Up

Not having watched an English movie in a long time, Up was the perfect come-back-to movie. It came with high recommendations from my coworkers and when it finally landed in my hands hot off the redbox vending machine at the grocery store, I couldn't get to it for about 4 days, by which time it almost became a to-do chore to be ticked off my long list.

The auspicious hour for watching the movie arrived serendipitously. On the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving weekend, I came home drained from work. It had been an exceptionally rough week, considering it was a short 3-day one, it seemed like it was inordinately long and hard. With a plate of grilled veggie sandwich in hand, I popped the DVD in and hit play.

Since I hadn't bothered to read up reviews of the movie, I had no clue about the movie or the story. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. This Disney Pixar animation movie was a delight to watch. I'd find it hard to claim it is a kids only movie. I wont say much about the story itself, cos one's got to watch it without any spoilers to thoroughly be immersed in this delicious comedy. Hence I will say less, but I'd insist nonetheless- if you haven't watched it already, put it on your must-list. You won't regret it. For once, I definitely don't foresee rotten tomatoes thrown my way for suggesting so.

Oota from my hometown

For a small dinner party this weekend, my menu was typical Bengaluru fare. It read thus

Maddur vade with chutney
Bisibelebath with (cucumber/tomato/onion) raitha
Curd rice
Sandige(that's vadam for the tams)
Shavige payasa(vermicelli kheer)














(Sujatha Ramesh : Since you asked for my weekend updates as well as what was cooking in my kitchen, this is entirely aap ki farmaish! :)

The treasure hunt

Sigh! No, this isn't the pirate's treasure we're talking about. I wasn't influenced by the movie 'Blue', trust me.

It all began when I got this innocent coupon for Macy's. 10$ off for a purchase of 25$ or more it declared- in red! The Christmas season sale is on, earlier than usual this time. Well, considering the fact Macy's is temptingly located right across from my subdivision could be viewed as a boon, at times. I drive past the place every day to get to work, to shop, to get chores done- well you get the point. It would be hard to not pass Macy's.

So the coupon said it was an early bird special. Valid only between 7am to noon on two working days- Tuesday and Wednesday. Now my long time readers should know by now, if ever the word early bird was to be coined, it'd have to be cos of moi. I mean no one else exemplifies the term better. So that part is pretty set. The master plan was to stop by on the way to work. Refer to the line about having to pass by Macy's everyday. Oh, btw, the coupon also said- 'Doesn't apply for preview sale on Tuesday'. Great!- Wednesday it would have to be.

Now we get to the way the mind plays games. 10$ off it screamed. If you find something for 25$ at minimum, you'll land yourself a steal at 15$. Worth it, it convinced the rest of the self.

Thus convinced, I landed at Macy's at around 7:15am on a Wednesday- I felt like a shopaholic. But nonetheless- I had already decided what I wanted badly. A pair of corduroy jeans. I found the Levi's aisle, tried a pair on and within 10 minutes I was set. As the saleslady at the counter scanned the item and the coupon, she goes 'Ma'am, I am sorry. This coupon isn't valid on Levi's'. She also generously pointed to the long list of excluded brands which I had conveniently dismissed on initial glance. 'What brands can I get then' I asked innocently. 'Ma'am, we've found it easier to just scan and determine if it qualifies or not rather than memorize what brands to not buy' she beamed.

Sigh! On to Round 2. I went back and spent the next 20 mins finding a pair in a brand that wasn't listed in the coupon. Fitting done, I went back to the counter. Same cycle of scanning item and coupon. This salesday declared 'Ma'am I am sorry this coupon doesn't apply. If the sales price ends in .98, those items don't qualify. Watch out for them!'.[I later determined half the store was full of brands that didn't qualify, the other half were prices ending in .98!!!]

Round 3, we're nearing 8am now and I am getting frustrated. Rinse, lather, repeat. I find another brand[which isn't on the list], the price doesn't end in .98[see where the treasure hunt part comes in?], it fits me somewhat and I believe we're good to go. This time at checkout, after scanning item and coupon- salesday goes 'Ma'am, I'm sorry but this was a preview item. The coupon doesn't qualify on those.'. As you can tell, I had had it. 'Ma'am is there a particular aisle I can go to and pick up items for which the coupon would qualify?' I ask in my politest voice.

'Oh, but Ma'am, we don't have those in one place. There are strategically placed all around the store, in various racks and aisles and brands. That's why we open the store at 7am. So people can spend time looking for deals.'

Thud![head hitting the sales desk]

Footnote : What did I do eventually? I went to the gloves and socks aisle and bought myself a pair of gloves and socks[which I probably didn't need, but I'm told you can never have too many of them, once winter sets].

Yup! I found my treasure.

All time high- November 2009

Ack! Its been 3 months since I did the monthly all-time high. Unacceptable!

So what I'll do to make up for it is to post 3 this month, one for every month I've missed.

I will start with one of my all-time favorite singers - Manna Dey. This classic by him is timeless. The melody, the meaning, the voice, the lyrics- simply divine.



Tell me how you like it(Aside, did you notice the lyrics in the side bar of the youtube clip? Pretty nifty- no?)

Of this and that- 1

Alright, alright...I am still around. The sun has finally emerged in our very-Seattle-ish part of the country and all is well with the world now.

The only way to begin a comeback is with a serving of this and that, which officially will now be converted into a series...and counting.

-I watched 'Blue' and 'Ajab Prem ki ghazab kahani' this weekend. Watched 'Wake up Sid' some weeks ago. Loved the music of Blue, thanks to ARR. I am now a big fan of Ranbir Kapoor- the boy's got oodles of potential and talent. Wake up Sid was simple, cute and relatable- specially Konkona's character. APKGK(which would be ajab prem etc etc) was another simple movie, much like Welcome to Sajjanpur. Simple, quirky, funny- no great and complicated story line here. A simple love story. [I have noted the number of times I've used the word simple- that's exactly 5, counting the last one]

- On the reading scene, there hasn't been a lot of traction. I am now deeply entrenched in painting(yes, the art kind) and of course farming.

- Leaves have now been shed in the yard and I have officially turned into the leaf-packer of my adda. I can speak intelligently about raking leaves and using an electric blower. Hallelujah!

- Can you believe it's Thanksgiving already? Where did the year go? On the bright side, I'll be home for Christmas.

- Have you listened to the music of Paa yet? No? You should- its awesome! Listen to it here for now, then go grab a CD on Dec 6.

Enough about me, now y'all tell me what you've been upto. What's the plan for Thanksgiving? Doing anything fun?

Talk to me!

My next to-do is to change the blog header. Something fall-ish me's thinking. Sound good? Catch y'all in a bit. Till then take care and shabba khair.