My Second Byline

Hey friends,
I have achieved another byline in the US. Your comments are appreciated.

Movie Review: National Treasure - Book of Secrets

I have seen only two movies of Nicholas Cage and I liked one (Con Air) and hated the other (Leaving Las Vegas). Since I didn’t have too much interest in his movies, I was not too sure what to expect when my friends dragged me to watch National Treasure II – Book of Secrets. But I was pleasantly surprised by the mature handling of the plot and the excellent screenplay in this movie. Cage fitted his role as Ben Gates, an archaeologist and treasure hunter very well and done complete justice. His bickering parents (Jon Voight and Helen Mirren), best friend IT whiz Justin Bartha, and girlfriend Diane Kruger have done their bit to make the movie engrossing and at times very funny too. The bad guy, played by Ed Harris actually helps Cage unearth an ancient City of Gold hidden right under Mount Rushmore.

The movie starts off with the bad guy accusing Ben Gates’ ancestors of having a hand in the plot of assassinate Abraham Lincoln and then one thing leads to the other and becomes a grand global adventure. Nicholas Cage travels at will to anywhere to everywhere and gets access to anything under the sun. He steals a wooden scroll from the Queen’s desk in the Buckingham Palace, rifles through the American president’s desk in Oval office and swipes the brown diary from the Library of Congress too! And the wonder of all wonders is that he never gets caught. Sounds too fancy, doesn’t it?

The plot of the movie is somewhat like an amalgamation of few of the older movies. Some of the clues to find the treasure are surely some adaptation and modifications of the clues in the 1969 movie Mackenna’s Gold. The high tech stuff which Bartha so slickly uses to give Cage the access to every security ridden place on this earth including the Buckingham Palace and White House look somewhat similar to the ones in The Italian Job (2003).

But then some adaptations and good performances and of course great locations make National Treasure: Book of Secrets a highly entertaining movie and worth your money. But let me warn you, it is definitely not worth watching more than once.

Visiting Austin - Texas State Capital

Last week we visited Austin, the capital city of Texas. This was one of the quickest visits for me. We left Dallas on Wednesday afternoon and returned on Thursday night, covering over 450 miles. Padma was invited to deliver a talk at a entrepreneurship seminar and so there we were in Austin. The talk was in one of the several small conference rooms inside the Capitol building, which is also the seat of the Texas State government. It could be compared to any state legislature building in India such as the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore.

I took this opportunity to capture some great images of the Capitol building and the statues in its gardens. Here they are for your information. The Capitol building is a majestic structure built of stone and concrete and has numerous halls, conference rooms, a cafetaria, souvenir shop etc. Anyone can enter the premises, there is no red-tape or unnecessary security hidrances. In fact the building administration conducts FREE guided tours of the building so visitors may get familiarised about the same.

This I feel is a great way to encourage tourism and generate revenue. After walking around the building, visitors are bound to buy some souvenir or trinket at the shop. Some of them may visit the cafetaria (which is not subsidised), bottomline is that the state government generates some revenue. Another way the state generates revenue from this huge building is by renting out its conference halls to private events. So anyone can just rent a conference hall and conduct meetings and other official events. The address would sound prestigious and the venue swank too. I think it is time Indian state governments thought up this plan and started additional revenue generation.



These are two details of the shelter around one of the statues. I liked the design as well as the message and of course how Texans embed their state symbol "The Lone Star" in every aspect of their life

Movie Review: James

I went to this movie expecting some grand action sequences as the posters and promotions promised. I was pretty certain that Ram Gopala Verma would have done a good job producing an action movie with new and debutant hero and heroine. But was I disappointed??? No I was thoroughly shocked... apalled... aghast... taken aback.... I don’t have the right words to express my disappointment.

The storyline of the movie is pretty much the same.. boy meets girl... falls in love.. enter the villain baying for the girl’s body and then the boy intervenes and beats him up. Then follows the villain ganging up his brood together and following the hero and heroine baying for the hero’s blood and the herione’s body. There is some good music and photography in these sections....

The most sickening part of the movie is perhaps the ugly, sometimes obscene, vulger and totally irrelevant skin show of the heroine. Perhaps that is what it takes for a debutant female artiste to make it big in Bollywood..... especially when working with RGV. We can recall... how Urmila exposed in Rangeela... and made it big soon after... but here the heroine came, exposed and went away to be forgotten forever...

