chiragdshah

"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:15:25 -0400

I think Vonnegut’s writing finally clicked for me sometime near the end of this book. Up until that point, I felt like I was missing something. Yes, I understood it as satire, but something this absurd had to have a much larger meaning that I just wasn’t getting. I felt the same thing while reading “Slaughterhouse-Five” as well.

In both cases, it took me most of the book to get over that hump. But once I did, they are glorious works to behold. I think, for me, the larger meaning is that the world is beautiful and doomed. I find that his mindset is similar to Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now”. What do you do when you find out that we are all on the edge of chaos? That at any moment, your perfect world can turn to shit, or you can die? You either embrace the darkness, lose your mind and go live in the jungle, or you appreciate the beauty of the world and laugh in chaos’ face.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I like Vonnegut’s approach better.

"Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:07:16 -0400

It took what seems like months to get through this 952-page tome. Oh, that’s right, it almost did take months. The reasons I picked it over the many other Civil War books is because it covers the entire war in one volume and because it won the Pulitzer Prize. It was well worth the time invested.

While I’m sure it’s not as thorough as other longer books on the subject, given that I’m not reading it in an academic context, it was the perfect amount of thorough for my purposes. It was well-written, easy to read and easy to follow, but the battle scenes could have been clearer. It was hard to follow all of the different characters in the different battles. By the time you get to the parts where he’s describing specific battle maneuvers, you’re sufficiently lost unless you’re a war historian.

Where the book really shines is when it gets into the social and cultural impact of the conflict. It’s astounding how deeply ingrained slavery was into Southern society. So much so that the South convinced themselves that they were fighting the cause of freedom (of their right to hold slaves). Oh, the delicious irony!

The epilogue goes on to examine the concept of liberty and the implications of it being completely upturned after the war. Absolutely fascinating stuff!

"In Time" 3/5

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:19:28 -0500

This was surprisingly good, but could have been so much more. The story felt small for some reason. I felt that the characters and situation were screaming for the plot to be on a much grander scale. They hint at it later in the movie, but too little too late.

Photo Set: 2012 New York Giants World Champion Parade

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:16:00 -0500

Photo Set: 2012 New York Giants World Champion Parade

I’ve officially joined the Adele bandwagon. About a year too late, I know, but 21 is a damn...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:24:35 -0500

I’ve officially joined the Adele bandwagon. About a year too late, I know, but 21 is a damn fine album. Deeply soulful and beautiful.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" 4/5

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:22:15 -0500

Excellent reboot of the franchise. Never was a big fan of the originals, nor of Burton’s horrendous remake. I could see this one becoming a series and myself watching every single movie. To me, this movie answers the more interesting question. How did it happen? Can’t wait to see more.

"I truly believe that capitalism was created to help people live better lives, but sadly over the..."

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:10:00 -0500

““I truly believe that capitalism was created to help people live better lives, but sadly over the years it has lost its way a bit. The short-term focus on profit has driven most businesses to forget about the important long-term role they have in taking care of people and the planet.””

- Richard Branson in The Guardian (via BoingBoing)

Damned right!

Message to Bloomberg | Occupy Wall Street | Zuccotti Park, New...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:17:31 -0500

Message to Bloomberg | Occupy Wall Street | Zuccotti Park, New York City | November 4, 2011

untitled on Flickr. — Occupy Wall Street Zuccotti Park, New York...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:32:30 -0400

untitled on Flickr.

—

Occupy Wall Street
Zuccotti Park, New York City
October 20, 2011

Here for Mamas on Flickr.New York City, Occupy Wall Street,...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:24:37 -0400

Here for Mamas on Flickr.

New York City, Occupy Wall Street, October 20, 2011

untitled on Flickr.New York City, Occupy Wall Street, October...

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:41:11 -0400

untitled on Flickr.

New York City, Occupy Wall Street, October 20, 2011

OWS: I Stand for Compassion on Flickr.

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:31:00 -0400

OWS: I Stand for Compassion on Flickr.

"Diary of the Dead"/"Survival of the Dead" 3/5

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:00:05 -0400

Caught these two on AMC’s Fearfest marathon the past week or so. Even given the declining quality of his zombie movies over the years (with “Dawn” being the pinnacle of all zombie movies), being the Romero fan that I am, I couldn’t resist.

“Diary” is interesting only because of the modern social media aspect of it. The found footage technique is getting overused, but is well-deployed here. Romero may be old, but he’s still sharp in his social commentary. This may be no “Dawn of the Dead,” but it still has plenty to say about humanity. And the bad acting kind of works in this situation given these are just a bunch of kids running around with cameras at the beginning of a zombie outbreak. Zombie movies need a little camp anyway. 4/5

“Survival” on the other hand is a completely different story. A weak B-movie (and that’s being generous). Really bad acting and very little camp. I really didn’t see the point of this at all. Paycheck movie? 2/5

I think it’s safe to say that after 40+ years, George A. Romero has said all that needs to be said by a single person about zombies. George, please move on and do something else. You’re better than that.

"Sherlock Holmes" 1/5

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:00:05 -0400

Turned it off a little more than halfway through. I wanted to like it. I loved Ritchie’s “Snatch” and I think he has some talent. But really, this should have been called “Generic Period Action Whodunit,” which I might have liked. I’m not necessarily opposed to big dumb action movies, but I think the fact that he turned the brilliance that is “Sherlock Holmes” into a big dumb action movie is offensive to a good portion of my brain.

"Bridesmaids" 3/5

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:15:23 -0400

Meh. I don’t see what all the fuss was about. Trying too much to be like “The Hangover”. There were 2 or 3 really funny comedic set pieces, but the rest left me lukewarm. Maybe there was just too much hype. It was a pleasant enough diversion, but it’s no “The Hangover.”

Photo set: Kanika & Chirag’s Baby Shower

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:51:59 -0400

Photo set: Kanika & Chirag’s Baby Shower

"The Lion King" 5/5

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:00:05 -0400

I somehow managed to make it to 33 before I saw this. Probably because I was a junior in high school when it came out and decidedly too cool for it. Great and memorable movie. I almost teared up once or twice. Classic story and I was digging the old school animation style (although I’m pretty sure they were using computers in some capacity by 1994).

"The Green Hornet" 3/5

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:00:05 -0400

Entertaining enough. The action sequences were too gimmicky and it was funny enough at times, but I expected better from a director as gifted as Michel Gondry. Although I suppose he’s the wrong man for this material, in which case he should have turned it down. Not a bad diversion altogether.

"Source Code" 4/5

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 12:00:06 -0400

Seriously good sci-fi action movie. And smart too. Not that the whole jacking into someone’s mind thing makes much sense (and hasn’t been done before), but it makes sense within this universe and although some might consider the ending tacked on, I think it really worked.

"Star Trek: Nemesis" 3/5

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:00:05 -0400

I was under the impression that I had seen all of the TNG-cast Star Trek movies. Seems I was wrong. I had somehow completely missed an entire movie, the final one with the TNG cast. It had some serious issues, like the Data 2 plot line, which didn’t fit at all and went nowhere (Yes, I know it was to give Data’s eventual death more impact, but it just didn’t work for me at all), but I actually did like it. Even though it’s not very highly regarded and it didn’t do the TNG cast finale much justice, just as a Star Trek movie on its own, it certainly isn’t the worst of the bunch and it was enjoyable to watch.