Disney Vs the real world...

I am sitting here munching on hide and seek biscuits and trying to listen to the rain outside, but the sound of machine guns and people screaming keep breaking the silence... Antonio has entered a hospital and he is firing away at random doctors and patients, he is entering the ICU now. I will never understand how GTA IV and similar games are considered fun, I know its funny when you see them dying like that with blood spurting everywhere, kinda like the kill bill series... but after a while it numbs the senses. And the wrestling games are the worst, they are morbidly cruel and violent... atleast in GTA a bullet ends your life and you are not tortured as in the wrestling arena. Well guys will be guys I guess... but they could be a little less morbid.

Talking bout morbid stuff, the mindless suicide bombings in Peshawar and other parts of Pakistan is sickening what with so many civilians dying. Reading these stories in the paper is heartbreaking, seeing the acute grief on their faces is haunting... everywhere and everyday stuff like this is happening and it makes you wonder bout mankind, what did we learn from the past... I don't know where we are headed. If you ask me I think the problem all starts with boundaries, because of boundaries we have countries and nations... if there were no boundaries we would all belong to the world, we could travel all over and think of the whole earth as our land. I know that doesn't sound right too, problems would still evolve. What then can be done... for us to live in harmony with our fellow beings? I really don't know... on a lighter note I read the following idea somewhere a long time back and it made sense to me... seeing how Walt Disney is always perfect in everything it does, they plan everything from scratch and every project they undertake is a runaway success and since they have been in the business of making people happy for many years, maybe the entire world should be put under their care... knowing their track record they would take pains to make the world a fun and safe place. If everybody is employed and if everybody is happy... all the problems will take care of themselves.

I know, I am just rambling... the rain does put you in a contemplative mood.

I wanna go here...

Aren't these pictures really pretty... can you believe they were taken down home, in Nagercoil... at a place called Aralvaimozhy...

Go here to see more pictures.... or check my photography blog to find out more...

Nobel prize...

So my sister is very dedicated to her work and that really baffles us (her family members... especially me). If you know my sister, you'll understand why we find this strange... she is and has always been a carefree person, the one who likes to laze around and do nothing in particular. She is more of a people person, she likes hanging out with her ever increasing circle of friends and having a good time. So when I heard that she was working late these days and working during the weekends too, I started to panic. I rang her up yesterday to find out what happened to the sister I used to know...

Me : So, what's up?

Nam : Nothin much... I have a three day weekend.

Me : Great! Do you wannna come here, shall I book the tickets? (note how loving and kind I am)

Nam : No, don't go booking anything. I will have to go to office tomorrow.

Me : But I thought you said you had a long weekend...?

Nam : Yeah, it is a holiday but I volunteered to go and help.

Me : I am deeply touched by your dedication. If there was a Nobel Prize for hard work... you would definitely get it, Nam.

Nam : And if there was a Nobel prize for sarcasm, you would win it.

Yeah, even I am relieved... she's still herself.

My quiet birthday...

There are some people who are birthday maniacs (like Shilpa and Nameeta) and then there are the others who just want a nice quiet peaceful day (meaning me)... I don't know why but I was never keen on celebrating my birthday. I like celebrating others birthday like Elvis, Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) & Michael Ballack ... okay I'm kidding, I celebrated Elvis's birthday only once and I happen to remember Ronaldo's and Ballack's birthday because they fall close to mine. A long time back during one of those crazy world cup days (I used to cut out pictures of footballers from the newspapers and maintain a scrap book on them... the craze returns every four years but I don't do the scrap book thing anymore) a cousin Sunoj asked me when my birthday was and here's the ensuing conversation...

Sunoj: When is your birthday?

Me: Two days after Ronaldo's and two days before Michael Ballack's.

Sunoj: Oh...

Me: When is your birthday?

Sunoj: 9 days before Jesus Christ's...

Yeah, after that conversation when people ask me when my birthday is I just tell them the date. Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand... I told Antonio I wanted a quiet birthday this year, and the guy orders a cake with the words "Wishing you a quiet birthday" on it. That guy is so funny, makes me laugh all the time & I then call up Nameeta, tell her the joke and we both start laughing and Tonio says "What, you girls think I am a joker or something?" and that cracks us up even more.

The first call I got for my birthday really surprised me, it was Mother Magdalene (the Mother Superior) from the special school I used to work in earlier. She called and I was like 'Motherrrrrr you remembered!' She said ' How can I forget your birthday child...' ain't she really sweet. My sister kept calling throughout the day singing the birthday song (birthday freak... kidding nam) and there was a small gathering at home for lunch... I like the way food plays a major role in binding families together. Any event in the family and everybody gets together to cook up a great spread, and after a splendid lunch the elders all sit around and discuss other elders while the kids get together and create enough havoc to break up the discussion and then its bye bye till the next birthday comes along. Today too there was a birthday lunch party and we got together to cook up a great feast... so cool.

Some really great movies...

The Fox and the Child (Le renard et l'enfant)

This is an amazingly beautiful movie, its a story about this little girl's fascination with a fox and how she roams the mountain side searching for the wild fox. The entire movie is set against the backdrop of some mountains in France and each and every frame is blindingly pure and pristine, it'll make you wish you were living in that little mountainside village instead of in a city thick with smoke and people. Another interesting thing about the movie is that there are hardly any people in it... just the little freckled girl (with her hair rolled up into buns at the side of her head, very cute) and the elusive fox. Kate Winslet narrates the story in English and the movie takes on a documentary tone... oh, don't roll your eyes, when I say documentary I mean it in a good way, like those amazing documentaries on discovery or the natural geographic channel. Watch that movie, you will love it... and then start saving for that trip to France!

