The Dark Knight Rises...I am cool now!!

This is a follow up blog to my earlier blog on the same movie where I had pointed out a few things which didn't really work for me. Here's the link to the earlier blog incase you missed it: 

http://adducelebrity.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-why-oh-why.html

Quite a few of my friends (including one Anon.) came to my rescue on reading the earlier blog and helped me straighten out a few things for which I am really thankful. Apart from the comments which you guys left, I also got into lengthy chats (discussions) with a few (read two) of my friends on my movie and literally that is all I have been doing the last two days. You will say that this guy has a hell lot of time to spare, but yes you are quite correct and the earlier occasion where I spent this much time after watching a movie has to be Inception. Isn't it a sweet coincidence that even that was a Nolan creation!!! 

So finally I agree that Bruce Wayne did get the auto pilot corrected six months back and the Bat with the nuke hanging had a perfectly working autopilot on board. Now it a different matter that I am not utterly convinced that Bruce Wayne could have corrected the auto pilot all by himself, for I have my reservations about the technical skills of Bruce. Never before have we been shown that Bruce Wayne likes to tinker with technology and I again for the umpteenth time get recluse in a certain Tony Stark whom you very well know as the Iron Man. However I am ready to forgo that trivial detail for the ending which I have now been enlightened about doing the rounds on different fan forums on the internet. Here it goes:

Bruce Wayne fixed the autopilot. The Batman didn't employ the autopilot and went on with the Bat and yes the nuke attached to it up over the ocean. The simple reason for this which I am ready to digest being that the Batman did not want to leave the fate of Gotham city on some goddamn autopilot. The autopilot has been likened to the rope which the prisoners used to get out of the pit however remember that Bruce Wayne got out without the aid of the rope because it was his fate to say Gotham city on his own. In the same vein towards the ending of the movie Batman used no autopilot and went out on his own because that is what he wanted to do. 

So did the Batman/Bruce Wayne die? Well yes he did. And that is what he wanted to do. He wanted to let everybody understand that now there is no Batman to save you, so each one has to be the Batman in his/her own right. Remember, 'There is a Batman in each one of us'!!!

Its fine till here. How do they explain Alfred seeing Bruce Wayne in Florence? Well Alfred is dreaming or should I say hallucinating in his grief. Alfred has always pictured Bruce that way and so when Bruce is dead it is but natural for Alfred to imagine that. Note that Alfred never talks about with whom specifically he wanted to see Bruce other than merely mentioning that his companion would be his wife, or should I say a lady. Likewise, Alfred does see a lady with Bruce who does look like like Selena Kyle but should I point out that Alfred never sees her face, goes it follows its Bruce he has always wanted to see there and so he does.

Am I a Batman fan you might ask, what with finding solace with an ending where the Batman eventually dies? I wouldn't answer that question but I would most certainly say that this explanation of the ending fits my bill and I must say rounds off the experience of yet another Nolan movie for me!!!

Here's were I got what I got from:

http://www.filmending.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-ending-analyzed.html

 http://mihirfadnavis.blogspot.in/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-plot-holes.html

May the Bat be with you!!! ;)

P.S: Hope the Anon. identifies himself this time around :)

P.S.S: I mean the Batman when I say Bat and not the copter :P

The Dark Knight Rises!!?? Why?? Oh Why??

Finally after a week's delay and under some trepidation I did watch the concluding movie of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy and let me tell you I didn't really get it. I am not trying to go against the tide here, but the fact remains that I didn't really get it.

I am not a comic aficionado, however with whatever little knowledge I possess Batman is the most endearing of all the superheroes. He is not an alien with super natural powers like Superman, neither is he a born genius with a brash attitude like Iron man. Keep the flashy toys aside and on the outside Bruce Wayne seems to be a person just like you and me, battling not only the bad guys tormenting Gotham but also fighting the demons within and trying to get over his numerous tragedies. Batman never single handedly saves the day. Is it as he puts it, "Anyone can be a hero" and it is this inclusiveness which draws me towards him. It is this vulnerability that maybe he might fail or lets say die trying to save the city which makes me look up to the Batman.

'The Dark Knight Rises' didn't work for me. It somehow didn't make sense. No, I am not talking about the sheer brilliance of the cinematography or the special effects employed. In the next few paragraphs I will be enumerating just why this didn't work for me. I hope that my friends who I am aware are Nolan fans and who absolutely dig the Batman can come to my rescue and help me see the light.

