When Henry blew bubbles they became more than that

When Henry blew bubbles they became more than that.....

"When Henry blew bubbles
They became more than that
With a face and two legs
And the occasional hat"

Check out the this really nice ink & watercolour by Marc Johns at http://www.flickr.com/photos/97897408@N00/3048132897

Dinner for a Million

Found this really funny..... posted on "http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/40-comics-strips-for-web-designers/"

Tasting Chocolate

Most of you would know by now how crazy I am about chocolate.... if not, then check out
Chocoholic, Cheesecake ~ God's Way of Blessing Us, You Can Kiss My Fingers - Strawberry Chocolate Swiss Roll & Lemon Chocolate Swiss Roll, Daksyani Making Chocolate Fudge Brownies,
You Can Kiss My Fingers,Partha's Birthday Party

Was browsing thru some blogs and found a very interesting post called 'Tasting Chocolate' at Artisan Sweets.



Some excerpts from the article:

Many people suggest that the first year of marriage is the hardest (I’ve also heard the seventh is a tough one - we’ll see about that) but I look on that year with great fondness.

My husband and I made it our mission to try nearly every restaurant in Seattle. We kept a notebook about where we went, what we ate, what we loved and what disgusted us - luckily that didn’t happen very often as we did loads of research before picking our final destination. Every Friday night we would ready ourselves to hit the town, notebook in hand and an eager palette.

Those were the beginning days of my love affair with food. As with any new found love, everything was thrilling and new. Gabe and I were bursting with excitement and wanted to share our new love. We decided to host a tasting party.

Each chocolate sample was tasted separately while examining all five of the following categories.

Appearance - What does is look like? Sheen, bloom, even texture, color. Color should be even with a nice gloss, no discoloration, spots or cloudiness.

Snap - What does it sound like when you break it or bite into it? Should sound clear, crisp - this is a sign of a proper temper. The chocolate should not bend or crumble.

Aroma - Similar to tasting wine. This is a matter of subjectivity. Fruity, spicy, floral, etc. Anything goes. Do you smell leather, tobacco, dirty socks? Say it.

Mouthfeel - Smooth, not grainy or gritty. It can feel velvety or creamy, or it can be waxy or greasy.

Taste - Descriptors similar to aroma. Allow the chocolate to slowly melt on the tongue. Different tastes will emerge at different stages of consumption.

That's me..... Freeeeeeeeeaking out on dark chocolate n chocolate donuts..... Hmmmmm.... Yummmyyyy......

The Most Disgusting Tasting Cake

Was browsing thru some blogs and found a very interesting post called 'The Most Disgusting Tasting Cake.... I ever made in my entire life...' on Becks & Posh

It's amusing, read it at http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2009/02/most-disgusting-tasting-cake.html

Am pasting the image here cause it really tickled me.. :-)

photograph courtesy of Jen Maiser

Chocoholic

I am on the 12-step chocoholics program:


I am never more than 12 steps away from chocolate!


Credits to Bhaskar for all the photographs [rather proof of all my moments of temptation... ;-)]

Cheesecake ~ God's Way of Blessing Us

Fresh fruits have always been a favourite with me....
Even when I hadn't discovered the baker in me, i use to do this cheesecake recipe. It always gives me wonderful results....


Made this orange cheese cake for someone very special....


For special people something special had to be done...... There was a surprise in the cheese cake..... chocolate coated fruit... Yummy..... How can I leave chocolate out of my dessert recipes. Got everything right by the book. Decorated the bowl with freshly peeled oranges. Now what to do for my second bowl.....

As usual S.O.S call to Deeba of 'Passionate About Baking'.... I had seen it somewhere on her blog ... Hmm.. Here it is.. She had done a 'DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ALMOND TORTE' for her mom's b'day decorated with Chocolate Leaves. She was really sweet to revert back in minutes with the process to do the chocolate petals. Have detailed it below after the recipe.


