'
[at this point im gasping for air thinking - hm. ha. no. erm. shut up!]
m: not not really
c: well you must have a lot of money. where do you work
m: at an ib
c: so you do all this yet your not married. arent your parents concerned you being hindu and all
m: im actually not hindu. im catholic
c: oh reallly
m: yup
c: i thought you were hindu
m: no im not. my father is but my mother is catholic. so im catholic
c: practising?
m: yes
c: what do you thin i am?
[dont really care, but lets play along]
m: anglican? catholic?
c: catholic
m: practising?
c: lapsed
m: oh
c: so lets test you
m: about being a catholic? sure
c: do you pray twice a day?
m: yup
c:; go to mass?
m: every sunday
c: holy days
m: yup
[and heres where this gets REALLY interesting]
c: so your a fully fledged believe everything catholic?
m; actually no. im what you call a convenient catholic. i take from the religion what i want and dont, what i dont want.
c: what does that mean?
m: means i dont believe in abortion but i believe in euthansia. i dont believe in stem cell but i believe in capital punishment. so i take things i like but things i dont like. i sometimes have issues with the religion.
c: oh.well thats something really honest to admit. then let me ask you this: where do you stand on contraception?
[at this point im thinking maybe this has gone alot further than i thought but then i figured - what the hell ... no pun intended]
m; im pro
c: really?
m: yeah absolutely. im all for population control
c: no wonder given you come from mumbai
m: well there you go. and really its not all about procreation.
c: gosh they dont find people like you around
[!!!!!!!]
m: well... im not a huge fan of the pre-marital, living together rubbish or the friends with benefits thing either
c: so how long do you think you'll live in london
m: for a while yet
c: oh thats good. we might see each other again
[i HIGHLY doubt it]
m: well
[now im getting out of the cab thinking god this has been the MOST exciting thing to happent o me in a while !!! SAD SAD SAD I know!!!! and figure why not leave with you know an EXIT. so what do i do ... i get out and stumble !!!!! choo stooopid. he pretends not to notice]
c: well have a great day. its a pity you didnt have to go further
m: why?
c: we could have spent some more time together. you've certainly made my day
[at this point, thank christ we reached my destination]
m: well to say this has not been entertaining is a mild understatement
c: so here you go - that will be 6.50
[so i give him the dosh]
m: thanks.
c: heres the change.
m: thanks.
c: so whats your name
m: shefali
c: thats beautiful
m; thanks. i know.(!!!!). it means jasmine. my mother always says shegrows me in the garden
c: well. who wouldnt?
[!!!!!!!!! I SWEAR I AM NOT JOKING]
m: well goodbye
c: bye. and thanks for making my day.

and with that i smiled and walked away. now the downside of all this flirting:
a) hes a cabbie
b) he didnt look like keanu or george
c) the 'you speak english well' comment didnt work for me
d) im a snob :( sad but true :(

got to say tho - t'was a lot o'fun! :-)

facebook, free sms and me!

2007-09-21T01:06:00.000Z

to say i spend waaaay too much time on facebook is a mild mild understatement. but heres the thing - today i discovered that one of the applications is FREEEEEEE sms!!! so if your a member of facebook, and your a friend (ha ha), you can sms me for free to my london mobile through my facebook profile. good na? i told you ... waaaaaay too much time! :(

ANOTHER 20 hours with nothing to do ...

2007-09-19T00:20:00.000Z

return journey. couldnt sleep so watched some more films on the plane:
waitress: billed as one of the best indie films to come out in recent years, the hype definitely lives up. starring kerri russell (from felicity), cheryl hines, jeremy sisto, nathan fillion and adrienne shelley (who wrote, starred and directed this), its story of this waitress (ha ha) who in addition to waitressing in this dive cafe in a hick town bakes pies. shes pedantic about pies; lives for em, loves em. overall - terrific flick. would recommend. russell was good and so was fillion but for me ... cheryl hines stole the show and if you love her in the tv show curb your enthusiasm, you'll definitely love her in this.
the namesake: i should say first i loved loved loved monsoon wedding but i loathed vanity fair. and since both those and this one is directed by mira nair i was at first skeptical about the namesake. not to mention its a film adaptation from the pulitzer prize winning jhumpa lahiri (who is terrific) but who wrote one of the most un-cenimatic type books of all time. (actually no.. michael ondaatge wrote that one - the english patient - i dont know HOW minghella got THAT film from THAT book - mind boggles). either way. i digress. the namesake stars bollywood star tabu in her first english speaking role (brilliant - aishwarya has nothing on her in any language ) and then some unknown indian "abcds" and oh lena headley and jacinda barrett. the flick was surprisingly good. interesting. touching. well scripted and frankly im just glad it wasn't a waste of two hours of plane time ( like i had nothing better to do ... well actually i didnt but you know what i mean!)
pirates 3:- i abbreviate because it was boring, painful and keira really really needs to eat. [chow yun-fat - wtf?!]
sunshine: danny boyle (director), alex garland (writer), michelle yeoh, rose byrne, cilian murphy, hiroyuki sanada, troy garity, cliff curtis, chris evans (actors). so you'd think that with this stellar crew-cast-combo this would be a good film right? wrong! i had NO IDEA what was going on. its something about the sunlight going and then this spaceship thing is meant to be a substitute by launching itself at the sun. to reignite the dying sun. whatever. it was just so bad. didnt work. the special effects werent that special and overall pretty crapola :(

