Potter Mania ....

Harry Potter…!!! Ohh how much I loved reading Harry Potter series.... ( ya ya, I know I am not the only one…) initially in hiding thinking that's for kiddos; and I was a teenager….but later when I realized how it went on to become a big success I started accepting my potter love publically.

So much that on one of my birthdays when Ashu was out of country, he tried bribing me saying he can pick latest book for me from Singapore Airport on the same day it was getting published!!!
And again few years back when I was quite upset on not getting some good surprise gifts on my birthday... this is what I got as a present 6th book of HP series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince... and ohh boy could I be happier!!

Seeing my HP love, my friend simplyhardik mailed me the pdf version of last book in the series, Harry Potter and Deathly Hollows, on the day it got released and before I go and buy. Though I was determined to get the hard copy I couldn’t help myself opening and reading that e-book as soon as I got it. (Ya piracy and all, I know but what to do...I was helpless against me... and I did buy a hard copy after all in the end)

Aaaah, are you wondering why suddenly Harry Potter is on my mind?? Ohh isn't he on minds of many now a days?? (Ya for some it might be Hermione or Ron...Or Malfoi and Snake???) hehehe
Ya you guessed it right, As Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince Movie got released this Wednesday and craze among people to watch the movie brought me back memories of good old time ;)

I always love reading books more than the movies based on same, and I remember the emptiness I felt when I was done reading the series ... I literally lived in that different world.... I tried finding Hogwarts in all the castles I saw while roaming in Europe... I even visualized myself walking in that era when I was walking in Christmas Market in Utrecht... winter mist, white tents, castle, people dressed in long gowns, stopping at a tent and singing, yellow lights around and snow...aaah.... I missed all the characters and I missed that it actually was over! And now watching the movie I re-lived what was gone...!

I remembered those emotions I passed through while reading it and when it was over!! I had found this particular 6th book one of the most serious ones of whole series as Dumbledore dies in this and everything becomes gloomy, while going through those pages you even feel the pain of losing someone... and this is the movie of same part...so....ummmmm... .hmmmm… Whatever... that doesn’t mean we don’t watch the movie...right??

We were planning to watch it yesterday night, I tried to reserve tickets online but it showed me both evening shows were full and only last show at 11:00 pm had reservations open.
So thinking about office on Friday, (and the way I feel if I don’t get my 7-8 hr beauty sleep) I reserved tickets for Saturday evening. Now no movie plan, it being summer vacation we had nothing else to do in the evening, and it being weekly shopping day in Den Haag we ended up going for shopping… there we can walk across the shopping malls, can buy something for our India trip and can eat Falafel at Kings falafel on streets of Spui market.

While on our mission-less evening wandering... destiny again brought us across Pathe theatre where movie was running ( ok ok not destiny, then how about our unconscious minds leading our legs towards that path??? nice huh??? Hehehe ) we saw this crowd there... Harry Potter fans it seemed.... Ashu asked me what time it was and if there was a show right then?? Yes, there was, starting in 10 mins..... And it tempted us to try our lucks at tickets again.... You never know!!!

At ground floor it looked busy at ticket machines.... so we ran to first floor but here too there were these long lines for tickets and then..... We spotted one machine in the corner almost un-occupied and ran for it. We tried for Harry potter and Half Blood Prince.... and yey we got the tickets.... yupppieee

But funny thing happened when we actually occupied out seats in Zaal 4 (screen 4).... tension started building on us as we realized ohh what if this movie is in Dutch, the NL version, as in our excitement of getting tickets we didn’t bother to check it... obviously on internet it did show full for the original version, and we were sitting there with tickets... something must be odd. We immediately pull out our iPhones and started checking movies shows on Pathe application. Hmmmmmm It did show us that there is no NL version show today and it was only next day that they were starting with NL version. Aaaah a little relief...!
But wait…what’s this??? First disclaimer page appeared on screen and we panicked reading that in Dutch... and a moment later there appeared clouds and music following it ( no, not where we were sitting, I meant on the screen ).... and appeared subtitle below the scene, we read the first subtitle that appeared in Dutch and both jumped out of chairs... IT IS in English!!! Yeyyyy..!