P.S. I Love You

This one made me cry like a lunatic, it also made me fall for Gerard Butler. Its a heartwarming story based on the book (P.S. I Love You) by Cecelia Ahern. Now people (like Shil and Megh's) who have read the book earlier (before seeing the movie) claim to hate the movie, cause like any other movie adaptation of a book, many characters and situations have been left out (personally I am glad they excluded a lot of characters and scenes from the book cause the author does ramble on unnecessarily... and I really mean unnecessarily). The only problem with the movie is the 'sleeping with the butt naked guy' (which was totally unnecessary and downright sick) and the lead actress (Hilary Swank), I mean... she hardly looks feminine, she shouldn't even be in Hollywood (same goes for gwyneth paltrow, can't stand her either). Anyway coming back to the story its bout a series of letters that the husband (Gerard Butler) writes to his wife (Hilary Swank) to be read after his death, and each of them end with the words PS I Love You. Gerard has been diagnosed with brain tumor and he worries bout how his wife will cope with the world after he has left it. It's heartbreaking stuff, the part where Hilary dials his number over and over just to hear his voice nearly tore at me. You hit an emotional nerve watching the movie and for sometime all those overwhelming feelings tend to stay with you. You end up being the nicest person on the planet since you are simply grateful for life and all your loved ones... then you watch a movie like Hangover and all that emotional stuff goes out the window. (That was one hilarious movie... Bradley Cooper deserves a post entirely to himself.)

Becoming Jane

Oh, I like this movie a whole lot too, it is loosely based on the life of one of the most influential and famous female authors of all time, Jane Austen. Anne Hathway makes a great Jane and James McAvoy as Tom somebody (I forget his name) is simply wonderful. The scene in the library is hilarious and the other scenes between Jane and Tom will tug at your heart. I like the bittersweet ending, the way Jane and Tom smile at each other after she finishes her reading and the closing shot of Jane's hands resting on one of her books... it says so much. She achieved something more than the life she desired, she achieved immortality... a truly outstanding movie.

Here is the library scene I was telling you about... listen to the dialogues...

Interesting churches from around the world...

Came across these spectacular churches while trying to search for simple and rustic ideas for my (very soon to be constructed) church back home.

Thorn Crown Chapel

This is the Thorn Crown Chapel located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas... looks pretty neat huh.

Church of Hallgrímur

The Hallgrímskirkja (a Lutheran church) is located in Iceland, and it is designed to resemble basalt lava flows that are characteristic of Iceland. The church is also used as an observation tower.

Chapelle of Saint Michel

The Chapelle of Saint Michel perched atop a needle of a rock is located in Auvergne, France. 268 stone steps wind their way up to this quaint little ancient church. Doesn't it look absolutely dreamy...

Borgund Stave Church

This is the Borgund Stave Church located in Lærdal, Norway... t'was built somewhere in the late 12th century, definitely awesome.

Las Lajas Cathedral

The Las Lajas Cathedral (Sanctuary of our Lady) located in Columbia, South America is certainly awe inspiring and majestic. Legend has it that an Indian woman named Maria Mueses de Quiñones was carrying her deaf-mute child on her back when Mother Mary appeared, and this apparition miraculously caused the child to speak. Later on, a mysterious painting of the Virgin Mary carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock- instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colours were impregnanted in the rock itself to a depth of several feet.

Chapel of St. Gildas

The Chapel of St. Gildas sits upon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France. It has been built into the base of a rocky cliff and was once a holy place of the druids. St. Gildas is said to have preached Christianity to the people from this rocky perch.

Church of St. George

The church of St. George located in Lalibela, Ethiopia is completely carved out of stone in the shape of a cross.

Cathedral of Brasilia

From outside it hardly looks like a church I know, but the interior is spectacular. Three angels are seen suspended from the ceiling and the lighting inside ought to be beautiful what with all that coloured glass...

Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

I know! It does seem fitting for the Air Force, looks like it will fly you straight to heaven with those seventeen spires. This chapel is extraordinary in the sense that it has three distinct places of worship as seen below...

The Protestant Chapel is located in the upper level and designed to seat about 1200 people. If you notice carefully you will be able to make out the amazing 46 foot (14m) aluminium cross suspended from the ceiling...

The Jewish Chapel which occupies a part of the lower level is circular in shape and designed to seat about 100 people.

The Catholic Chapel is also located on the lower leavel & seats about 500 people. The Annunciation is depicted on the glass mosaic mural as seen.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is an iconic Catholic chapel built into an elevated rock in Sedona, Arizona. This chapel has a universal appeal due to its amazing views which are truly spectacular and awe inspiring.

Basilica of Our Lady of Tears

The Basilica of Our Lady of Tears is located in Syracusa, Italy. This Basilica was constructed after an image of the Blessed Mother started weeping, then miracles started taking place.

I saved the best for last...

Chapel of the Transfiguration

This has got to be the best chapel in the whole wide world, fell in love with it instantly. This Chapel is located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is a simple and rustic log cabin nestled in an idyllic landscape with those awe inspiring mountains as a backdrop. Check out the altar, no stained glass or fancy mosaic mural will ever be able to capture the feeling of awesomeness as you gaze outside at the mountains... blindingly pure and beautiful. See those log benches, so quaint and rustic.

Nameeta and Sheena are you up for this?

Please say yes guys... it will be fun practising...

The wedding party even recreated the whole scene on national TV, check it out...

Some funny guy made this video showing what will happen a few years down the line...

P.S: Nameeta (my sister) and Sheena (my cousin) are next in line to get married.