November 30, 2010

Chapter 2 - "Follow me" - a blog series

 FOLLOW ME
       Chapter 2 - Strike!







“Barbara! Channel 18! Now!” screamed the bat-phone. Barbara hurriedly turned on the LCD screen in her office and found Channel 18. It was just the news, some stock market news. “Investing, Batman??” she asked, “Today doesn’t seem a good day for investors, dear! Everything is in the red.” “Precisely! Everything except The Gotham Trust Bank.”, replied Batman.

Now, Barbara knew something was wrong. She wondered what the “odd-man-out” could mean. But she hadn’t wondered for long before Batman answered her query; “The bank is a fund provider headed by Thomas Ericsson, a well known social activist. It lends out loans on minimal guarantees to immigrants from across the border. It is known to run at losses.”

“And your point here is...?” asked Barbara.

Chapter 1 - "Follow me" - a blog series



 FOLLOW ME
       Chapter 1 - Hellos








When she got the blank envelope from the frail, old, white butler who rode a Rolls-Royce, Commissioner Barbara Gordon knew that the sender was one of the most influential men (going by the number-plate) in the Northern District of Gotham. Not many people had white butlers in Gotham these days, only a few families do; The Lovetts, The Waynes, The Cornells, The Nelsons to name a few. As she opened the envelope, Barbara couldn’t even have guessed what it would say,

“Dear Commissioner,
Edward Nygma is back in town. I would suggest you take necessary precautions to avoid any damage to public property.
The concerned citizen
Please burn after reading”

November 28, 2010

The Pause and Play Relationship

Have you ever seen the DVD player which says, "Disk will resume at this position" when you stop it somewhere? Well, as a continuation of my previous post, I'd like to say a few things about another special kind of relationship.. "THE PAUSE AND PLAY RELATIONSHIP"
Well, just after reading the title, most of us would be able to classify this sort of a relationship. I read this beautiful status message in one of my friends' Facebook profile..
  • Ever-lasting friends can go long periods of time without speaking and never question the friendship. These types of friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live, and they don't hold grudges. They understand that life is busy but you will always love them.

Now, I'm sure that most of us can recall such a person in our lives. A friend from school who you were very very close to, but sadly lost touch with as time went on. But then, you meet them again and magically you start off on the same note than you left the relationship in. Just like the DVD player.

I know this is very contrasting to my previous post, it's like I'm bringing red and blue together and saying they're the same color. Well, actually, what I'm trying to say is that "white has both red and blue." When's red's one end of the spectrum, blue is another.

There are so many different people in the world, we meet them in so many different situations and we form opinions, liking and disliking based on this. So, this "play and pause relationship" is formed only when you like a person, a lot, in fact like them enough to give them freedom to live their lives and show trust in them by by knowing that they're still in your life, somehow..

When a friend of yours (my brother in my case would be an example) goes abroad or far away, it is natural for you to lose touch with the person's day to day life. But we never mind, do we? We carry on with our life. We're busy. But then, suddenly, they call and you are so happy to see them call and you talk for a few hours.. a few hours that just whiz by without a warning.

The difference between this and the lost relationship is that these are people who you "want to" be in touch with and these are people who "want to" be in touch with you. Whereas, people whose relationships you've lost are people who you are forced to be in touch with.

I can proudly say I have very few "pause and play" friends in my life. Well, I would give a million bucks to be in their daily life, but I respect and recognize the fact that life's taken us apart. I know that it's difficult, but its special too!! It is something that I share with a very few people and I consider it to be an honor to be someone's "pause and play" friend, because it shows that I'm important, wanted, loved and respected.

Deepak Valagam





The Lost Relationship

Relationships are built brick by brick. It is not like you just go out there to meet somebody and just hit off like you've been friends for years together. There have to be moments of discomfort, no matter how compatible you are.

