Withdrawal

The new shrink started tapering my medication off starting last week. This week, I’m slowly starting to experience the side effects. Apart from fluctuations in mood and vulnerability, I am experiencing tremulousness and anxiety. I’m having trouble falling asleep and I have headaches. Last night, I had to have a cognac before I could fall asleep.

Tonight, I have a slight headache and I feel like eating something meaty. But I won’t. I will instead, drink a glass of milk and hope to fall asleep watching the first Euro 2012 semi-final between Portugal and Spain. Wish me luck!

Brave

Yesterday, I saw Brave, the latest animated movie from Pixar. Mostly, it lived up to what Pixar promises. The opening short animation was incredibly beautiful. It’s call La Lune, if I remember correctly. Else, great animation, good story, and engaging characters – the usual Pixar stuff.
The only gripe I have is that the Scottish accent has been overdone in movies. It was so in this case too. Of course, it was set in Scotland. But haven’t we had enough of movies based in Scotland?
I give it a 3.5* out of 5. Go watch it!

A Middle-Eastern evening

My social life is more active these days. I get more time, thanks to no rehearsals, and I’m feeling better. Last night, I went out on a date with an exotic guy – a gay Israeli man. Very accomplished. Very well rounded. Very complex.

He’s a divorcee, a father of three, the ex-lover of two men, and is not actively looking. Our date went from a riveting conversation in a café to searching for a pub to down some beer, failing which we ended up in another café.

The conversation was primarily one of discovery. I discovered very strange, very Indian – yes, I said that – norms of behavior with respect to social life. For example, an Israeli’s home is open to all. People walk in and out all the time. This is almost exactly what happens in Kerala, by the way.

I, expecting Western – American/Western European - customs, was surprised that a white man was saying all the things that I don’t practice, quite frankly, am intimidated by. I later confirmed that these are common practices in Israel – yes, I have my sources.

The roving eyes of a young Muslim man

My second free servicing for the AC was scheduled today. This morning, I got a call from the company saying that they are sending someone over by 11 am. For modesty’s sake, I put on a pair of small shorts and a t-shirt. I greeted the team of two service guys: one, a twenty something Muslim guy (I can tell) and an adolescent side kick. They started working on the AC and I sat at my computer.

Every now and then, I would go up to my living room to check up on them. Every time I would go, the Muslim guy’s eyes would be fixated on my bobbing crotch. Even when he was talking. Well, I did nothing to change things. I wanted to see how far he would go.

Well, he didn’t go any further – neither did I want him to. But this was a different experience. I have never experienced such visual rape. I must say I enjoyed it.

A fantastic weekend

I have been keeping this from all of you guys. Four weeks back, I met a wonderful guy (guess what, another American!) who lives not too far from Mumbai. Again, it was on SilverDaddies.com chat room #1. Our daily routine since then has been a good conversation on Skype over scotch/beer (for me) and martini/wine (for him) in the evening.

To take it to the next step, Bill and I decided to meet up. Bill came over for the weekend. To celebrate the occasion, and also to learn as much as I can from a liquor aficionado, I replenished my modest liquor cabinet at home – with cognac, gin, vermouth, champagne, and blended scotch. I even bought some martini glasses and champagne flutes.

So, over the two days and nights, we got to know about each other much more intimately than we had been able to. Plus, we were able to enjoy alcohol and Mumbai life just the way they are supposed to be enjoyed. As with Joe, the sleeping arrangement was inadequate, but Bill was able to adjust.

Bill is a compulsory home maker – by that, I mean that he loves interior decoration. It was no surprise when he commented on the fact that my apartment can only be done if we buy everything new from scratch and put some paint on my walls. But again, it’s not MY apartment – I rent it. Plus, I plan to move out next year. Maybe Bill will be able to decorate my new apartment. Who knows?

Stonewall Uprising

This is going around on FaceBook as I speak.

It’s the screening of the documentary film “Stonewall Uprising” as part of the LGBT Pride Month at The US Consulate, Mumbai. 21 June, 2012 - 6.00 PM

I think I’m going! What about you?

Crushes: Ian Holm

So, as I mentioned earlier, I watched “Alien” last Sunday. The most attractive and sumptuous character was “Ash,” the android. Played by Ian Holm, it maintains the streak of the Androids in the Alien series of movies (including Prometheus) being the most attractive male specimen on display.

Here’s is more recent picture of Ian Holm from Wikipedia. As you can see, he’s as cute as ever!

Shor Bazaar is on MTV!

Yes, we are now on MTV as well. I don’t quite know if we are on the regular playlist or some selective indie set. I got this info from my friends who sent me messages on FaceBook and WhatsApp.

Now I can say to my folks – “Hey look, I’m on MTV!” By the way, the video is for the song “Hello, Hello” that we wrote for a FedEx ad. Here is the video if you would like to watch it.

Thank you everyone! Thank you Shor Bazaar!

The Alien Marathon

I woke up this morning feeling nice and happy and started going through the various threads on the forums that discuss the plot of Prometheus and the associated mythology. After going through a few pages, I realized that my knowledge on the original Alien and it’s sequels is limiting my understanding.

