Astrovelo

Continuing our Summer of concerts, we went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, last night. It was at the DTE energy music theater, north of Detroit. It is an open-air theater and was great for a Rock&Roll concert on a Summer evening. Due to horrible road construction and traffic jams, by the time we reached the venue, we missed almost an hour of performance by the opening band, “The Black Crowes”. It seems that Tom Petty’s plane got delayed and he reached the venue with his band about half an hour after us. So, they started playing at 8:45 pm, right after getting out of their limo.

Tom Petty didn’t release any new music recently and so, was not promoting anything new. Within first hour and 15 minutes, we got to hear all the songs that we knew… breakdown, free fallin', won’t back down, mary jane’s last dance, etc. It was a lot of fun to hear them all live. While in graduate school, we used to call “won’t back down”, the PhD song.

Nikon D70; 18-70mm lens @ 70mm; F/4.5; aperture priority; ISO 400. Slightly cropped and curves adjusted for contrast.

If someone tells me that the producers of this movie bribed the news reporters to write good reviews, I would believe it in a heartbeat. How else could you explain such rave reviews for a movie that doesn’t deserve even 10% of the accolades?

The movie can be described by one marathi word: “AacharatpaNA”. I am unable to translate that in english. Someone (sampada, radhika74, on9thheaven, minn) please help. Update: According to the resident english scholar, Sampada, it is a ludicrous movie.

Starting the movie off with a useless song was not a good idea, at least according to me. Then, the hero of the movie insulting his father and telling him that his (father’s) life was not worth living, didn’t go very well with me, either. The story just didn’t go anywhere for a long time. They just keep fooling people with one trick after another. The only interesting one was the washing machine job. Selling Taj Mahal was a little too far fetched. We just couldn’t watch it after the drinking scene by Bachchans and I don’t think we missed anything. Don’t really care to know what happened in the end.

Amitabh Bachchan exemplified how to be obnoxious on screen. His performance was a perfect example of overacting. I hope he was doing it to help upcoming actors to learn what not to do. Rani Mukherji was a total miscast. She was good in Veer-Zaara. Rani should accept the fact that she is not Aishwarya Rai or one of those new svelte young actresses and continue to do roles like Veer-Zaara. If I want to see a flabby jiggly gut, I can look in the mirror.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with the movie.

Oh yeah, just remembered something… Every time Bunty & Babli were about to do a job, there was a ‘ttrrr  ttrrrr’ sound in the background. It was so annoying. First couple of times, I thought that a frog or some insect got into our house.

Our latest trick to get a quick laugh is to ask Ashwini a ‘why’ question….

V: Ashwini, why are your teeth so white? A: kabause, I brushed them.

Just like her other language quirks, this one will be gone soon too. We are enjoying it while we can.

Early this morning, I found V reading the manual for her new hair dryer. If Ashwini was around she would have asked the question that I didn’t dare to ask: “What is wrong with you, Aai???”

My best performance of the season so far. 62 strokes on 9 holes, even after losing 3 balls. I got my first par on a par-5 hole. Quite happy about that.

I am sure everyone in US has plans to do something over the 4th of July weekend. I always like to stay home over this long weekend.

Two reasons:

1. It is usually hot like hell anyplace you go.
2. It is so damned crowded anyplace you go.

I just can’t deal with the traffic jams on the roads and long lines and delays at the airports in this terrible heat.

I pity the poor souls who have made the wrong choice of going to Disneyland over this weekend.

Google at its best ever… Google Earth is ADDICTIVE. Adjusting tilt is just a little too much. It feels like playing a video game with an unlimited terrain.

Update: Sorry!!! Put the wrong link. Now it is corrected.

This has always bugged me…. What do women find attractive in a man with a two day old stubble? I can understand liking a fully grown proper beard or a clean cut smooth face. But, what is it about this I-am-too-lazy-or-too-stupid-to-shave look?

Finally, a meme about books that has been making circles in the blog world. Although I love to collect and read books, my book-reading habits have changed in last 2 years or so. 90% of the books that I read these days are children’s books. Hence, I am going to answer this questionnaire from my daughter’s perspective.

Total number of books I own: I have probably a hundred books and I am just two and a quarter years old. The picture above shows just a part of my collection. I love my books and I never ever tear them.

Last book I bought: Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. The star of the book is an inchworm that can measure anything. A good story to learn the concept of measuring. This same author also wrote Swimmy.

Last book I read: Last night, I read The Three bears by Byron Barton (Illustrator), for the seven millionth time. I know the whole book by heart and can read it to you even though I don’t know all my alphabets yet.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: (today’s opinion)

1. The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle: This was the first book I ever laid my eyes on and I am still in love with that adorable caterpillar. This book has very colorful drawings of all my favorite fruits and a lollipop. It also got me started with counting and learning numbers. I have almost all the books written by Eric Carle and I like them all.
2. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator), Michael Rosen: It is a wonderfully illustrated book and the story is well written to sing along. The kids along with their father go out to hunt a bear. But, when they see one, they get scared and run back home.
3. Owl Babies by MARTIN WADDELL, PATRICK BENSON (Illustrator): This is one of the most beautifully illustrated book. The owl babies seem so fluffy and real. Their faces show anxiety, sadness and joy very well. I like the story too.
4. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss: I like the way this book has simple rhyming words. It is helping me learn how to read. I really liked the last word of the book: "seehemewe patpuppop hethreetreebee tophopstop". This is also President Bush's favorite book. After reading this book, I have learnt to hop on my dad's tummy and give him some exercise.
5. The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton: This is a very nice book that helps me learn all the things to do while getting ready for bed: taking a bath, brushing teeth, finding pajamas, finally turning off the light and say good night. I have most of Sandra Boynton's books. 'Hey! wake up' shows me all the things to do in the morning when I wake up. 'Moo Baa la' was my favorite when I was little. 'Doggies' teaches me how to count and 'A to Z' has all the alphabets.