HP (as my ultra-cool mom put it) is not a very good movie. For those of you like me who are struggling to reach the heights of coolness, HP stands for Harry Potter.
The little one and I watched the 2hour 45 minute saga of Harry Potter winning the tri-wizard tournament while duelling with the Dark Lord. It often reminded me of the times when I sat in Wardha cinemas watching movies like "Gadar". Good action sequences interspersed with dollops of ham acting, poor characterisation and trite dialogues.
At least in Wardha we were allowed to voice our disapproval of both the movie or at least distinct scenes. While watching movies at the Odeon in Oxford sitting alongside the little one, it was an entirely different matter. Forced to keep mum whenever I attempted to criticise or vent my frustration (which was quite often) I took recourse to eating popcorn rather than watch the movie.
To give the movie some credit, the last 15 minutes of Voldemort and HP's duel is very well done. Its edited neatly, there arent any superfluous scenes or over-sentimentality over Cedric's death. The rebirth of Voldemort has been shot wonderfully well,especially keeping in mind that its a very difficult thing to give a face to someone who has never had one. In my opinion its the movies highlight.
Other than that, the tournament is glossed over. The book has about 150 pages describing each task and fleshing out the characters of HP's competitors, while the movie spends about 15 minutes. I thought this was the best book of the lot because of the tournament and all its intricacies. The movie just focuses on HP. No lines for Viktor Krum and the other girl competitor, just kisses to Hermione and Ron by each one respectively.
Albus Dumbledore needs to be recast soon. Ian Mckellan was brilliant compared to this guy. This guy sucks. Albus is always the omnipotent,omniscient righteous infuence through the magic world, but here he seems afraid, clueless and impotent. Its ghastly keeping in mind that his disappearance in the 6th book is especially shocking because of the way his character is dealt with in the earlier books. The movies are going to crash if he doesn't get his act together(pun intended)
Mad Eye Moody is the saving grace in the movie. What a role and so well played. He acts the mad auror to a T. His first scene with the spider and unforgivable curses is brilliant.
He is the only person to keep you engrossed through the movie. I also think that the movie starts off on a dark note and all the dark scenes are very well conceived and filmed. Even the sets are very good.
On the other hand, the complete absence of screen time to Ron, hermione and their relationship with HP is a big negative for the movie. Snape,the competitors dont feature in the movie at all.
Overall, my assessment is that for 165 minutes of screen time, its a waste. I love the action scenes and the last scence with Voldemort, but I would wait for the DVD and watch it on Home video instead of the cinema. If you are a big HP fan, dont go in expecting too much.
Sit back, buy some popcorn and wait for the good bits!
Thursday, November 24
Monday, November 21
WHO AIDS Update released
A few stats to make us realise how devastating this condition is:
In 24 years since it was discovered it has killed 25 million people. Thats half of the UK!!
5 million people got infected with HIV in 2005 and if that doesn't sound like much.. imagine every second person you meet on the streets of Mumbai having acquired HIV this year!!
40.3 million people live with HIV today thats 1 in every 12 people on the planet! BUT, 75% of these people are in Sub-saharan Africa...
25.8 million people have HIV in Sub-saharan africa and even worse, of the total 3.1 million deaths worldwide in 2005, 2.7 million were in Africa!! That is just heart-breaking.
India has 5.1 million people living with HIV and the epidemiology of the disease in India is diverse. Sex workers are among the worst hit group with the prevalence of disease in Mumbai's sex workers being 52%. This means that at the time of the study 52% of sex workers in Mumbai had HIV. 52%...
Kolkotta's Sonagachi district which was the first to force their customers to use condoms has a prevalence rate of 4% ( compared to 11% previous to intervention)
The other high-risk group are IV drug users and there is a high prevalence of HIV in drug users.This particular group seems to be quite common in the Manipur, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu.
In 24 years since it was discovered it has killed 25 million people. Thats half of the UK!!
5 million people got infected with HIV in 2005 and if that doesn't sound like much.. imagine every second person you meet on the streets of Mumbai having acquired HIV this year!!
40.3 million people live with HIV today thats 1 in every 12 people on the planet! BUT, 75% of these people are in Sub-saharan Africa...
25.8 million people have HIV in Sub-saharan africa and even worse, of the total 3.1 million deaths worldwide in 2005, 2.7 million were in Africa!! That is just heart-breaking.
