Thursday, June 12, 2008

Lofty twits

I had some handycam back-up to be taken pronto and it took me three phone calls to be convinced that Konica Nungambakkam would do it for me in an hour just as they promised they would and I convinced myself of this through my various cross 'qosteens'. Cos I needed it done in a hurry.

Then, I had all these great photo-stands and all these great snaps that I wanted printed and fitted into some nice stands and frames. So, I took it along to Konica Nungambakkam together with my handycam. Now, this place is supposed to be good, and the 'ultimate' Konica in Chennai. Whatever.

The reticent lady there first fumbled with my handycam and looked disbelieveing when I told her it was a hard disk camcorder -(bet she did n't know much about it -- well, i did n't either but SHE ought to have) . She coolly told me :
1. that it would take 2 days to get the dvds from handycam done
2. that TWO of the 3 photo stands I gave to her to examine would fit only ONE photo in each slot although I repeatedly told her the design was such that one could slide two in -- front and back. She steadfastly refused to agree and insisted in her reticent way that only one would fit into each.

Now, do I have some sort of anti-people personality that puts many people into some sort of loop where they feel giving me wrong or incomplete information gives them a sense of satisfaction?

Anyway, the person I am now trying to become, I told her in no uncertain terms...
1. that she had BETTER get me my dvds that day since I had spoken to that office the previous day and they had given me their word that they would do it in one hour...so she reluctantly made a show of consulting colleagues and said it could be done in 5 hours. (something is better than nothing)
2. that i wanted double the number of photos than was suggested by her despite her 'expert' advice, 'just in case' my idea about the photo stands worked.

Well, I got my DVDs ok that day and my photo stands are now proudly sporting all the photos I got printed and more. The words imbecile and incompetent come to mind when I consider this woman. Sure, it is no earthshattering mistake, but it was indifference mingled with lazily misplaced over-confidence. Had it not been for my inherently innocent-turned-suspicious nature that most 'service' people today don't give a damn and that I better look after myself, I would have had to make 2 more trips for this small job.

Grrrrrr.

Make out list

Ok, another from my cuz www.shyamram.blogspot.com where she listed ten literary characters she would totally make out with, but with whom she won't because...you know. Now, I'm not as well-read as she is, and therefore cannot remember that many literary characters and so, I am going to change the rules slightly.

SO, mine will also be a list of 10-20(!) characters or actors;) , NOT whom I would 'totally make out with' (yedhukku vambu?) but er, those I was/am romantically or generally inclined towards, shall we say?: -
(Pssst! It means the same , does n't it?)
(Psssssst, cuz whom I copied from, forgive me, I know not what I do -- am going overboard as many literary characters went flying out of my head suddenly!)

1. Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. (oo la la anyday -- be he or be he not, Clark Gable)
2. Dick of Famous Five -- as a kid, was quite interested in this character with his humour and all that -- Julian was a bit of a bore. George of course was not a boy...SIGH;), Anne not an option.
3. Frank Hardy from the Hardy Boys -- again, WHEN I was a teenager, if you please. I think I liked his name and dark hair more than anything else.
3. Ned Nickerson, boyfriend of Nancy Drew -- Again during my early teens, and imaginary boyfriend-nabbing is/was no problem. Also, at the time, his surname did n't bug me as much;)
4. Cary Grant -- if I had been born at that time
5. Rock Hudson -- if he had n't turned out to be gay...and if I had been born around then
6. Karthik -- ONLY in Mouna raagam and Agninatshathiram
7. Kamal Haasan -- in Sathya and younger version in Nayagan and as Raju in Michael Madana Kama Rajan
8. Sirius Black -- Harry Potter's Godfather as described in the Books (not movies)
9. Severus Snape -- the supposedly mean ol' Professor in the Harry Potter Books, not films. As an adult, but after a good shampoo bath followed by conditioning of course.
10. Sylvester Stallone -- in Over The Top
11. Surya -- as police officer Anbuchelvan in Kaakha Kaakha
12. Vikram -- as police officer Aaruchaami in Samy
13. Vikram -- in Dhool
14. Sivaji Ganesan in his youth-o-youth, portraying ...some characters -- angry young man or stylish and suave 'eng' man!! (shocking, is n't it?)
15. George Clooney unless he is smaller made in real life
16. Michael Moretti -- the bad, powerful man in Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels
17. Rajinikant -- as the autodriver with the Don-past in Baasha
18. Laurie -- Little Women
19. Jeff Stevens -- the conman from If Tomorrow Comes
20. Superman!

Gosh if there's more, will add/replace. Not to mention many of the Mills and Boon heroes who have wasted my time...and still do!

Cheers!

Four-time movies

Young and impressionable days -- teenage is full of them. Much of my leisure time was spent with my gang of friends --chats, lunches, dinners, cuppas, sleepovers, spend-overs(!) and movies.

Movies we loved because
a) we loved the hero / heroine,
b) ONE of us loved the hero/heroine,
c) we or some of us loved the movie
d) we loved the experience of going to that movie together or simply
e) all of us loved everything about it.

I think the maximum number of times we have seen the same film on the big screen is 4. Four times! The films that enjoyed this ...er, privilege are: -

1) Mouna Ragam -- deserves a mention even if we did not catch it 4 times on the big screen (we were around 13 then and probably not allowed out all that much!) but together, we would have seen it at one of our homes at least 10-12 times. And a few of us knew the dialogues to the 20 minute Karthik's part of the film BY HEART! Boy was he fab then!

2) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander -- Aamir Khan, whom i did not much care for in QSQT -- uruchuvitta kozhi look (plucked chicken) and all that, as I was always after macho-er men in reel life. BUT in this film, he was...my GAAAD. The film was great, had this whole cute love story thing going as well as great songs -- one in particular that triggered off this post is 'Pehla Nashaa' , which is still a beautiful song. Then there was the 'schooly' competition (bicycle race) thrown in. Wonderful experience although am pretty sure 4 times were warranted only because it had one of those first time kissing scenes (aamir khan and pooja bedi) that gave us desperate housegirls;) a major kick.

3) Agni Natshathiram -- because of Karthik, t'was a great entertainer and also because 2-3 of us liked Karthik while one liked Prabhu and the rest liked the fact that we liked them...oh, the joblessness of teenage...mmmmm. (Nostalgia bout)

4) Gopuravaasalile -- Karthik again. Just for him (although he was already beginnning to lose it then; his hair as well as his charm). And for the songs. Otherwise, a very sidey film I must admit. But 4 times we did see it on the big screen ...and in quick succession. HOW did our parents allow us to do so? Beats me!

Can't think of anymore although I did see Cliffhanger (Sylvester Stallone) 4times in the theatre -- once or twice with friends, once with my mom(!)-- yeah, ANYTHING to drool at the SLYman then! --and once with some other unsuspecting friend;)

Am sure there are more on the list. Perhaps some friend from that movie-hungry gang who reads this can help me out.

Those were the days!

Cheers!