thanks

2007-09-14T15:04:00.000Z

helooo
just wanted to say thanks so much for all the cards, phone calls and facebook wall posts (!!!) for my birthday! was so nice to receive them.
hope to see some of you soooooooon!!
s xo

20 hours with nothing to do ...

2007-09-12T10:21:00.000Z

i guess the one good thing about a loooong plane journey and video on demand are the number of new release flicks i get to see. so here goes:
fracture: stars anthony hopkins, ryan gosling and rosumund pike. directed by gregory hoblit (who also directed primal fear). its one of these crime thriller types where the rich guy maybe kills his wife who happens to be having an affair with the city cop who ends up investigating the killing. then theres the kid da who wants to prove himself. all very interesting i thought. a def must see. (plus ryan goslings in it - reason enuf i'll say - right tommo?!?!)
fantastic 4: 2007 sequel to the 2005 flick. quite boring but good action-paction scenes. sadly the special effects make it a cinema type film but the awful plot line should convince you that a stolen pirated version on a pals plasma is good enuf [if you really really have nothing to do on a sat night ... or any night for that matter! :( ]
paris je t'aime: brilliant brilliant brilliant! i cant say enough about it. but really its terrific. 18 vignettes by the whose who of film these days (van sant, chadha, payne, tywker, natali, cuaron, the coens, doyle to name a few) and starring the whose who of cinema these days (portman, ardant, hoskins, nolte, gyllenhall, buscemi, sandino-moreno, xin, binoche, dafoe and sagnier, wood), the 18 different stories about 18 different locations in paris was a superb film. the worry was the editing and piecing it together bit but i think they pulled it off. the score by feist didnt hurt either ;-) [farah, can you believe i finally saw it!?]
la doublure (the valet): sometimes french films are a hit and miss (ala the diner game) but sometimes they are brilliant (queen margot, huit femmes, l'apartment, ridicule). and typically its always been that french comedies have been a tad dismal and the dramas have been pretty terrific. so imagine my surprise when this comedy is actually very funny - and not even in a french way! starring daniel autieul, gad elmaleh, kristin scott thomas and virginie ledoyen, it was a very enjoyable film. easy, funny, uncomplicated, and dont know how they did it but they even managed to shoot some scenes at the chanel houte courture collections with lagerfeld making an appearance!

hols ... finally!

2007-09-05T22:59:00.000Z

right so am going to australia for a week's holiday on friday. yes i said australia and YES i said a week!!! i think i must be flipping mad but either way am hugely excited! not to mention i celebrate my birthday there next week (14th if you were wondering when! and dont worry about shipping the pressies to aust - happy to pick them up in london ;-):-)). should be fantastico. if peeps want stuff from aust let me know - all i'm taking is a handbag ;-) (seriously! i am only going for WEEK! ... before i've even unpacked, i'll have to repack so figure why bother!)

only in japan ...

2007-09-01T20:05:00.000Z

watch it till the end... its split your sides laughing!!!

2 days, 2 flicks

2007-08-28T00:27:00.000Z

bank holiday weekend, thought I'd go see a couple of flicks that i haven't in a while. so on the recommendation of one pal, we went to see knocked up and then because i needed closure, went to see bourne ultimatum.
first knocked up. quite frankly, you need to be knocked out to see such a ridiculously stoooopid flick. (and sids, there is no way i am going with your recommendation again!!!). it was just awful. there aren't enough words to describe how horrendous it was. two hours of my life - gone - just like that!!! bourne on the other hand...
i should say that i have waited for ages to watch this. identity was ace, supremacy not that crash hot; so a lot was riding on this one. and have to say it delivered ... in spades!!! the action-paction was riveting and even if you read ludlums books, the visual was much more exciting. higly highly recommended....obviously can't say the same for knocked out... but there you go.

whats with this godforsaken weather!?