Yes so that's it, we finally watched it... But I think the lady in her 50s sitting beside me loved it more than I did, as I could hear her giggle and no one could hear mine!! ;)

Arrrrrrr.... yeah I hear it…. Saturday evening reservations, right ?

You know you are Dutch when....

I came through THIS link about dutch people and culture.... some i could relate and agree ... some i found funny ... some i am not much aware of...

Some of which i found interesting, i have listed them down.

You know you are Dutch when....

- If you are between the ages of four and eighty, you own at least one bicycle and use it, too.

- You consider four weeks of vacation a year normal, and in many professions count on a 36-hour working week.

- You speak English, at least somewhat. After all, you are exposed to at least two hours of it daily if you listen to pop songs, TV and movies. You also know enough German to get by, and watch German television. If anybody starts talking in broken or accented Dutch to you, you will reply in English. Only the most determined English-speaking foreigner has a change of learning Dutch in your country.

- The decimal point is a comma. Certainly not a dot.

- Dubbing is for kids. All movies and TV series are subtitled, except for the Dutch ones.

- You are shocked if anyone offers you a bribe, or asks for one.

- For a politician to show off his wife or kids during an election campaign is ridiculous, since you don't understand what do they have to do with his work. You don't even know whether most party leaders are married, divorced, single or whatever.

- A company can't fire just anybody it wants. For this reason, many companies hire temporary workers through an employment agency.

- Labor Day is the first of May, but it is not a holiday.

- You count on excellent medical treatment. You know you're not going to die of cholera or other Third World diseases. You expect very strong measures to be taken to save very ill babies or people in their eighties. You think dying at 65 would be a tragedy. You take it for granted that health care insurance is universal, and even grant illegal immigrants the right to basic medical assistance.

- You're used to a wide variety of choices for almost anything you buy.

- You drive on the right side of the road. You stop at red lights even if nobody's around. If you're a pedestrian and cars are stopped at a red light, you will fearlessly cross the street in front of them.

- The police are armed, but not with submachine guns.

- You wouldn't expect both inflation and unemployment to be very high (say, over 15%) at the same time. High unemployment may occur, high inflation never.

- Christmas is in the winter. You spend it with your family, and put up a tree. Presents are given at December 5th, St. Nicolas day, and you include satirical rhymes where you gently point out people's bad habits.

- You've left a message at the beep.

- You can drink alcohol at age 16. IDs are not often asked for.

- Unemployment benefits are your right, you've paid for them after all, and of course people who don't have any money should get welfare-- should they starve or what? But you also think that there are a lot of people cheating the system.

- Germany and the Germans are overbearing neighbors. You get along well with them, but Germans are known to be arrogant, which you are always alert to point out them. The war is not forgotten, and most people have elderly family members who were killed, deported or otherwise mistreated by the Nazis. Germany never returned the bicycles it stole, either. Even the most politically correct can make jokes or disparaging remarks about Germans and get away with it. Your greatest dream is beating Germans in the World Cup finals.

- France is a country that doesn't understand your soft drugs policy. This is arrogant. It is a great place for summer vacation, and you like their cheese and wine.

- The USA provides most of your entertainment, as well as technical innovation. If a non-American explains to you that something is better in the US than in the Netherlands, you will explain that American ideas will not work in the Dutch context. If an American tells you things are better in the US, you just think that he's arrogant. Apart from always telling you that things are better in the US, Americans are nice people. Your country has more money invested in the US than any other country in the world.

- Your country used to have colonies but you rarely think about this.

- You were born in a hospital or at home (these are about equally likely) and were delivered by a midwife, general practitioner or gynecologist. Unless she had a cesarean, your mother did not take anesthesia during the delivery. Your father was most likely present at your birth.

- Having a Royal House and a Queen is a Good Thing. Why, you're not sure.

- Changing your name is very difficult. It takes a lot of paperwork, you need to convince the authorities that you have a good reason to change your name, and you need the Queen's permission (yes, really!)

One another interesting link about Dutch Culture... HERE

Some more movies...

Last week we caught up with 3 more movie....so some more reviews....