The Masked Men:

I have never understood the logic as to why Nolan would change Bale's voice once he dons the Bat-suit. The Batman's voice is downright guttural that at least I have had difficulties in picking up what he says all along. I am not sure if it is this handicap which hampers Batman from giving out monologues. If you notice all that he says is abrupt. At least I felt on quite a few occasions that he wanted to say much more but simply couldn't thanks to the nature of the Bat-suit. It seems to be a speech impediment that anything else. In his verbal encounters with the Catwoman he is woefully short of wit or should I say speech.

Add Bane to the mixture and now you have two masked men on screen talking in rasping, guttural voices which many times I found hard to decipher. I was half hoping that the film will come to my rescue by providing subtitles but to no avail. Bane tone is understandable as the mask is a device which is supposed to keep pain at bay, I am ready to understand that the injuries he suffered may have changed the way he speaks and that the mask also alters it but subtitles would have helped the audience appreciate it a bit more. As for the Batman's voice, I have not been able to find a plausible reason.

Bane v/s Batman

So who is the real villain of the movie, Bane or Ms Tate? Tate's only villainous act for the entire movie apart from stabbing Batman once and maybe sleeping with Bruce Wayne is confusing the audience as to where Bruce Wayne's heart lies. If you ask me, I wouldn't have wanted the Catwoman to be tied down with love. Wasn't it the love-hate relationship between the two which was the recurring themes of the comics where the Catwoman was also featured?

For all the likeliness I am considering Bane to be the villain in the movie. Isn't it amazing the both the hero and his nemesis have woefully less screen time? It is only twice that the two are face to face and the fist fights which ensue are well what can I say not imaginative at all. I mean Sherlock Holmes got into much better fistfights I daresay. 

To top it all, the twist in the climax, reduces Bane from an all powerful nemesis to an accomplice a number two. Not cool I say!!! Also the prison doctor (who talks in the foreign tongue) talks about the kid that escaped but fails to mention that it was a girl. I mean isn't it worth mentioning that it was not only a child but a girl child who did it? Another thing amazes me is that the prison doctor mentions about the protector but curiously Bruce Wayne does not press further to know who the protector might have been. The subtitles would have also helped here rather than having another character translate stuff. It would have been perfectly believable for the Batman to understand the foreign tongue. Isn't he trained by the Ra's al Ghul?

The Nuke and Bruce Wayne

Batman picks up the nuke with the Bat (the chopper which he flies and which doesn't have autopilot) and flies it off to the horizon where it blasts and the city is safe again. Wouldn't it have been more promising for Batman go up in space and let the nuke explode there? Do I hear you say that he isn't Superman to do that feat or that the nuke was a small one with a blast radius of 6 miles? Whatever be the reason I somehow found it lame for the Batman to carry the nuke far off and then have it blast out there over the horizon. Remember a certain Abhishek Bachchan doing the same shit in a Bollywood movie named 'Dus' and how you laughed about it!!! Well this is no different, isn't it??

As if this was not enough, the legend didn't end there. Through different scenes in the post-Bane Gotham we are led to believe that Bruce Wayne isn't dead. It all culminates with Alfred acknowledging Bruce sitting with the Catwoman in a cafe in Florence which he frequents during his summer vacation. So what am I to believe that the nuke got Batman but Bruce lives? Also that shot where Fox discovers that the autopilot was fixed, I didn't really understand. When they check the tag are they sitting in another Bat? Or the Bat which the Batman flew on that ill fated flight had the auto pilot corrected before hand? That was all confusing and outright unbelievable. 

I did start talking about the above points with the folks with whom I watched the movie, but they brushed it aside saying that its only a movie. My retort I am sure most of you will understand, "When its Christopher Nolan its not only a movie"!!!!

I rest my case!!!!

Killing time

Close the windows, shut the blind,

Let there be no sound of chime.

The only reason I make this rhyme,

Is to kill time.

I am not violent,

Neither am I of exceptional talent.

However I have to try as hard as I can,

To kill time is what I have to plan.

How about I read,

And watch movies with mead?

Or just lay back,

And never get outta my sack?

Of course I can do that,

And maybe also kill a rat.

But all that wouldn't matter a bit, 

Cos killing time needs helluva wit!!!

The Cassette Player

The Cassette Player

It was with a whoop of triumph he ushered it in,

For you would ask if you may.