For the base:
1/2 packet glucose biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gm butter [softened, not melted]
20gm grain sugar

For cheesecake:
250 ml cream[whipped]
150gm hung curd
100gm fruit pulp [use mango, orange, strawberries or any other fruit you fancy]
40 gms gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]

Method:
For the base:
Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder]
Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [i use the back of a spoon, you could use ure hand if you like]
Pace this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the cheesecake and serve.
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For Cheesecake:
Whip the cream to soft peaks.
Mix in the hung curd to a silky consistency.
Add the fruit pulp and mix well, don't beat too much. [I like to leave a few course pieces of fruit in the mixture too]
Melt the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well.
Take out the Refrigerated base, pour the above mixture into the bowl over the base.
Refrigerate for about an hour.[more in summers till it sets]
Garnish with fresh fruit or chocochips.

For Chocolate Petals:
Chocolate leaves are really really simple. They work best with rose leaves.
Pluck a bunch of rose leaves, clean & pat dry. Leave a stalk on each leaf to make it easier to peel off once the chocolate is set.
I make a few extra leaves just in case a couple break etc. They store very well in any case.
Melt some chocolate (I do it in the microwave), & then paint on gently onto the back of the rose leaf. (The back of the leaves has strong veins) .
Make sure the chocolate doesn't drip to the front of the leaf, or it gets difficult to peel off cleanly/without breaking.
Allow to set on a platter in the fridge. If you are in a hurry, then the freezer does the job in 10 minutes too.
Once the chocolate has set, quickly, but gently peel the rose leaf off. Quickly because the chocolate tends to melt on being held.

Hope you try this one day...it's a great feeling making your own leaves! I was so super excited..... It's beyond words..... They didn't like all come out brilliant... But enough to make me really happy..... 3 Cheers to you Deeba...

Deeba also made this recipe of cheese cake.... Strawberry Refrigerator Cheesecake... Eggless.... It's beautiful..... take a peek....
She's really sweet, calls me 'a chirpy young thing, full of beans'... LOL....

Birthday 09

Nani had asked me sometime back, what I wanted for my b'day gift.... I said, a nice recipe book. After 3-4 days, when I came back from work, I saw a parcel on my bed with nani's handwriting on it. I was super excited about opening it :-)

It was a really nice looking recipe book called 'The Weekend Baker' by 'Abigail Johnson Dodge'.

Turning the pages had me hooked to it. Daksyani was jumping up and down next to me. We pored over it together. We loved it. While I was thanking nani and nana n the phone, mom was poring over it.

By the time, I hung up the phone, mom had already thumbed thru it and said.... "I want to eat this.... let's try it out."

Now that's enthusiasm..... :-)

You're The Inspiration - Chicago

While driving to work, was listening to matchless music hour..... nice songs were playing..... Most of my attention was on the traffic cause it gets very dense on the last lap, suddenly the words " And I want you here with me, from tonight until the end of time" caught my attention then the chorus had me hooked......

"You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration
You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you"

I was surprised at myself..... I wasn't thinking of who I had thought I will...... This happens at just the time when i feel most weak....... It's gone...... I feel so relieved......
The albatross has flown...

I was thinking of someone, who I had wanted I should think about..... Yeah...... Thank God..... really thank him for helping me thru this.......

"Now I know that I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time "

This time... I know you will be there for me..... Always.... and this time, I know if it will ever end... it will be the stupid me who walks out of protection...

Artist: Chicago
Song: Youre The Inspiration
Album: Chicago 17 1983

Lyrics

Ghajini - Moview Review

Saw the movie with mom and my granddad. It's quite an event to take him out to a hall. Tall strapping man, finds it difficult to adjust in the movie hall seats and hates traveling long distances in the car [so comfortable new halls in noida are not an option :-( ]. So we went to sangam..... yeah we got all the whistling and hooting crowd..... Was fun, i must admit, [though parking is a huge issue.....]

It is, as we used to say in the old days, FULL paisa vasool.

The music is by A R Rahman and the lyrics by Prasoon Joshi.