So, when my brother asked me to join with him to meet this "old friend" of our family's, I was clear enough to say, "No." Well, it was a pretty disinterested, "No." and somehow, as always, there was some arrogance "seen" in it. Honestly, I wasn't even trying to be arrogant. I was just exercising my right to refuse a request. Well, that's not the point of this blog entry. The point is to discuss a very critical type of relationship that we sometimes are forced to share with some people.. "THE LOST RELATIONSHIP"

Sometimes, you just feel, "Who the F is this person? Why should I even take so much pains to go and spend time with him if he doesn't even bother?" When it has been so long and you have no clue as to where they work "now", what they do "now", whether they're single "now" or anything else that's relevant in their life "now", how do you bond with someone?

It is a totally different issue if it's a new relationship that you're kicking off, questions and uncertainty about these issues are permitted. The problem with the "lost relationship" is that you're supposed to know this person already, but you really don't. It is something which is very difficult to address because you're supposed to know what to talk with them (and what not to), how to behave with them (and how not to), where to go with them (and where not to) but you don't know any of these things. So, even kicking of a meaningful conversation with such a person is tough, because you don't really know if you're close enough to them and you doubt you'll ever break the ice with them again.

I sometimes wonder if there is a remedy for a "lost relationship". Some way in which we can find the intimacy again. Then I am forced to ask myself why would I bother when there are a million other people around me who can be my friends? Why even bother to take efforts when they haven't taken any effort themselves? Why even bother to revive something that's been dead for years? Then I wonder if Darwin's theory applies to this too. After all the possible filtering, people and the relationships you share at the end of the day have survived because they are fit enough to survive.

Ok, I need to go now, need to visit this "old friend" of our family's. Supposedly, "we are very close to them".. *shakes head* Good bye folks!!

Deepak Valagam


November 26, 2010

Batman Begins vs The Dark Knight


So, this is probably one of the topics Ramsu and I have sort of over-discussed. Let me start off here on a note that I know both the movies are simply amazing and really really huge in terms of their reach, creativity and importance to the brand "Batman" as such. What I really wanna discuss here touch upon the greatness of each movie as an absolute and go on to compare the two in terms of their importance to the brand. So, if you haven't seen the movies, just stop reading right here, sorry! But as Mr. Wolf says in Pulp Fiction ( \m/ ) "pretty please with sugar on top, please go and " watch the damned movies!!



Nolan

Chris Nolan and his brother Johnathan have started off a revolutionary trail for other directors to follow, no doubt. But to address my topic here, I think I have to consider what a mindset they would have been in and have to consider history too. "Nolan" is a big name for the "Batman" franchisee and I guess it will be a sin to leave them out of the discussion. They wrote The Dark Knight's screenplay together and along with David Goyer, they've made both the movies what they are.
So, dwelling on the topic of history, I'd like to take you through the previous Batman movies
(Batman Forever, Batman Returns, Batman - links to IMDb pages) where we saw lots of childishness and immaturity. Now, that made people consider even a live action film to be a film for children. So, making the adults see believable stuff in the movie was task number one. After this was shooed away, the creators took the second step, keeping everyone at heel. You see, it was very easy to make people like Batman because he's the "Good Guy". But then, to make Gotham have varied opinions about the Batman, that's awesome! This is just one of the million things that they've strung together to create two master-pieces. Now, I think we should get right into the discussion.

The greatness of The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight on IMDb


This is something I don't need to actually tell anybody at all. The movie speaks volumes for itself, ranked #10 in the IMDb list of 250 top movies of all time is the be all and end all, I guess.
The character depth in Dark Knight is just mind blowing, you see Harvey Dent, The Joker and all previously existing characters grow as the movie goes on. You really see the multifaceted nature in Harvey and you see the madness in Joker and you see the utter presence of The Batman and you also see the sensibility in Alfred. The characters have been beautifully etched. And the plot is just amazing too because it keeps you on the edge of the seat right from the moment the "Men in masks" carry out the armed robbery mentioned at the end of Batman Begins. The Dark Knight should have been a very difficult tale to conceptualize because it brings together two of the most prominent villains in the history of Batman and even explains the creation and impact of one of them. This is no easy task given an absorbing character like Joker has to be dealt with. And to have brought the mob in the middle of all this was utter brilliance! The Dark Knight shone as brightly as any knight's armor and will always be an epic movie we cannot forget for more than one reason (tributes to the talented Heath Ledger :( :( )