Whether he had a single cassette to put in,

But then at that moment he was too happy to say.

Over a period of time he saved,

Bickered his dad to spend.

Bought a cassette a month and played, 

To no end.

His first gift to her was of course not a car,

But a cassette of some of his favorite hits.

He was not sad when it didn't go too far,

For at least his cassette was not a bunch of dimwits.

After all these years he thinks back,

And feels sad.

He does not really remember, however hard his brains he rack,

As to when the cassette player broke and things went out of hand.

India V/S Pakistan in India!!! Dec 2012

The BCCI has given the nod to resume bilateral cricketing ties with our neighbor. Its been 5 years since these two nations faced-off at least on a cricketing field in a bilateral series. It has been tagged to be a ‘short series’ with 3 ODI and 2 T20 internationals in it.

With cricketing ties resuming, everybody is talking about this being a sign of improved ties between the two nations ‘again’! Even if the cricketing administrations in both countries are ruled by politicians, I personally feel that Cricket is Cricket that’s all. ‘Cricket Diplomacy’ if at all such a term has been already coined by the media is an eye-wash. Diplomacy makes sense only on the political level. Everything else including the ‘Bus Diplomacy’ which A B Vajpayee tried is only to give a good feeling and may sell a few more newspapers and keep the West happy that yes things are at least not out of control in this part of the world.

Frankly speaking after India won the WC and SRT got his 100th century , I have pretty much given up on cricket. The fact that every now and then Sri Lanka was the only team playing India also did not help.

Am I looking forward to this Ind vs Pak series? Well I sure am, because come December the Indian media is going to whip up a storm. I am already curious as to what the media will call this series. Though I am sure that name will be some connotation of the word - Peace, Aman, Asha etc. More than on-field performances I will be interested in what happens off the field that is if at all SRT is not playing, which I highly doubt.

I will be keeping a close eye on how much Afridi has aged on paper since the last time I saw him some 8-9 years when he was only 15 years old. I am also predicting that we will get to see Sania Mirza in the stands for the last T20 game and that this sighting will start trending on Twitter.

All said and done, may the best team win. Hope the series becomes famous for purely cricketing reasons and that the BCCI don’t overplay the peace card and ask Ajmal Kasab to share the dais during any of the MOM presentations.

Yahoo Fantasy Football League 2012

I had the good fortune of being included in the Fantasy Football League started by folks back in Austin. The fact that the planning for the League started when I was there is a mere coincidence, so in a bid to further my interest and knowledge about the goings-on of the NFL I agreed without hesitation.

Till now I think I have pretty much got a hang of what is to be done. The league is of 12 teams and my team is called the 1stDowners. The league is named the 'Sacks in the City'. The draft is scheduled to be on 25th Aug at 5pm CT. I will be one of the three out of towners participating in the league.

I did watch a fair bit of action last season. Considering that I was located close to New England, it was natural for me to follow the Patriots and the fact that they made it all the way to the Super Bowl only endeared them to me. However now that I will be moving to Iowa, I guess geographically speaking I will have to look out for the Packers, Vikings and the Bears. Having said that I still feel that I will be following the progress of the Patriots. Not to mention that Brady is going to be my first round pick in the fantasy league provided he is still up for grabs as I have the 7th pick.

The fantasy league has 4 first timers including me so I am not necessarily banking on 'beginners luck' to take me through, but even if I suck the 16 weeks are gonna be fun with a lot of trash talk with fellow competitors and of course some very good NFL action.

Moving on...away from my comfort zone

So finally 20th July is going to be my last day working for the project in which I worked on from the day I joined Infosys. It is only apt that merely 3 days before that day I will have completed 6 whole years as well with the company. 

6 years is a long time especially if you consider that apart from my training months in Mysore, each and every day I have logged into the same client mainframe, maybe looked at pretty much the same programs, jobs, procs, parms and what not. As if a receipt of my hardwork or maybe mere luck (I think it was just plain luck) I also got an opportunity to travel to onsite for this very project. Till 20th July 2012 it will have been 1 year 2 months and 11 days since I landed in the US for this project.

I was non-plussed with the idea of travelling to a foreign land and more so interacting with clients. The major reason for that was that I had everything sorted out before hand. There was a large contingent of Infosys folks from my project already here. Folks with whom I had worked at some point in time back in India for a period of 6 to 12 months or more. Each and every details right from the airport pickup, to the acco was already set. I had only to present myself at the given time, which I did not find much of a problem with. So even in the US I was very much in the comfort zone.