Aye Bachchu - Singer: Suzanne D`Mello
Bekha - Singer: Karthik
Hai Guzarish - Singer: Sonu Nigam, Javed Ali
Kaise Mujhe - Singer: Shreya Ghoshal, Benny Dayal
Latoo - Singer: Pravin Mani, Shreya Ghoshal

[updated: adding a jpeg by Abhijeet Kini which i got as a forward.... The mail's subjectline was "Don't allow women to see Ghajini ...." LOL.......]


Well... there isn't too much original content I have to write in the review, as Gautam Ghosh and Amjad Maruf have written exactly on the lines I had been thinking. I'm gonna be a complete plagiarist and paste their posts below. Hope they won't mind ;-)

Gautam's:
Ghajini Review - Aamir and Asin excel
So I finally caught this movie that’s been bombarded on us with hajaar marketing messages. From ushers getting the ‘Ghajini’ haircut to Aamir himself becoming a barber and giving his fans in Delhi the buzz cut.

I finally gave into the persuasion and caught the movie.

First things first, Aamir as the wounded, angry and forgetful beast of a man is terrific. His portrayal of pain and rage - a potent combination- makes you flinch. The performance is unlike any he has done in the past. Even his earlier action turns [in Sarfarosh] pale in comparison. Either the guy has gone on honing and developing his craft, which is stupendous - or he’s always had the talent and we’ve just never got to see it so far.

Asin is a breath of fresh air - in an industry reeling under the collective size zero weights of dignified haughty unreachable beauty [think Aishwarya, Katrina, Deepika, Kareena] she’s ebullient, beautiful but yet down to earth. Of course, the script demands her to be so, but except for Kareena’s role as Geet in “Jab We Met” I don’t remember a similar performance.

Where I thought the film was weak was at its emotional core, the love story between Aamir’s character Sanjay and Asin’s character Kalpana. Somewhere in comparison to the rage filled revenge theme it seems too humdrum and bland by comparison. That’s funny. Remember that Aamir was introduced to us 20 years ago as the next door loverboy. He has strived to lose that image, and how successfully!

Maybe that’s what the film’s message is.

That even an ordinary love story can drive people to extraordinary lengths. And if that sounds similar to another recent film, I am knowingly doing it

p.s. Oh, and when was the last time a Hindi movie was named after the negative lead? Even Sholay wasn’t called Gabbar Singh or Mr. India wasn’t called Mogambo!

p.p.s. Oh did I tell you how awesome the action sequences were? After a long time some hard core hand to hand fights. Though it did seem to make Aamir look like a cross between Mike Tyson and Superman!

p.p.s. Aamir’s looking cross. Period

Amjad's: ***Of Arrogance, Confidence and Entertainment***

“There is a very little difference between arrogance and confidence -‘I can’ do it is confidence and ‘Only I’ can do it is arrogance” – Aamir Khan (quote from Ghajini)

SRK and Akshay Kumar consider only themselves as entertainers and no one else. That’s arrogance. Aamir by doing a Ghajini showed them that he too can do a mindless blockbuster entertainer. That’s confidence. And what a confidence - he has just “rub”ed the “King” the wrong way.

In all his pre-release interviews Aamir Khan had clearly stated that the audience, who has become used to his “Hatke” and intelligent movies, will be surprised to find him doing a complete masala entertainer. Yet the critics reviewed the movie as though Ghajini was an intelligent movie. It is not. It was never meant to be. It’s a film which ensures total entertainment for the 3 hours. Hence it was discomforting to read reviews of veteran reviewers like Khalid Mohammed & company who have ripped apart the movie and these are the same reviewers who finds films like Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne…good enough for a three / four star rating. Such double standards.

Though Ghajini is a mindless entertainer, it does not imply that the movie is dumb and unaware because the film caters to everyone amongst us, including the lowest commonest denominator, not because it doesn’t know better, but because it chooses to.