The importance of Batman Begins

Batman Begins on IMDb




This movie is also there on the IMDb list, at #110. Now, being there in the list by itself speaks volumes about any movie. But in my humble opinion this is a majorly underrated movie! Begins is a complete movie. Begins was bestowed upon with the responsibility to initialize and make-believe the characters used in The Dark Knight.
The creation of Batman has always had a wonderful story. We all know the theatre visit, the shooting at the side alley etc. But I think the movie's greatness lies in the "the philosophy of fear" that Al Ghul teaches Bruce. It was pure genius and made perfect sense. It was made sure that if you were Bruce Wayne, you'd have the ability to be Batman too. So, by the end of Batman Begins, it is made sure that the "Batman fan" in us also begins if not already there.
To link characters such as Ra's Al Ghul the immortal and Professor "Scarecrow " Craine into one huge movie is a humongous task. And in my opinion, to have addressed every issue from "Al Ghul's immortality" to Scarecrow's methodologies and intentions was a work that few can come up with and be so brilliant in executing.

The parasite and the host

When you see Gordon and Batsy have that conversation at the end of the Dark Knight, I'm sure you had goosebumps all over you and a feeling of greatness running through you. But that would have been ten times more only if you knew why Batsy and Gordon talk the way they do. It would have been ten times more only if you knew the way Batman introduced himself to the police officer and why they trust each other. The Dark Knight could only make complete sense if you see Begins and appreciate its greatness.
So, you see, according me, there is no Dark Knight without Begins! I see Dark Knight to be the appealing parasite that sucks off the characters paved in Batman Begins. No doubt both movies are epic. No doubt Dark Knight is a 100 ranks better than Begins in the list. But still, a fan would say, "hang on! What was the movie that made me look up and threw new light on the characters for me?" So, I see a symbiotic relationship between the movies and the bottom-line being a tough one to draw, but still, here it comes...
In terms of importance to the brand Batman, I'd call it a 60%-40% in favor of Batman Begins even though I'm sure all the box-offices do not agree with me.
And I'd like to steal a quote from my Ramsu's blog to enhance my "symbiotic relationship" argument :
If "Batman Begins" were Wayne Manor, then "The Dark Knight" is the cave. It's where the darkness lies, where the elemental parts of the human spirit strike out without warning."
But I'd like to remind everyone, if not for the Wayne Manor, I'm sorry people, there's no Bruce Wayne or the Batman or the Batcave!!
I'd like to sincerely thank the makers for inspiring me so much and making me think about Batman so much.

Deepak Valagam

comments, views and discussion boards welcome! Have fun! :)



November 25, 2010

Back Blogging and Why?!

Hello!! So, I'm back blogging and why? I can see two or three reasons, I am hoping to find out more as I type..
  • Ramsu's blogging and so is Singam... Check out their blogs :
    http://karthikselvas.blogspot.com/ and http://ramshandilya.blogspot.com/
  • Wow, now that the "cheap" part is out of the way, I saw this episode on House MD (MUST WATCH) about this lady who's whole life is spent blogging, it sorta made me want to get blogging too!
  • Can't really think of any more reasons people, so I'll stop it here and continue with the general crap that I actually set out to tell... So, read on...
First up, watch the following :
Dexter and House are top on the list of my favorite, running TV shows
and some movies that caught my attention recently are Sweeney Todd, Remember Me and The Social Network..
Views and discussion topics on these shows and movies are welcome, it'll help get my blog started with.. I know all the old posts are crap.. I did them when I was this *shows little finger* small.. So, have a look, have a laugh and keep checking out.. I'll try putting up some reviews, useful stuff and try keeping this page interesting!

Cheers,
Deepak Valagam ( Boy! I love my last name! *pride* )