However come 23rd July, I will have stepped out of my comfort zone. I will be moving to Des Moines, Iowa. Apart from it being a new place it is also going to be new people and the fact that I would be the only bachelor around doesn't make things rosier. Add to that the fact that in the past year I didn't even get my DL done and I feel screwed. So its going to be as fresh a start as anybody would have had in a foreign land. Starting from a week's acco in a hotel to maybe hunting for a residence and yes also sooner than later getting your own wheels to become that much more independent.

Move over and to the kind of work I am going to do and we have to talk about a totally new game. The domain remains the same - Healthcare but to use an analogy I would say, if it was cricket I was playing earlier, then its baseball that I have opted to play now. The only common thing between the two being that hitting the ball out of the park gives the crowd something to cheer about in both. I am not saying that I will be the next Babe Ruth, well not that I was ever Don Bradman to begin with. Guess these things are to be done just to be in the sport ;) (i have a feeling my carefully worked analogy went for a toss right there with that last statement).

I am somehow savoring the challenge to say the least and not to mention I am backing myself to come out on tops as well.

In the coming months the old Chinese proverb is sure gonna come true for me - 'May you live in interesting times' :)

The Van Persie Situation

The title reminds me of the 'Bonnie Situation' from the Tarantino cult hit Pulp Fiction. I would not be exerting the limits of my imagination to draw parallels between Bonnie or Van Persie because simply put these two are as apart as the time it takes for 8 years to lapse.

Well if you are a Gooner you will surely know how long those 8 years really are. With each passing year our tones have become graver and graver asking the same question, 'Will we win something this year?" Be rest assured that I am not going to dwell on that question anymore because it is oft discussed and rued upon.

The last season for Arsenal was all about Van Persie. CL football this season is possible only because of him. As the season ended talk of Van Persie's future gathered steam considering the fact that he had only 1season left on his contract and that there were no discussions done about a new deal or an extension. The Gooner in mean felt that it was time to get ready for the worst.

Personally speaking I don't have any qualms about RvP leaving. I mean yes it is a big hit for Arsenal much like after Nasri left last season, but then come to think about it almost all the star players who have left Arsenal have always left saying that they wanted to win trophies. Even the Arsenal legend Henry is not averse to the fact.

Having said that I somehow felt that this transfer will be without any straining of relations between the club, player and fans. However what has transpired in the last two days seems that this is going to be another of that Nasri-esque experience. We are well aware of how Nasri was spelt after he went over to Man City - NA$RI and already with the statements RvP has given, he has been labelled as 'Rotten Gone Persie' by atleast one fansite. It doesn't take time to this kind of fire to spread. In one instance all the hard work he put in the last season will be brushed aside and he will be labelled as a footballer with no club loyalty. It will be unfair but then that is how fans are!!!

Arsene Wenger has made positive moves this time in the transfer market. Giroud and Podolski are good cover for Van Persie. In M'Villa we are looking a defensive midfielder which would give us cover incase Alex Song goes forward which he did so often last season. However the M'Villa deal is not yet through.

In the present situation having RvP complete out his contract (i.e play this season) and then let him go as a free agent will be the wise option. That should give enough time for both Giroud and Podolski to get in on the English game. But then does Arsene play 2 strikers in Van Persie and Podolski and let go of the 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 and shift to a traditional 4-4-2 formation? Also assuming Van Persie stays I highly doubt if all 3 will be used together game in and game out.

So lets see how this season pans out and whether Arsenal get any 'silverware' to show for it. If not it will be another year of that grave question doing the round 'Will we win something this year?"

P.S : RVP dont go to Man City..plzzz

The Week in Austin TX

Now that things are pretty much in a transitional state as far as work is concerned I took the liberty of indulging myself a bit more than I would have usually done if things were even a little bit more demanding at work. I have spent a weekend before in Austin, TX and I must say I liked what I saw. I did want to see some more. 

The fact that my host stays alone does really help matters and add to that a great group of friends he is surrounded with makes things go WOW. This time around another friend of mine also entertained me and he sure knows how to entertain guests. That was the out and out surprise element in the entire trip.

The sole motive to decide the length of my stay in Austin was nothing but the air tickets. It so transpired  that I got myself tickets spanning 6 days between them and that was how it came to be a week in Austin.