2007-08-24T01:34:00.000Z

monsoonal rains in august. whats that about?!?!? i keep harping on about last years weather and how great it was and truth be told the real reason i moved to london THIS year was because of LAST years weather. it was superb!! hot, sunny and ironically all during summer time ;-) this year. not so much. the annoying thing i guess is that if autumn has started so early, winter this year is bound to be the worst ever! :( what bliss ... NOT!

the parents are here! the parents are here!!!

2007-07-30T23:04:00.000Z

so mum and dad are here for a few weeks and the last time they were in london was when they visited me when i was at oxford and that was six years ago. so a few years have passed; london has changed; sadly the weather has not (still as crapola as ever). the thing is what to do while they are here? they have lived here and done heaps of sightseeing so much so that they are fed up. so i guess the question is - what non-touristy things are there to do in london?! the mind boggles. give me some ideas!!!

die hardest!

2007-07-17T01:19:00.000Z

actually i dont know if thats a word - hardest- either way whatever - you know what i mean.
i mean die hard 4.0. not die hard 4. but die hard 4 POINT 0. i really didnt know what they had to add the .0, but when we saw the flick, it sorta became clear - it has to do with techie geek crap.
anyhoo!
farah and i (sids you are SO missing out!) went to see die hard 4.0 and it was excellent. of course it was over the top (the car flying through the air and taking out a chopper; his one pistol being a match for automatic weapons; bruce surviving being squashed like a lemon in a wind fan just cause hes wearing a really cool gangi (vest); justin long being one of the most dangerous hackers in the world - you know - those kinda things); but gosh it was entertaining. i must confess i loved loved loved die hard 3 but i think that had more to do with jeremy irons that bruce. either way after the debacle that was oceans 13 (worst flick ... ever!), die hard 4.0 never looked so good. possibly one of the best action-paction flicks i've seen in ages - yippee ka-yeh lizzie bizzie!

ps: Happy Birthday Ma!!!

ou est le sun?

2007-07-06T00:38:00.000Z

well no where it seems!!!!
we're in the middle of the year - apparently summer in london - but golly ghee - its just nowhwere. and it seems that every weekend the heavens conspire against the little people because without fail i think the last five weekends have had rain. and then oddly enuf the weekedays seem to have sunny breaks. all a bit odd if you ask me.
what this means - wimbledon is late by a week; the tour de france starts its first leg in london on sunday (london & the tour de france - dunno whats going on?!); we still have to have our chatris (umbies for you non-indian folk) and the winter garb remains out. so god knows when we'll get the sun. last year at this time there was a heat wave in england; now, not so much. apparently the best place to be to get a tan this year is in switzerland ( I KNOW!!!!) :(

and then there was light ...

2007-06-28T23:45:00.000Z

so i get into these phases where i get obsessive about something. last summer it was all about these black shorts - not short shorts but you know nice tailored shorts (cotton or linen), knee length and that could be dressed up or down (and blonji really - no comment!). everywhere i looked i always saw other women wearing the shorts that i would have liked to have had, but wasnt savvy enough to buy. and i was like tearing my hair out because i was wondering where the frik i was going to buy them... till in the end i just kinda sorta saw the perfect pair in of all places, singapura.
this summer - its all about the lamps. i'm obsessed about lamp buying. and alot of it has to do with the fact that i've moved into a new place and i would prefer to have lamps than downlights so every weekend pretty much since i moved i've been looking for lamps. which is a bloody long time - nearly 7 weekends. i've done the markets; john lewis, habitat, heals, space, the design museum and really had run out of options till i came across lombok which by golly, is one of the coolest places on the planet - oh and yah, your darn right they have the lamps i want. this time i was so savvy its scary!

the runners

2007-06-22T00:41:00.000Z

you know how in the devil wears prada - the flick - there were the 'clackers', well in london there are 'runners'. i mean there are people running everywhere these days. and i guess its because i can now walk to work so i see them all over the place but you'd think they are running in preparation for the london marathon. but OH NO! they seem to be running TO work.... i've always known people to run AWAY from work but this beats it all. and what i love - they even have those watch gizmos that time how fast / far / heart beats per sec they run. boggles the mind! meanwhile i'm still trying to convince people that 'walking' is really not my thing...makes you wonder.