India has 5.1 million people living with HIV and the epidemiology of the disease in India is diverse. Sex workers are among the worst hit group with the prevalence of disease in Mumbai's sex workers being 52%. This means that at the time of the study 52% of sex workers in Mumbai had HIV. 52%...
Kolkotta's Sonagachi district which was the first to force their customers to use condoms has a prevalence rate of 4% ( compared to 11% previous to intervention)
The other high-risk group are IV drug users and there is a high prevalence of HIV in drug users.This particular group seems to be quite common in the Manipur, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu.
Have been spending the last couple of days trying to work so that I can take time off this week. Its really hard as I keep waiting for Thursday to arrive so that I can leave. In the meantime, I have a journal club to prepare for, a tutorial and a poster to design. All this while still trying to plan my future experiments and planning my India itinerary.
Had a lovely time yesterday with RR. Went for a walk to Broughton castle. This castle first made by Sir John Broughton, passed on to William Wyckeham - founder of New College and Wellington College (the pvt. school). It then got passed on to the Fieness' by marriage to Margaret Wyckeham, great-granddaughter of William.
It is now owned by William Fieness who is related to Ralph and Joseph Fieness, yes the hot Shakespeare in love(SiL) guy. BTW, SiL was shot here, so the big mansion that Lady Violet lives in is this one and that river that leads upto the mansion is the moat surrounding the mansion.
Its a lovely 16th century Tudor mansion and very picturesque! Its like a magical fairy tale and I often wished to be transported back to the 16th century, of course with money and social status. But, as RR pointed out my skin colour might be looked down upon.
I shall post some pictures when I get them.
Had a lovely time yesterday with RR. Went for a walk to Broughton castle. This castle first made by Sir John Broughton, passed on to William Wyckeham - founder of New College and Wellington College (the pvt. school). It then got passed on to the Fieness' by marriage to Margaret Wyckeham, great-granddaughter of William.
It is now owned by William Fieness who is related to Ralph and Joseph Fieness, yes the hot Shakespeare in love(SiL) guy. BTW, SiL was shot here, so the big mansion that Lady Violet lives in is this one and that river that leads upto the mansion is the moat surrounding the mansion.
Its a lovely 16th century Tudor mansion and very picturesque! Its like a magical fairy tale and I often wished to be transported back to the 16th century, of course with money and social status. But, as RR pointed out my skin colour might be looked down upon.
I shall post some pictures when I get them.
Friday, November 18
Indifference
This is my problem. Blasts in Jordan,blasts in Bali, blasts in London and the whole world is up in arms about terrorism and jehadis and how the world is such an unsafe place to live in. We never know when we will be the next target.
Today suicide bombers killed 77 in Iraq ( and thats a conservative estimate) and there is no hoo-hah, in fact, BBC prefers to cover the killing of a cop in Bradford!
We have become so indifferent to the daily killing and terror that pervades places like Kashmir, Iraq,Palestine that it no longer registers as a shock to any of us(or at least me). Its like smell... we become used to it. Smell prefume for some time and you will stop noticing it, it becomes part of our environment. Its just like that with people dying. Unless it affects us we are rarely concerned.
We have become so callous and self-centered that we actually require acts of global terror to shock us out of our stupor. I really appreciate people working in Iraq,Kashmir who work day in day out without any recognition delaing with death and disability every day.
On a completely different rant, I remember the Tsunami and the worldwide cry for help which was answered. Every single person helped and everyone cared and attempted to help in whatever way they could. Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster as well. People have died and livelihoods lost, not on the scale of the Tsunami but its been as devastating. I remember an Oxford acquaintance telling me in no circumstance should we raise and send money to the USA. Why? because it is the USA, because people there are different, because it has enough resources and money to be able to handle it - what possible reason can there be not to help someone in need?
Anyway, enough of ranting.. I just needed to put this down somewhere.
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Today suicide bombers killed 77 in Iraq ( and thats a conservative estimate) and there is no hoo-hah, in fact, BBC prefers to cover the killing of a cop in Bradford!
We have become so indifferent to the daily killing and terror that pervades places like Kashmir, Iraq,Palestine that it no longer registers as a shock to any of us(or at least me). Its like smell... we become used to it. Smell prefume for some time and you will stop noticing it, it becomes part of our environment. Its just like that with people dying. Unless it affects us we are rarely concerned.
We have become so callous and self-centered that we actually require acts of global terror to shock us out of our stupor. I really appreciate people working in Iraq,Kashmir who work day in day out without any recognition delaing with death and disability every day.