The other aspect of Ghajini that the critics are going bonkers is with the comparison with “Memento”. The only similarity between those two movies is that the lead character has short-term memory loss and remembers things via tattoos, photographs etc. The critics should know that an exact copy of Memento would not have rejected by the Indian audience. While adapting the basic premise of the memory loss, the director has created a legible variant, which has to be appreciated. Some cynics screamed that Ghajini does not have the non-linear film-making aspect of a classic like Memento. Why confuse the audience like Memento had done, particularly if the filmmakers’ intention is only to entertain. The same audience who wanted this non-linear shit is the one that had rejected a movie like Chocolate. Yes, the gimmick worked in Rang De Basanti. But Ghajini was not meant to be a classic or intellectual movie but an entertainer. And I bet that those who are talking about Memento now must have never heard about this movie till Ghajini was announced a year ago.

The movie moves back and forth in time, as it juxtaposes an effervescent romance in the past against a brutalized, spaced-out present. Aamir’s violent acts are not justified but you are made to see the reasons for his actions considering his past life. The film is riddled with logical loopholes but the director doesn’t give you enough time to think about them with his strong narration style. The gripping screenplay makes you want to know more about Aamir’s tribulations. Watching Aamir grapple with his 15 minute memory span makes for an engaging watch.

Highlights

The scene where Aamir puts all his things – guns, mobile, wallet into their proper places courtesy the notes and sleeps and gets up and walks into the bathroom clueless and sees the note of “open your shirt” and opens it and sees all his tattoos and burns in rage. This brought out the psychological and emotional state of Aamir.

The scene where Jiah Khan requests for a conversation with Aamir in the canteen. She jots down whatever Aamir says. Notice the irony out here – what is the difference between Jiah and Aamir. He notes down on his body, and she on her notepad. Memory is unreliable.

The scene where Aamir has to witness Asin’s brutal murder was heart wrenching. The audience drew a collective gasp when Asin gets killed.

The action sequence in the climax that is cheerful in its gratuitous violence and enjoyable too. And the chase he gives to the villain along a narrow path flanked by houses – a labrynth - brings out the claustrophobic feel of the space - the way it mirrored the road to Ghajini that was built and broken thousand times in Sanjay’s mind.

The crucial pre-climax sequence where Aamir Khan is lying in the hospital confused and lost after his life-saving tattoos and clues and pictures have been destroyed and the consequent Aamir’s outburst.

Asin’s compassionate nature is brought out through creatively written scenes. Watch her help the handicapped children enter the museum gate and then help a blind man walk to his stop all along informing of the happenings on the street.

And some beautiful nuggets like - Aamir trying to recognise Jiah by her rapid breathing after the chase. A robotic Sanjay beating up a bad guy in cyborg-ish style, Aamir visiting Asin’s boss’s party, the climax where Aamir for a moment forgets what he is fighting for when he comes face to face with Ghajini.

The romantic track involving a tycoon-in-guise-of-common man and a model-in-guise-of-tycoon’s girlfriend does not water down the impact of this action film. It has humour and sweetness. It is this portion that endears the film to the audience and lends the surrounding violence some poignancy and beauty and touches you. You feel the pain of Asin when Aamir informs that he will out of India for 10 days, you have a lump in the throat while watching the scene where Asin hands him money, you want Kalpana to know that Sanjay is indeed a rich businessman before she dies.

Given the unfortunate events, the violence is justified. Even family audiences and children won’t mind it. What sets apart the action from the “Sunny Deol” Rajnikant” type is the total absence of dialogues and the smart camera work.

A R Rahman is in full form in Guzarish, Kaise Mujhe and Bekha. Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics though are a bit of let down. Superb editing (Anthony), excellent cinematography (Ravi K Chandran) and tremendous sound (Resul) take the film to a higher level. Action by Peter Hains and Stunt Shiva keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The flaws the critics are so vocal about:

“How come no one recognizes the chairman of a big cellular company?” - Oh yeah, and can you guys recognize the chairman of Airtel, Hutch, etc. in person?

“The rich boy – poor girl love story has been witnessed umpteen times in Hindi movies”. Really! And what about movies like KKHH, DDLJ, DTPH, etc that were seen umpteen times.