1. Ice Age 3

When we were going for this movie we were a little bit sceptical as we had no kids accompanying us; but when we entered the theatre we saw the theatre full ( for the first time here) and not with many kids. hahaha
The movie was great as a true entertainment where we don't have to use our brains. The animation is top notch, the worlds (above and below the ice) are beautifully rendered and watching this stuff in 3D really adds a dimension to the experience that needs to be seen to be believed.

I loved the character Buck, one-eyed weasel who hunts dinosaurs intently, Buck kept reminding me of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of Caribbean while watching the movie... I don't know if anyone else felt that resemblance !

Many criticism stands with the idea of Dinosaurs and mammoths together as we all know that dinosaurs have been dead for about 30 million years before sloths and mammoths turned up... but then it's a animated fun movie and that's why i say fun entertainment if you don't use your brains !!

2. The Hangover

"The Hangover" is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through. It is a great movie to watch with a crowd, even after it is in theatre since so many weeks show was still houseful when we went to watch it. We were not too early as the tradition is here so we had to watch it sitting in 3rd raw from front end... but as we had no other great plans on our to be done list, we did it and we are happy that we did as it was so much fun !!!

It is a movie based almost entirely on comic surprise. One of its greatest strengths is the way in which the story is told; It starts on a low pitch, the audience is kept in suspense as the mystery unravels essentially in real-time. The chemistry between the cast is top notch, it isn’t about brilliant jokes and punchlines so much as it is about that feeling of camaraderie and trash talking among close friends who are stuck in a tense predicament.

One of the best scene is when our hapless overgrown boys wake up in their expensive Vegas hotel suite, the detailed destruction that inexplicably took place the night before is stupefying. An enormous pyramid of empty beer bottles overseen by a confused rooster is a mere intro to a labyrinth of unexplained circumstances. An abandoned infant and a bathroom-ensconced tiger deliver an immediacy to the plight of three guys; And when they discuss about why can’t they remember anything that happened the night before? And as Phil puts it, "Because we obviously had a great fucking time." So great that the groom has gone missing. hahaha Funny thing is; at some point we actually find ourselves caring a little about what happened to the missing bridegroom !

Noone even missed the last photo end credits, it added more laughter in the end displaying their forgotten night moments leaving everyone rolling in the aisles... It is the biggest comedy of the summer!!

3. Brüno

After BORAT in 2006, another Sacha Baron Cohen creation arrives on the big screen.

First off, if you did not like Borat, you will not like Brüno. If you are a fan of raunchy comedies, you will love Brüno.

Brüno, the gay Austrian model of the title, after getting fired from his hit show in his homeland, decides he wants to be famous and takes his show to America. Brüno tries all stunts from adopting a baby hollywood style, to trying to settle the middle east fury, all in the name of making himself known. His path takes him to a few different places including; a preacher who can make him "ungay" (level 1 and level 2), an outrageous interview with politician Ron Paul, an actual meeting with a terrorist, a swingers party, and the MMA arena. When he finally reaches his dead end, he decides it is infact his own utter gayness that's holding his career back from taking off.

The more uncomfortable Brüno makes people, the more he draws attention to their petty churlishness and homophobia. There are quite a few shots of extreme nudity, which are hilarious, as well as some disturbing interviews with some parents who are auditioning their kids for a part in Brüno’s commercial (Are you OKAY with liposuction for your child? How about crucifixion?)

The improvisation done by Cohen/Brüno is magnificent. Some people are finding Brüno even funnier than Borat, considering that it does up the ante in various ways, but on the other hand, some will likely be turned off by the shock value and the more incendiary jokes.

Controversial, uncomfortable, and hilarious, Brüno enthusiastically attacks prejudices and intolerance, and tosses in jabs at celebrities who'll do anything to be centre of attraction/ for publicity and stardom !