On a completely different rant, I remember the Tsunami and the worldwide cry for help which was answered. Every single person helped and everyone cared and attempted to help in whatever way they could. Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster as well. People have died and livelihoods lost, not on the scale of the Tsunami but its been as devastating. I remember an Oxford acquaintance telling me in no circumstance should we raise and send money to the USA. Why? because it is the USA, because people there are different, because it has enough resources and money to be able to handle it - what possible reason can there be not to help someone in need?
Anyway, enough of ranting.. I just needed to put this down somewhere.
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
I met my classmate from school,Shruti after 8 years. I havent seen her since school. It was really nice to catch up. She is one of the nicest people I have met and remember her sending me a birthday card and letter when I was at Wellington. Those were the days of mail not email. I love writing letters, its just that I never post them. I cant remember the number of letters I wrote to everyone in Delhi while at Sewagram,but I never posted them.
Today began with me playing BBall. I cant shoot anymore or run up and down the court as I used to,but I still know how to get the rebounds. Learning to play with Afghans and Somalians taught me how to use elbows and my body to good effect.
Malaria vaccine protects 30% of children against severe malaria for upto 18 months. Latest issue of Lancet carries the paper.
Ok, back into the lab to do some work and then tonight is indoor cricket practice.
Oxford is really cold with frost forming every morning. ITs -2,-4 every day - and its only November.
Going to MGIMS from 2nd - 6th.
Today began with me playing BBall. I cant shoot anymore or run up and down the court as I used to,but I still know how to get the rebounds. Learning to play with Afghans and Somalians taught me how to use elbows and my body to good effect.
Malaria vaccine protects 30% of children against severe malaria for upto 18 months. Latest issue of Lancet carries the paper.
Ok, back into the lab to do some work and then tonight is indoor cricket practice.
Oxford is really cold with frost forming every morning. ITs -2,-4 every day - and its only November.
Going to MGIMS from 2nd - 6th.
Sunday, November 13
Interesting thought
I was just thinking about my post about the legal basis of public health initiatives enforced by the government.
If we were to discover a vaccine against HIV, would we force Roman Catholic priests who have taken a vow of celibacy to take the vaccine??? If not, then we cant really force anyone else who is not in a high-risk category to take it.
Just thinking...
If we were to discover a vaccine against HIV, would we force Roman Catholic priests who have taken a vow of celibacy to take the vaccine??? If not, then we cant really force anyone else who is not in a high-risk category to take it.
Just thinking...
NEWS UPDATE!
Its been a long time, almost a month and a half. Hello to my dedicated readership of three (mom,bro and little one) - I am "back with a vengeance" (batman returns)!
News since last post:
1. report submitted - have less than a year to go now
2. Am living in the UK as an illegal immigrant - my visa has been sent for renewal.
3. Have broken my specs - courtesy OIS Diwali bop and Chaiya Chaiya
4. Have become unfit - sloth and Batchelor's ready made noodles have played important roles.
5. Have started my tutorials - ufff..its a pain but great fun. One batch of students are quite interactive, while the other(all girls) mainly scribble away, noting every single word I say.
6. Have decided to write a short story - plot decided while having shower
7. Am learning to waltz!! (and Jive)
8. After watching Gladiator for the tenth time christened myself," Saranya the Couch Potato" - have been researching the roobish shown on British terrestial TV.
9. Should be spending time in hospital starting next week : things finally sorting themselves out.
10. Tickets need to be booked - COMING HOME!!
Enough for an update - shall blog later.
"Country Road, take me home,
to the place where I belong"
News since last post:
1. report submitted - have less than a year to go now
2. Am living in the UK as an illegal immigrant - my visa has been sent for renewal.
3. Have broken my specs - courtesy OIS Diwali bop and Chaiya Chaiya
4. Have become unfit - sloth and Batchelor's ready made noodles have played important roles.
5. Have started my tutorials - ufff..its a pain but great fun. One batch of students are quite interactive, while the other(all girls) mainly scribble away, noting every single word I say.
6. Have decided to write a short story - plot decided while having shower
7. Am learning to waltz!! (and Jive)
8. After watching Gladiator for the tenth time christened myself," Saranya the Couch Potato" - have been researching the roobish shown on British terrestial TV.
9. Should be spending time in hospital starting next week : things finally sorting themselves out.
10. Tickets need to be booked - COMING HOME!!
Enough for an update - shall blog later.
"Country Road, take me home,
to the place where I belong"
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