Praveen

hi everyone (after a brief break from LJ :D)..I've revamped my entire site - http://tigertrail.net - I'd be great if you guys can give me some feedback on it. My concerns are pics being too big for the usual 1024x768 and the page loading time..Let me know what you think :)

And there are some new pics as well - the ones from my trip to Bylakuppe earlier this month. You can find them at http://tigertrail.net/photography/gallery.php?set=Bylakuppe

Leon - The Professional: A sweet n gory movie of a small girl who lands up with a hitman. She dreams of becoming a hitman (or a hit-woman) like him. He takes in upon himself to train her, while she falls in love (or claims to) with him. All in all, a nice movie.

To Kill a Mocking bird: preets had given me this book, but never gotten around to read it. So watched the movie. Its a very cute movie, and after watching the movie, I think the book would be better.

Amelie: Finally, watched it :). Cute movie which revels in small pleasures and idiosyncracies of human beings.

Belle de jour: A weirdish movie, I must say. Its about this pretty woman who loves her husband but cannot get herself to get physical with him, but strangely enoough goes to a whore-house. She seems to be under some compulsion to go to that place - but I wasnt quite sure of the reason.

Elephant: Watched it after reading fus's LJ. A spine-chilling account of the Columbine school massacre. Was struck with a sense of hopelessness after watching it. Highly recommended.

Bowling for Columbine: This is a documentary about the Columbine school massacre by Michael Moore. Anyone whos watched his earlier documentary, Farenheit 9/11, knows that Michaei Moore does not know the word 'moderation'. And its no different in this movie - he goes all out to slam gun laws in the US and questions the reasons for day-to-day violence in US.

<update>
Parineeta: Thought it was a different movie, and it was quite nice till Saif decides to break the concrete wall. I think he broke more than just the wall.
</update>

In the pipeline: Dekalog, A very long engagement, Persona, Rashomon..:)

( Full sized pics )

PS: Swalpa bandwidth hungry :(

Its much greener (owing to the overdose of monsoons, I suppose).
I was pleasantly surprised at the manner in which airport staff handled my missing baggage situation(both my checked-in bags havent arrived :()
Traffic situation has worsened.
The number of one ways has increased ten-fold.
The number of 'Darshinis' and 'Sagars' are more than ever before.
Bangalore (rather unfortunately) is briskly catching up with the apartment culture.

...More to come

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought’s escaping
Home, where my music’s playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me


I'll be off to India on a month-long vacation in a couple of hours from now, and I'm (moderately) excited about it.

They dont come any cuter :)

An evening, my D70, a table lamp and myself :D

Light at the end of the tunnel

This is so fuckin' crazy!!One bunch of sidey bastards decide that they want to rename a city which means so much to so many people - not only natives but all over India. Bangalore has, most certainly, been the 'coolest' places in India..and the name surely has done its bit..
Now these idiots want to change the name - for what fucking reason?? - Its so totally senseless..and its only going to do harm - to the place and the government...
So many concerns - pollution, roads, corruption, traffic, water and a zillion others - but changing the name tops their priority...I can now empathize with the people of Bombay, Madras, n Calcutta..

I love the way Saddam Hussein has conducted himself before the judge. He has this I-dont-care-a-shit attitude. Some of his statements would have been fun to hear live:
'Who are you? I dont have to answer to you?' he says to the judge on being asked if he was Saddam.
'I am the president of Iraq. Bush is the real criminal.' :))
And I can imagine the plight of the poor judge who goes on patiently..'You will please answer me', 'I have introduced myself to you but you have not introduced yourself to me'...
They should record it and air it prime-time :)

A 25 year old Australian-born Vietnamese, Van Nguyen, will be executed shortly. He was caught while transiting thro' Singapore with 396gms of heroine (anything over 15gm is awarded death penalty in Singapore). The reason - he was carrying heroine was to save his brother - his brother was in debt. Singapore government has turned deaf to all pleas of clemency (even extradition).
The only thing (after many pleas) Singapore government has approved to is for Van's mother to hold his sons hands before he is executed (usually no physical contact is allowed before execution ). Imagine what must be going thro' their minds?
According to news, Van has made peace with himself and has accepted his fate.

Do you think death penalty is morally acceptable? I feel it should be abolished. Anyone who is a severe threat to the society should be kept in prisons, not killed.

Some abstract images :)

Sunset at the Marina is wonderful at this time of the year. Here are a couple of pics that I shot on Sunday. The wind was so strong that my camera shook a couple of times despite the tripod..and needless to say my hands froze :D

The sunset

Lighthouse

On Friday, I felt like getting sloshed. So got some tequila n vodka. Also, tried making some bloody mary..Pretty good, I must say, for a debut :)..Got a few compliments too ;)..Should be doing this more often..

Later on Friday night, went on a Vodka spree...got drunk (NO - dint puke)..Then my friend Karthik came over, and we watched India playing SA..
On Saturday, slept the WHOLE day (but for a couple of hours)..it felt real good to be sleeping like a log after a long time...
Watched a sidey movie called 'Capote' - prolly I was too sleepy to know what it was about...Then slumbered again for a good 9 hrs..
On Sunday, lazed around and went to the Basin Marina in evening to catch the sunset..got a couple of decent pics - froze my hands in the process :)

Only one word to describe my weekend - heavenly :)

Just getting back from a talk by Brian Greene. Superlative!! to say the least. A genius physicist and a mathematician, and most impressively, an orator par excellence. The man has some ability to put across concepts like relativity, string theory and gravity in simple terms. He left us in awe of the cosmos, the questions that puzzles physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers alike, and how science digs deeper into these questions only to discover more. And above all, convinces us that mathematics is the single most important (and probably, the only) construct which can help us find answers.

Im in a bit of a dilemma. I want to go in for a wide angle lens, but Im not sure which one to pick up. I did not pick up the 18-70mm kit lens when I bought my D70, since I had a 28-105mm from my film (which is very good), but with the 1.5x crop its not wide enough for landscape. And I realized this after I started using it on my D70. Few candidates are..
1. Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D - this works on both film and digi, affordable and gives neat images.
2. the 18-70mm kit lens

Any suggestions welcome..

Stranger

Its been a hectic hectic semester so far. Its been 4 weeks since I slept for a good 8 hours. Its been 4 weeks since I shot something. I dont see any respite till Thanksgiving *sigh*

Whats wrong with with Deve Gowda??

Elfreth's Alley in downtown Philadelphia is one of its kind in the world. Its a small residential alley of 33 houses that were all built in during early 1700s thro' early 1800s. The best part about it is that people still live there. Its a huge tourist attraction, and unfortunately for the people living there, tourists are a nuisance. So much so that you can see boards like 'People do live here; please be sensitive to their privacy' (tourists actually go to the length of peering thro' the windows to see what the houses look like). But a couple of houses are unoccupied and meant for visitors' tours. It was a great feeling to be walking there and looking at those houses still standing beautiful and strong.

I shot this collection of doors of the houses there (not all of 'em though)

( Please uncut here for a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide pic )