The move is a good time pass for those who want to while away two and a half hours doing nothing... and it is good for couples who want to get cozy in the dark corners of a theatre as the halls will be hardly full.... To put the movie in one perspective it is good for those who like to watch raunchy item songs with the heroine shaking a leg and more and gyrating to some vague tune while the gals can enjoy a good show of James’ rippling muscles.

The story of Santa Claus family

Review of Movie: Fred Claus (2007)
Director: David Dobkin
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson and others

Santa Claus is one of the most famous characters associated with Christmas across the world, but nothing is said about his parents, siblings and family life. Converting this into a story telling opportunity, director David Dobkin has made a movie about Fred Claus, elder brother of Santa Claus. Now don’t go into spirituality, god, etc, etc. This is a movie and a very heartwarming one at that.

The story starts with the birth of younger brother for Fred. Like any other doting big brother Fred loves his younger brother and tries hard to make him happy. But the younger brother Nicholas is just too perfect and Fred is never able to live up to the example set by the former. While Nicholas (Santa) grows up to be a role model of giving and love, Fred becomes the opposite, a smooth-talking marketing person who almost always runs out of luck and money.

At a loss to worm his way out of a crisis Fred turns to his brother who agrees to help much to the annoyance of his wife. But he places a condition, that Fred has to come to North Pole and earn the money he needs by working in Santa’s Toy Factory. Reluctantly Fred agrees, for he needs the money and goes to North Pole. The rest of the movie is about how Santa Claus operates and decides which kids to give gifts on Christmas day.

Then there is the cold and calculating business executive who arrives from headquarters with the sole intention of closing down Santa Claus’ operations. The rest of the story is all about how Fred dons the role of Santa Claus and delivers the toys to all the children across the world and saves the toy factory from closure.

The movie is a typical feel good movie with no great trappings. Performances by the central cast is mediocre and the cinematography is above average. The story could have been lot better produced if family confrontations and Fred’s romantic interludes were composed better.

Watch the trailer

Movie Review: 300

When I heard the name of this move, I wasn’t too sure whether I wanted to invest my time to watch it. But after my friend a frequent movie watcher assured me that she had read the book and it was the story of the clash of civilizations, I decided to take a chance. Did I like it? Well I quite loved the movie’s portrayal of patriotism, treachery, politics and how people use these things to achieve their own ends.

Directed by Zack Snyder, of Dawn of the Dead, fame, 300 is an adaptation of Frank Miller’s novel. Once again Snyder proves that when passion, creativity and hardwork are the inputs, the output is always a great story. The movie, set in 480 BC narrates the story of the legendary courage and valor displayed by a band of 300 Spartan soldiers under the leadership of King Leonidas. The war at Thermopylae in which the million-strong army led by Persian King Xeres flounders and falters in the face of a small posse of 300 Spartans, is effectively portrayed.

Gerard Butler who plays Leonidas, the wise king of Sparta delivers an exemplary performance. Raised with the utmost ideals — honor, duty, glory — Leonidas is a brilliant military strategist and egalitarian champion of personal freedom. The movie starts with a depiction of how a Spartan soldier is trained to be a fighter for life and how he is hardened to live anywhere, eat anything and undergo all kinds of hardships. Believed to be the direct descendants of Hercules himself, Spartans are brave and freedom loving people whom the Persian King wants to enslave and subjugate.

So when Persia seeks to declare sovereignty over Sparta, Leonidas rebuffs the declaration and announces that his countrymen must fight to preserve their way of life. As per procedure Leonidas seeks the permission of the council to go to war and is denied as the Oracle says it is not the right time to go to war. The moral conflict within the king whether to abide by the councils words or to go to war (which his heart tells him to do) is excellently shown in this movie. In my opinion the story of this movie is not about history, but of confidence, courage, faith, and for believing in one’s duty, perseverance, loyalty to the King and country, patriotism and love for freedom and liberty.

The film also portrays the cunning politics which was at place. Politicians who would betray their country and people for money and sex. Ultimately treachery is what causes the downfall of the brave army of 300 and ensures temporary victory of the Persians.

While the cinematography, dialogue delivery and acting is exceptional, the portrayal of the Persian King as an effeminate individual is quite off beat. With so many body piercing and jewellery etc, King Xeres looks rather funny and nothing like a king. The only downside to this movie is the excessive blood and gore. Warring techniques of two different armies are very effectively portrayed in this movie. But so much blood and gore may not work in its favour in the box office.

Movie Reivew: I Am Legend

I saw this Will Smith movie sometime last month. It is one of the first movies in which one actor takes the entire credits. Quite impressive and enjoyable for Will Smith fans, but I am not one of them. So here goes my review.