So, I decided to watch Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. Well, I could only watch the first three – that too, only half of the third. I’m already part scared and part excited about understanding more about Prometheus.

For those who haven’t watched Prometheus – please try and watch the Alien series of movies – at least Alien – before you watch Prometheus. That will give you a much better experience and understanding of the already brilliant movie!

A double bill – after three years!

It was totally unexpected. But it happened. After, three years of hiatus, my double-bill movie watching trend has reemerged. I was supposed to watch one of these with a friend of mine that I had gone out on a couple of dates with. But he never sent me an SMS, which he was supposed to, confirming his availability.

So, I decided to go watch movie with a colleague. It wasn’t quite so easy. I was totally unprepared for the movies because she had said that she wouldn’t be able to make it yesterday. So, when she called, I was a little edgy, but I decided to do it. Because she wanted to see Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted, we booked tickets for the same.

We saw Madagascar 3. It was nothing spectacular or funny except for the fantastic graphics in some of the circus scenes (that’s all you need to go watch the movies for) – I give it 2.5* out of 5.

During the interval, I asked my friend whether she would be interested in watching Prometheus, which happened to be the next show in the same screen. She said yes. After Madagascar 3 got over, we rushed back to the ticket counter and bought tickets for Prometheus.

Boy, was it worth it! Prometheus is visually spectacular and intellectually stimulating. Although it is nowhere as scary was Alien is, it is scary enough. The suspense is built up throughout the movie and although the ending was a little too fast paced for a Ridley Scott movie, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s a must watch. I give it 4* out of 5.

Work compromising life

I don’t think I’m workaholic. But I simply can’t leave my work unfinished and dissatisfied with what I had put in. This means that there are some days, which are getting uncomfortably frequent lately, when I have spent 11 to 12 hours at work.
Today, it almost cost me something. My friend Billiards felt insecure about coming to visit me because I have been too busy lately. That was really scary. But I was able to patch things up and things are back to normal.
This is the only issue that I have with work. Work is supposed to enhance your quality of life by paying you money to enjoy your life. It, therefore, shouldn’t deprive you of the pleasure by stealing away ‘personal’ time that can’t be replaced.
I have a lost a band, and quite possibly my musical career, because of work, and I don’t want to lose a relationship now.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Joe said it was fantastic. That made me doubt whether it was – we have never quite liked the same movies. But everyone who was someone was talking about it. It had to be a good movie. So I decided to watch it. There was just the one show in the whole of Mumbai and that was at 8.30 pm at INOX at Nariman Point.

Yesterday and most of today, I asked almost everyone who I could possibly invite if they were interested. Some where, but the distance was too much of an effort. Finally, on my way downtown in the train, my Indian friend, who has been very kind to me during my depression, said yes. I was almost relieved.

We reached just in time and it was really fun to meet him after a long time. He looked simply gorgeous and I so wanted to flirt with him. But the more important thing was the movie. Yes, the movie. It was simply marvelous.

People might complain about Hollywood stereotyping India. But I don’t take that bullshit. The bottom line is that the characters were wonderful, the acting was brilliant, the screenplay was engaging, the casting was near perfect, and the cinematography was excellent. I could relate to each and every character. I could also fall in love with a couple of characters/actors.

People, go watch this movie. You won’t regret it. I give it 4* out of 5.

After the movie, we went out for dinner – roti and dal at the newly refurbished Café Ideal. It was quite an experience!

The Cabin In The Woods

This was every bit crazy as it could get. A relatively unknown movie. A relatively unfamiliar genre. A relatively unfamiliar theatre. The only thing familiar was my dear friend giving me company.

I watched The Cabin In The Woods at Gem in Bandra. It just has some 30 odd seats. Tacky. No caramel popcorn. So a bit of a let down. But the movie wasn’t. You need to know a lot about the genre to understand how cool the movie is. It’s a smart horror movie. That’s all I am going to say. It’s another must watch. 4* out of 5 if you are horror movie fan. 3.5* out of 5 if you aren’t.

MIB 3

Finally, I did it. I manage to force myself out of my apartment for some entertainment. I think the behavioral cognitive therapy and the new medications are starting to kick in.

Anyway, I went all by myself for MIB 3 in 3D. I had already caught up with MIB and MIB 2 to ensure that I understand all the nuances. In my opinion, MIB 3 is the best of the three. Just because it connects the link between Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent Jay (Will Smith).I would rate it as 3.5* out of 5.

Crushes: Tommy Lee Jones

I need say nothing more than request you to watch the scene from MIB 2 where Agent Kay was being led into the MIB headquarters by Agent Jay. Agent Kay is wearing postman’s shorts and we get a shot of him walking from his back. *Slurp*

Why are older Americans so handsome?

MIB 1 and 2

My friend wants to watch MIB 3 with me and I wasn’t sure if I had watched MIB 1 and 2 or whether I remembered the plot etc. I decided to watch them. I must say, I like the concept and the premise. But the comedy is a little too much. The most annoying thing is that most aliens speak English with accents. That’s simply a big plot hole. And the action is a little too predictable. The only thing that remains great in these movies is Tommy Lee Jones and the neuralyzer. I hope MIB 3 is better.