“Asin pretending to be super-rich Aamir’s girl friend” - Haven’t we come across so many incidents in real life too – A woman going public that she is SRK’s mother, or a model claiming to be wife of Abhishek Bachchan, etc. So why do you think there is no logic in what Asin does. Moreover, after a point she herself confesses to Aamir (Sachin) about the lie.

“A google search by Asin would have given her the information about Aamir’s indentity” - But why would she want to know about Aamir when all she wants is to take advantage of the misunderstanding of her employer.

“Ghajini doesn’t have a gun in the climax? – Why not assume that he must have forgotten to carry.

“Why was 8 pack needed by Aamir in this movie?” Oh Yeah, and those 6 packs of SRK were so critical to the story of OSO, right dear critics?

And what the villian has to do with pharma industry? Don’t we have real life thugs who are into while collared business but are goons in the sly?

If you critics can go on, so can I.

What I would have liked to see in the movie

Interesting complications like all Aamir’s clues being destroyed are resolved in simple ways. But would it have been digestible to the viewer if Aamir with all the clues gone, had still managed to track the killer.

It would have interesting to know how Aamir transformed from a suave tycoon to a revenge-seeking person.

Cast:

Asin impresses in her debut and though she goes a little overboard in comic scenes she makes it up by acting brilliantly in the second half when she acts serious. When she is scared, we are scared for her too. When she helps a few kids glide past an obstacle or helps a blind man her generosity feels straight from almighty.

Aamir pushes the envelope all the time. There isn’t much of dialogue for him but his well-toned physique, facial expressions and body language does all the talking. Aamir adds his own touch to both the humorous and the intense portions of the film. A rich business man, a lover boy and a short-term memory loss patient - Aamir is absolutely convincing in all the roles.

Pradeep Rawat and Jiah Khan are strictly okay.

Before the films release, Aamir had said that if people walk out with his 8 pack abs in mind, then the movie has failed to connect. But thankfully the audience did not talk about Aamir’s physique but the movie. So the movie did connect with the audience.

Ghajini has two tones, primarily. One that shows Sanjay locked in the grim darkness of his revenge, where the word Ghajini is driving him and the other where the film ends up locking Sanjay in. That might as well be heaven, where he is locked with the divine Asin, and love is guiding him.

Don’t ask serious questions about rationale and you won’t get any wrong answers in this movie. Just sit back and relax and enjoy the great entertainer of 2008.

Finally, the only time the audience hated Aamir in the movie was when he leaves his cell phone in the car when Asin calls for help. If this does not convince the critics that the movie connected with the audience. Nothing will. Not even the record breaking historical Box Office collections !

Nikhil N Moms Surprise Birthday Party

We organized a birthday party for Nikhil and Mom. Nikhil knew about the party but not the surprise that awaited him.....
Mom had no idea it was her surprise birthday party till she cut the cake, got flowers and got serenaded with songs.....

Partha gave Nikhil his gift....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Nikhil love the Super Bike Gloves and kept wearing them for a long time......

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Gunjan n Nikhil got so tipsy on shots that they can't even High Five....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

The Posers....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

The Beauty and the Beasts..... ;-)

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Partha and Annie make such a cute couple....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

We made Nikhil stand on a chair and bought out the guitar and sang some some songs...

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

He was feeling so shy...

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Then we sang a twisted and personalized version of " Purani Jeans"....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

We had quite a captive audience...

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Then we cut the cakes.... [Had done this cake earlier. Did the real butter frosting this time.]

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

The great Cake Swap.......

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Yeh to hona hi tha....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

Then we wished mom again at 12 and surprised her with Flowers and a card.....
We her also stand on a chair and sang "yeh chand sa roshan chehra..." she was quite a sport about it :-)

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

He loved the twisted and personalized version of “Purani Jeans” we sang for him........

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

We all really enjoyed and had a blast.....

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

The gang.........

From Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

For all the fun filled pic andwhat we did with partha..... Click Here Nikhil n Mom's Surprise Bday 15 dec 08

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PS: Need to thank Amit, Bhaskar and Gunjan for getting the music together...... and the guys at TGIF, CP for the cooperation and good service......