Nirvana for Will Smith Fans
Ever heard of a movie in which there is only one actor? Well if you haven’t you must watch I Am Legend. The movie is set in New York city on some futuristic date and the entire scene at the beginning appears like an enigma. The movie starts off showing Will Smith and his faithful dog, the only two survivors of a virus outbreak which makes affected people and animals thirst for human blood and can’t stand any light, not even that of electric bulbs. The affected population are strong, invincible, cruel, cannibalistic and of course ugly to look at. This kind of ‘save the world’ science fiction movies are a little out of place for the family crowds and definitely a ‘no, no’ for children.

But if you are a Will Smith fan and would like to see some of his exceptionally great acting, then this movie is a must watch. He has played his character very well. Another plus of the movie is their portrayal of New York city as a ghost town, inhabited by sloth bears, deer, the mutant creatures and of course Will Smith and his faithful dog.

The central character, Will Smith is a scientist, who firmly believes that he is the last surviving human being in the world who is not affected by the virus. When the entire country was evacuated he stays back to research and create a cure which would make the mutants human again. His routine everyday is to get up, do exercise and carry loads of guns and tranquilizers and go out into the city in a bid to capture some mutant and bring back blood samples. Every afternoon he sits on the pier and broadcasts a radio message requesting any humans in the city or surroundings to come and meet him.

One of these messages are heard by a mother and son and they come looking for him. Finding him in a violent confrontation with the mutants, they save him and bring him to his heavily guarded home. But the mutants attack that night and Will Smith is left with no other alternative but to kill himself to save the other two. At that moment he finds out that he has developed a cure for the virus and hands over the vial to the mother and son to take it to the rest of the survivors in some protected colony.

Will Smith’s stellar performance is the highlight of the movie. He talks to his dog, to himself, watches re-runs of the news, movies, cartoons etc and goes out into the ghost town, which New York has become in search of blood samples of mutants for his research.

But I fail to understand how Will Smith doesn’t get affected by the virus? And if humans and dogs are affected by the virus, how do the wild animals remain immune. At the end of the movie are all the mutants killed? How do the mother and child take the cure and reach the colony? Don’t they get attacked by the mutants? The directors could have done better if they had given answers to these questions.

Exercises to ease back pain

I got these series of animated cartoons over e-mail along with a message that these represent nine exercises to ease backpain. I thought I'd share it with my readers who are leading largely sedentary lifestyles, working in high-tech fields. Most of us sit in a single position for the whole day in the office, and in the morning / evening drive all the way to our places. As a result at night, while going to bed, many of us experience a slight pain in the back. By doing the following exercise for min 10 minutes every morning and shoot off the back pain. Simple Exercises... to keep you fit and avoid back pain. Need not visit a gym, your home may be the ideal place.

San Francisco, Ahoy!

I had ended my previous post rather abruptly! And then got busy with lot of other things including trying to shift this blog onto my website and some mundane tasks. Finally today I decided that I will complete this travelogue. I have already posted the pictures shot during the 45-minute train journey from Sunnyvale to San Franscisco and some street views of the bustling city on my other blog View from Passenger Window.

As soon as I alighted at the San Franscisco station I didn't know what to do and where to go. The railway station seemed so much like a Bangalore city station, much smaller and cleaner of course. People rushing in and out of the station, shop keepers doing brisk business, taxis waiting for customers outside the gate, people buying coffee, newspapers from the Starbucks outlet etc. Deciding to seek help I accosted the ticket inspector of our train and asked him for a city map. He was surprised and asked me where I wanted to go. When I said I had no particular plans, he beckoned me to follow him to one of the shops and gave me a map of the place. "Go to Pier 39, it is beautiful place," he said pointing to a location on the multicolour map. Then he had a rapid dialogue in Spanish with the shopkeeper and turning to me said: "Bus no. 30 goes there. It stops just outside."

I thanked him profusely and walked out and voila! the scene is no different from any railway station in India. Dusty streets with choc-a-bloc traffic, taxi drivers screaming for clients (in India auto drivers would fall all over you, here they only call you with bright beaming smiles). I decided to talk a walk and started plodding along the pavement and then guess what I saw. A row of two wheelers which had every made and model one can think of; Yamaha R1, Ducati Monster, BMW GS 1200 Adventure and of course the ever trusty Hamara Bajaj Legend 4 stroke scooter and then a moped too.