7 mins

2007-06-12T22:57:00.000Z

is how long it takes me to walk from home to work. dont want to rub it in or nothin ! someone asked me so i thought i'd say.
here's the map showing - just to prove it :-)

the net has landed!

2007-06-06T23:47:00.000Z

thank bloody goodness!!
firstly it took the dude 7 HOURS (!!!!!) to set up the phone line and cable whatever. I AM NOT JOKING. i worked from home cause they said someone had to be in the house - which is fair and all - but then at least do the work no? what boggles the mind:

them saying that the installation person will be at your house between '8am and 1pm' - call me crazy but is that a long time or what to just be waiting around?
you - the cable guy - gets to the house and then you say - 'i cant find the cable' [if ever there was a wtf moment, this is IT!]
drilling holes through concrete is part of your day job as a CABLE GUY!!! - i thought it was all about cables? [one of the voices in my head says 'your such a simpleton']
standing around and looking at the cable, doesnt mean its going to get installed
standing around and looking at the cable box, doesn't mean you can 'will it' to work [lbdfa?!? i think SO!]
calling your homies on your mobile on MY TIME, isnt the best ...
using my loo - when your on the job (so many puns, SOOO not intended) is not the best either!!!!
asking me about how much rent i pay ?! whats that about? ("seriously")
at the end of the day (literally) saying to me 'there you go - all set' [well whoo-frigging-hoo - bfd man!]

upside of all this - i now have thumb rsi from using my blackberry the whole day for work... yay! :-) (oh and yup - cable!)

my crackberry and me

2007-05-19T00:31:00.000Z

So I moved but I don't have the internet at hm yet but I do have a crackberry.so I thought I'd update the blog with it.
Hm is great. apt is fab. First dinner party tomorrow. Bits n bobs of furniture get here wed. And the nice peeps at virgin will activate my phone, broadband AND CABLE on 6 june -- I dont think I'll ever leave the house !!!

im moving house ...

2007-05-06T11:20:00.000Z

am moving next weekend. 12 may. new place is in southbank / bankside. se1 nonetheless. will send the address out later but contact wise my gmail may be defunct till i get the broadband up and runnin.
SO!
email contact in the interim is: firstname.lastname@[whereiwork].com (and NO junk mail please! - shaz i mean you...)

needs vs wants

2007-05-01T23:44:00.000Z

right, so in economics (of course i have to bring this in!), there's this concept of needs vs wants. a want is something that you desire but dont need; a need is something you, well... need, but not necessarily want. now that thats all cleared up (!) ... i've been thinking that since i've been working my be-jesus off at work, i really should reward myself (aaaaah kinda but not really -- just go with me here ...)
so i really want the new louis vuitton speedy 30, but do i really need one? (and dudes, saying i have the new chloe is not helping!). and i need a new mobile phone but do i really want the new pradaphonebylg? decisions decisions... herein (sidebar:: never thought i'd use this word on my blog!) lies the conundrum (or this one!). the good part - at least for the new place, i've chosen the new bose sound dock i want (black) - thank u ebay. :-)

blogger flogger

2007-04-24T21:34:00.000Z

right so this nit-twit keeps posting ridiculous uncalled for comments on my blog (shall remain nameless - but you so know who you are ALEX!). could you pls stop posting crapola stuff on my blog. i mean there are so many other people who you can irritate - i'll even recommend some if you want - but i really dont understand why you have to keep posting your rubbish on mine. the sad part - i can't ban you (but i so can delete! and i know that isnt like a whooo-friggin-hoo-i'm-scared factor but could you pls just sod off!) :-)

its all about the t-shirt

2007-04-21T16:55:00.000Z

i love t-shirts and when weather permits i'm in them all the time. and i know fashion wise they are not the coolest thing on the planet, but hey, there's only so many times the gucci can come out. lately its been the done thing on the runway to put t-shirts on the catwalk for some 'message'. but the nicest ones i've seen are the ones you randomly see on the street. some of coolest (and funniest and most wity) words i've ever seen on a t-shirt:

'this is not the life i ordered'
'i would kill for a nobel peace prize'
'your just jealous because the little voices are talking to me'
'panic, choas and disorder ... my work here is done'
'its all about the font'
'support OPEC ... drive an SUV'
'i dont think much, therefore i may not be'
'dont make me put my hand on my hip'
'you say psycho like its a bad thing'
'im a consultant - you have to pay to talk to me'