Milestone "21"

Milestones...!! How many ways can we relate this word in our lives ?!?!!?!!
In work, projects, goals...all the time..! But how about our live !!
What can we call "Milestones" of our lives? May be going school for the first time, entering university, getting married, having kids, etc etc.
* Wait*
How about turning 21???
Yeah turning 21, Isn't that a different feeling??? That is the legal age ...
( Ya but in India only for males; for our species it is 18!!! hehehe. So I can say girls are smarter by 3 years than guys in India... hehehe )

I Google searched on what are the things which you can do when you turn 21and got a list of a few things that people think they would love to do when they turn 21.

- Can legally get married...! But why will anyone want to marry at age of 21? I had that right at 18, but boy did I wish to get marry at that age??? Then why should we be discussing about this?? So leave this.
- Can legally go to Bars and drink...! Ok now this may interest some of you but of no use if you live at a place I grown up. Yes in Gujarat! It's a dry state and drinking is not legal even when you are 50 without a permit.... yes drinking permit. There are some relaxations in the rules now and also depends on contacts you have... but we are not discussing that either.
- Vote - In India , we can vote at 18.... So that rules out this too.
- Driving Licence - Aah that's also 18 !!

So what is left for turning 21?? Only that one can get married legally ?!@#$%?!

Okay okay leave it, this seems like going nowhere. Let's talk about some one behind this post today.
My brother Vivek ... Yes guessed it right... He is turning 21 today....yuppieeee
Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday dear Vivek.... Bappy Birthday to you.

~~

So I am no more entitle to see him as a little cute baby, arrived in our lives 21years back and ohh God how happy I was, I could never put my hand off his chubby chicks.... hehehe
When I asked him what does he think about turning 21, this is what appeared again in the answer he can legally get married !?@#$%!?
Hell Nooooo !! Now didn’t I mention earlier that 21 is not the age to get married... you have whole life young man... enjoy you time, but I wonder why will you think about marrying at this stage? As per my knowledge your relationship status stands at single at the moment.... or is there something I am missing out here...!?!?!
(We need to talk about this later, Vivek)

~~

Hmmm so when my baby bro is nomore a baby, So many sweet memories I hold of him close to my heart.......
He started walking at the age of some 7-9 months and i was so so protective of him that I would be always shouting at people that please don't make him walk, he will fall down and they used to laught at me saying you can't learn if you are afraid of fall.... And now i understand what it means !
When he was 1.5-2 years old, he would drive bicycle and not just drive but will always drive it on slops and then to climb back reverse from the same was one of his favorites...! Too much for a baby !

~~

I remember, as a kid how he used to go to watch chess tournament at a club and then will cry as they won't allow him to play as he won't fall under minimum age required to play a match. On one incident, looking at his interest, Organizers asked some guys, who were done with their competition and just waiting there, to play with him to make him happy. And then there was a whole crowd around them when he started winning. Yeah that's my brother Vivek.

~~

As a kid, he was emotional, ( Still he is, just that now he has learnt to hide it behind smiling face) I still remember people will tease him saying ... ya one day you will be all grown up, will go to study somewhere, or move somewhere, will marry and move somewhere else... all of which mean leaving home in the end for some or other reason, and he will cry and cry hugging mom saying no why do you say that, I will never leave anyone !!!
~~

He won’t express everything to everyone and I remember how we used to go on the terrace and would talk about everything whenever he is upset and things are bothering him. He actually said I was his best friend....yeah... I feel bad now when due to this physical distance we can't talk that much. But I still want him to come to me whenever he feels like talking, and I hope he will.

~~

He is someone whom every parent will be proud of. He made dad's wish true by going for medicine as Dad always wanted at least one of us to be in medical field like him and neither me nor my sister did. And I can't express how proud Vivek made us all feel when he topped the merit list!
~~

With time he has changed according to his age and in my sister's words has become more "style-maru"... but I think that is the age effect which will fad away with time ;)... or will stay forever...whatever..!

~~

On my wedding day, he said he won't cry, but I think he did. ( But later he explained to me that it was just some fluid coming out due to some medicine or something for some dermatology treatment or something....aaah, now how do you expect me to remember exact words he used to confuse me using his newly acquired medicine knowledge !! )

~~

I can write pages and pages about him.... but I think I shall leave that for some other Milestone, what do you say Vivek??
For now, Happy 21 Viv... May you get whatever you wish... Happy Birthday...!