Though I am fascinated by big bikes, both sporty and cruiser type models, I didn't shoot any pictures because they are so common here. What is uncommon is the Bajaj Legend and the Moped, which sports the Jawa name but I very much doubt it is something else.

After oogling at the bikes for sometime I decided to head on and took a good look at the map. Not used to map reading and accustomed to asking people for directions, it took me a good 20 minutes to figure out my present location on the map and where I had to go if I was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. I walked back to the railway station and then went to the bus stop. Soon one of the heritage electrically operated Road Trains pulled up. Getting in I asked the driver whether that bus would take me to Golden Gate Bridge. "You can take another bus at the Laguna," replied the driver. I tried to figure out the locations on my map but it was impossible, so I just decided to go with him.

People load bicycles on the bus and travel. Notice the electric wires atop the vehicle which power it.

Luckily the $1.50 ticket was valid for 5 hours (11 am to 4 pm) and I could travel on any city bus, anywhere in the city of San Franscisco between that time. I got in and sat down waiting for the bus to start off. The relative silence was shaken by a sharp screeching noise, I was shocked and wondered what had happened. It was the bus starting off on its journey across the city. The journey was slow for two reasons, chaotic traffic and the second being the electric contraption atop the bus, which necessitated the vehicle to move only in a particular lane. After about half an hour I got off at the Laguna bus stop and was lucky to find another bus (No.28) which took me to the Golden Gate Bridge and Park.

Bridge built of wires this thick.
Getting off at the area I marvelled at the beautiful sight of the sea, mountains and the man made engineering marvel of a bridge. The entire recreation area around the bridge is protected place and there are remains of an ancient fort at the sea level. The entire area has been notified as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and facilities for numerous leisure activities has been created. Hiking, Cycling, Camping, Beach, Sailing, Surfing, Ferry crossing etc. I walked along the cycling and hiking trails exploring all the buildings, vegetation and natural formations and revelling in the panoramic view of the sea.

The view of the San Franscisco downtown aka Fisherman's wharf area and the Alcatraz from the Golden Gate Bridge is simply awesome. I could just stand there and stare into the ocean all day and never get tired/ bored. Due to being extremely sunny and bright my pictures haven't come out too good. Next time I walk across the bridge I will shoot better pictures.


Far below the main view point of the Golden Gate Bridge is the fairly well preserved remains of a ancient fort. According to the Signage around the area the native Americans saw the arrival of first European ships in 1775, when Spanish ship San Carlos sailed in through the golden gate. Captivated by the beauty and reach of San Francisco harbour Lieutenant Juan Manuel De Ayala, commander of San Carlos said: "The harbor of San Francisco is one of the best I have ever seen in these seas, from Cape Horn northward... A fine harbor: it presents on sight a beautiful fitness, and it has no lack of good drinking water and plenty of firewood and ballast."

The next year Spain established their military post, mission to spread Christianity and a settlement. This fort/ settlement remained a small outpost of no great significance till the Gold Rush started in 1849, when the town was transformed overnight into a cosmopolitan city. Gold diggers, treasure hunters and adventurers landed here from Asia, South America, Europe. All of them expressed awe at the beauty of the Golden Gate natural formation. Since then several years have passed and history is witness to what has happened.


Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was started in 1933 and completed in 1937. This bridge is considered one of the greatest engineering efforts of the century. Over 40 million vehicles pass over the 2,737 meter (2.7 km) bridge annually. It is awesome to see that 1.7 km length of the bridge is the main span of the 90 ft wide suspension bridge, which is 27 meters above water level. The towers on either which gives the bridge its imposing and majestic look are each 152 meter tall. I am truly impressed by this great engineering wonder. And I am also happy to note that the surroundings of the bridge has been maintained excellently as a recreation area. Due credits have been paid to the people involved in the bridge construction. The chief engineers statue has been installed at the entrance along with several other important details.

One thing I found a little disturbing is the lack of awareness and respect to heritage among some people. Graffiti on the walls of the forts are quite common in this area and the government seems helpless. I wonder what motivates these people to spoil national monuments and deface them with graffiti.

These graffiti was on the inside walls of a underground passage way in the fort at San Franscisco

An feature of US conservation that every country in the world has to emulate is to involve common people in the efforts and raise donations for the maintenance of the monuments. Donation boxes with appeals for support can be found at every monument, state park and museum in the US making entreaties to visitors to contribute for the maintenance of the space. This way people will be interested in their heritage and help maintain the same. Will India be able to follow suit?