Now let me see what all I did here. Guess it will be better if I list it down.

Thursday evening:

1) A kick ass pizza at Home Slice with Sagar for company. That was after we downed a couple or so margaritas.

Friday evening-night-early morning:

2) Near authentic Indian food at the Clay Pit. The Goat Curry was to die for. It was 'Desi Hot' as it should be

3) Trudy's - Guess only the name is enough

4) Then we did what is referred to as 'Bar-Hopping'. All it involves is hopping bars and trying the shots on offer. 4Sq came in quite handy as I turned to those recommendations just for the heck of it.

Saturday Afternoon-Evening-Night:

5) The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King in HD on a kick-ass projector. Nothing more will be written about it

6) An attempt at Go Karting which was aborted cos there was a wait time of over 2.5 hrs. I aint complaining as I already got my checkin points ;)

7) Hukka

8) Beach Volleyball happened for many hours. I was dog tired by the end but I did surprise myself not by being fleet footed but atleast by returning quite a few serves and the works. I dont really remember if I ever played an serious volleyball all my life.

9) Beer.

10) End Game

Sunday Morning-Afternoon-Evening-Night:

11) A bit of Pulp Fiction again on the kick ass Projector

12) EURO 2012 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME with beer, wings and pizza

13) More Beer by the Lake

14) Drunk Dead

Monday Evening:

15) Firearms shooting at the range

16) Decent Dinner. No Alcohol. BLISS

17) Ohh yes the MacBook Pro also happened here..

Tuesday Evening 

18) TED - the movie

19) Broken Spoke - To listen to some Texas Honky Tonk music. Listen to this track and this is what honky tonk music is like. Have been listening to this all day today and boy am I in love with it or what.  

The track is called : My Baby Makes me Gravy!!!

As things turn out when you have beer flowing and absolute BS been discussed and you let slip out how heading back home would be boring and how you will still be working from home and that you really wanted to see the 4th July fireworks, I have changed my flight tickets to show the travel date of July 15th.

Well that is a whole 11 days. But then when I got about rescheduling the flight it was not the date but the price that matter and it was only 11 days later that I could get something cheaper. The best part is that the next day when I informed the same guys with whom over a lot of beer I made this decision to postpone my return journey they were should I say surprised!!!! But then now they gotta live with it.

So coming back to cataloging what all I did/am doing in Austin all these days, this will surely turn out to be the lengthiest blog I have written ever.

Wednesday
20) Visited this awesome breakfast place Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse for brunch.
21) Barton Springs Pool - This pool is fed by the Main Barton Spring which is the fourth largest spring in Texas. It was refreshing and fun to swim after a long time. It was good to know that I could still get my dives going after so many years without hurting myself a bit

22) Malaga - This is a Spanish Tapas Bar. Tapas are a appetizer or snacks in the Spainish cuisine. Combining different kinds of tapas is usual done to make a full meal. I must say that this was something different. Not to forget that the pitcher of Spainish Sangria does induce an enormous sense of well-being :) Also there were performers dancing to Spanish tunes and foot tapping which added to the experience

23) 4th July fireworks -  As things would have it, I witnessed the 4th July fireworks last year at Manhattan and this year I happened to be in Austin. I know they are the same each year but I just cannot skip the chance!!! We did not wait until the very end as we thought of beating the traffic by leaving early but did catch the show while we were moving towards to the car parking. It was fun as always!!!

Extended Stay Austin (4th July-15th July):

By the 4th July I had already done what was expected off a tourist to be done in Austin. So the next 11 days were more about just being there. I am not saying that it was boring but at it did feel like an overkill. At the end, it was not only me but also the folks there who started thinking that even I was a part of their lives. I mean what more will you expect when you go out and do groceries and cook dinner for 3 consecutive days. LOL!!!

Predictable as it may sound but we boozed till the dawn (precisely till 3AM) on the morning of 15th July (when my flight was at 6:30AM) and the notable thing about this binge was the 'Devil's Cocktail' at Peche. This shit had Jalapeno in it and it was fiery.

Such long was my stay in Austin that when I finally left, a friend coyly remarked, "So Advait, finally you are 'vacating' Austin." Never has the word 'vacate' been more appropriately used I say.

Not to mention that I did get a call from Anuj in the evening saying that he kinda felt out of sort now that I wasn't there. 

Its only a matter of getting used to, as I have always maintained.

The End