It's movie time...

As i have again and again mentioned in my blog about how hard we are trying now a days to straighten our movie watching record and bring it back on the track, so result???? we watched 5 movies in 15 days !!

So before i have to work hard to catch up with my blogging record too; thought let me just write about about movies we watched to keep it straight!

1. Angels & Demons

I loved this movie.

When i watched Da Vinci Code after reading the book, I was rather disappointed, But watching this movie was a delight.

Very good direction and unlike Da Vinci Code ( According to me which was a fast paced movie, half of the time while watching movie had gone explaining what's going on to people sitting next to me who had apparently hadn't read the book !!) this was a treat for even those who missed reading the book.

( I don't know how can anyone not read the book and watch the movie....believe me there is no better movie than the book.... ya apart from Lord of the rings; which even i preferred simplified movie version )

Okay so coming back to the point, a nice movie, very nice acting, excellent screen play, excellent direction.

2. NewYork

Nice movie.

But i felt a little depressed after watching it as couldn't throw out some scenes which kept replaying in mind.

Katrina undoubtedly steals title of one of most good looking actress in Bollywood ... and John is as usual eye stealer for most of the girls...!

I loved the music.....specially the song " hai junoon" (yeah yeah i know it's not original and copied from an indonesian song “NALURI LELAKI”; but still i love listening to it.... may be 'coz i don't understand language of the original one??? )

3. Termination Salvation

If you are a Terminator fan; have seen earlier films then sure go and watch this one. You will enjoy all the linkings and revealing of connections.
( Ohh hell ya i know my go and watch won't help now as all real fans must have already watched it by now !)

But if you haven't seen ( or read about) any of earlier Terminator Movies; it is but obvious that many things can go bouncing for you.



4. Kambakkht Ishq

A "NO NO" or a "don't watch" whatever you want to name it kinda movie. (At least i felt so ... yeah but we watched it though !!)

I don't know who in their right mind will create a movie like this. Storyline yukks, songs are random, anytime in any situation it will appear out of nowhere without making any sense !
(Yeah that's the speciallity of Bollywood, I KNOW )

Luckily in the case of Kambakkht Ishq, it isn’t as long as any other normal Bollywood movie, so that’s better but it is louder, and by louder i mean at some point of time everyone is shouting making you feel that may be they thought audience being hearing-impaired !!

You can't even pretend enjoying the music if not the movie !!
Kareena looks great, but is that enough for a movie to work??

5. Transformer - Revenge of the fallen

A treat for Transformer lovers.

Bigger, Longer, Louder than its predecessor.

At times felt that its stretched a little bit and could have worked for less than its 147 minutes ... But hey it's Transformer !!

So now two days more and it will be weekend again, time to catch up with some more movies .. ! hehehe

Woohoo...It's Friday ....!

Wish you all a very happy Weekend.

We will be doing some household shopping as usual, those furniture store visits (the usual weekend activity since we moved to new house ), some more shopping for India trip and some attempts of straightening up our movie-watching record !!

Enjoy your weekend... !!!

How much have I changed ... !?!?

I took this quiz on Facebook (yeah one more face book application) "How much have you changed in last 10 years"
And my result says - I am 71% changed in last 10 years!!!

That's quite a change isn't it...!
If I overlook the stupid questions asked there and think over it, I realize how true that is!!

In my last post also I was referring this change when I wrote "Time...Time...Time... How time flies...!!" And this isn't just about what I wrote there, this is about our habits, our surroundings, our thinking..!!
It has nothing to do with actual literal change in me, or age reflecting on my skin.... but what I am talking about here is about all different phases of life.


The phase, I was in, was totally different 10 years back, and now it's totally different life!!
That was the time, I had just entered the college life, fresh out of high-school, so excited about experiencing different world which we read about, heard about, visualised and dreamed about.... “The College life”!!! Staying in hostel, first time away from comfort of home, Away from pampered-ness of family, everything was new.... and now... Everything is new again BUT in a different way ... That and this are totally different phases...

Those were the days we lived on pocket money and had all the fun and now are the days we earn ourselves and still fight to manage the expenses with xx times more income…!!!
Those were the days we lived with friends in hostel, now we live with our partner in our own houses...!
From that common use computer for everyone in home days to we have moved to one notebook per person in home era....
And those were the days we used to wait for a call from home, from friends at common hostel phone on a fixed time, and now?? After those days at hostel I have changed at least 7 mobile phones until today in these 10 years! (Yeah 2 of them I lost, that's also a different story)

When I was in school, I was so anti-social (ya still I am). I would love being with my friends, cousins but if we have guests coming in the evening for dinner or something, I will better be reading something in other room or just sleep. And when mom or dad will ask to go there and talk, I always wondered that why do they that? What have we got to talk with them? And every time same talk...ohh look at you, you look so grown up, she is growing fast huh.... how is your studies going on? So which grade are you in now? same things every time and we have to reply with a big smile and they will act so happy as if it really mattered a lot to them, knowing those stupid stuff about us.... or may be that happiness was real as they felt these kids talked so nicely smilingly and that means kids like them !!! Hahaha Who knows!!!

Personally I so so hated when that conversation happened, and so did my brother (Viv) and sister (Dipu) at times... Viv and I shared almost all common weirdest things and feelings agreeing with each other on everything like this (we both being 'introvert' as they used put it ) but ya Dipu was a little different at times as in general she is extrovert and more easy going among we three when it comes to talking with people. But then those times she will run and will like to be there in other room with us hiding.
It used to happen that whenever door bell rings; we three will run away in other room hoping no one remembers that we exist and won't call us out for that conversation...hahaha... But aaah they never forgot us!! Mom used to get angry at times and would wonder that why the hell whenever bell rings; in stead of opening the door we run in opposite direction towards other room to lock ourselves in !!!

(When I visualize that scene now, it looks so funny... Imagine a scene where 3 mice are feasting and enjoying and as soon as they hear the footsteps or any noise they all run together towards walls to their burrows.... hahahaha ... OMG, I am laughing now while writing this with that visualization!! )

Then came this college / university phase. Staying in a hostel itself is a big change, it brought some changes in me too and one of that was at that time I always felt like I can talk with anyone on any topic. I will start talking with some one in train while coming back home, I will start talking with someone while waiting for a bus or for train, I will start chatting with people in auto, I will start chatting with anyone. And I will talk and talk. At time I will be surprised myself that how can I talk with any stranger compared to how introward I was in school time!! I think may be that was the age.... being in late teenage years....Amah !!

(The period I am talking about here is my graduation days at Engg. and not those MBA days!! Yes they are different! )

And now it has again come to a circle. Now I can talk but if I want to and many times I just don't want to!!!! Sheeesh...
Many times I just don’t feel like talking. Now I wonder how I did that back in university!!
But I think I have learned so much in past years, I respect individual more with their knowledge. (About that I plan to write a whole other post)

I think age brings more self-consciousness, why will it be that?? May be as we think more on repulsions of what we speak. We don't want anyone to feel bad, we don't want anyone to take us wrong; we don't want anyone to get hurt. Many times we are conscious because we know whatever we speak, it is not safe. It can be misinterpreted, We can be judged over that, and sometimes if we are too frank about others it can harm that relationship and if we are too frank about ourselves it might be used against us... and so we talk less, And whatever we talk we think before we speak, (yeah yeah we think twice before we talk, alright?) We become more opinionated, more judgemental, may be our ego becomes more prominent !

(Aaaah they are not noticing me than why shall i?? Ignore just ignore.... I didn't see them !! Why should it be always me who has to initiate the conversation?? AND that is how many times it starts.... All sitting in a room, all full of ego, all full of themselves to talk even with a person sitting in a next chair ! ).

May be this is because of the fact that now we spend more time with colleagues than with friends..!!
Because we spend more time staring at our computer screens than those open grounds...!!

And I think this is the reason that now we don't make those many friends that easily the way we did in school, the way we did in college...!

P.S. This post is a generalised writing, reflecting my thinking process of whatever came in my mind while writing it, Real life situation differs person to person, It doesn't represent anyone/ anything / any incident.