...shoOOonya...

  I saw the 9 movies in the second half (as compared to 5 in first half) taking the total score for the entire year to 14 movies in 2011.   So in effect, Along with reading, even movie watching increased in the second half of the year. The first half was like this … Jan to Mar – Zero   April - Dum Maro Dum & Scream 4 (Premiere)   May - Hanna (Premiere) & Cars 2 in 3D (Premiere)   June - Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in 3D   The second half went one like this … July – Bbhuddah Hoga Tera Baap August - Zero   September – Mausam   October - Zero   November - 4   Rockstar Immortals Ra.One TinTin   December - 3   Happy Feet 2 Mission Impossible 4 The Dirty Picture   It's the season of the sequels … 5 of the 14 movies I saw were sequels. I also missed some Some good ones.   2012 is going to be a year of many eagerly awaited sequels of Sherlock Holmes, Madagascar, Batman, Ice Age, Spiderman, The Hobbit from the Lord of...

I plan to read the following authors in 2012 … Robert Ludlum - haven't read any Ludlum in last 2 years. Have to read some this year. Devdutt Pattanaik – have read one. Now want to read more. Myth=Mithya next.   Rick Riordan – Series like Percy Jackson / Olympians / Kane Chronicles etc … have been on reading list since some time. Good time to actually start reading them. I am also planning to read more of Indian Authors . In the past decade (especially the last 5 years) a number of books written by Indian authors have been seen prominently displayed in book stores. I have already begun ordering books by Indian Authors from Flipkart, IndiaPlaza etc. Strangely, somehow I haven't even read Chetan Bhagat till date so I might just pick up some of his works too. Besides the above, I will continue to read the Sherlock Holmes stories and Three Investigator series (will complete the stories by primary authors and then move on to Fan Fiction and stories by other author...

Check out this video ...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGEJAmmJjqk Absolutely Hilarious ...  No doubt this one has to be the Best scene from a 2011 Bollywood flick     The scene is but a part of an equally fabulous movie. Few movies are better than their trailor. Pyaar Ka Punchnama (PKP) is just that. A fabulous movie, which I saw very late and that too by chance. Fantastic casting, fabulous acting, fantabulous direction .... this movie that was perfect in many ways. The actors who were incidentally 'all new' .. played their parts to perfection. I found each one of them just perfect for their roles. I couldn't really find flaws in any of their performances ... loved the movie, the actors and everything about the movie. This is one movie I could watch again and again .... (few bollywood flicks would get that from me). Kudos to the Director LUV RANJAN, the actors and everyone involved in the making of this fantastic movie - I seriously hope it gets some aw...

I have been putting series completion score along with all the Reading record posts last year, which include my completion count of the Feluda, Sherlock Holmes and 3 Investigators series. I have completed the Feluda series so I would be removing it from this score-card AND I forgot that Canon Doyle wrote 56 short stories and FOUR novellas (short novels) in the Sherlock Holmes series (I have been counting 56 only). I have also discovered MORE Three Investigators stories (almost as many as I had, making the total 3I to jump from 35 to 64) … so that score card needs modification. Also, I am adding Famous Five to this block which I plan to read in 2012. The last entry I made was  Series Completion Score (as of 31 st Dec 2011):   Feluda                         35 out of 35 – FINISH* Three Investigators     25 out of 35 Sherlock Holmes ...

Overall a very nice year as far as reading is concerned. A total of 125 stories/novels read. The high score should be seen in context since it has only about 12 full length novels, about 30 novellas (short novels) spanning about 80 pages and the rest of 83 are all short stories (20 to 40 page length – albeit in small print).   I started the year with the intent of reading the entire Feluda, Sherlock Holmes and 3 Investigators series, Well … mission accomplished for Feluda at least while I have quite some ground to cover on Sherlock and 3I. Guess I will complete them by end of 2012.   I have completed about 100 out of the targeted 125 stories of the Feluda, 3I and Sherlock Holmes stories. I also read a collection of 12 short stories titled '12 Red Herrings' by Jeffery Archer. I also read almost a dozen novels to keep some variety and bring in some change in reading genres. New authors tried and tested which include … Catherine Jinks & Devdutt Pattanaik … whi...

<Read this on FB … added my own thoughts to it too. Posted on my blog for future read and for you, who is reading it now> Before you can grow up, you must fall in love three times. Once, you must fall in love with your best friend, ruining your friendship forever. This will teach you who your true friends are, and the fine line between friendship and more. Once you must fall in love with someone you believe is perfect. You will learn that no one is perfect, and that you should never be treated as anything less than you deserve. And once, you must fall in love with someone that is exactly like you. This will teach you about who you are, and who you want to be. And when you're through with all that, you learn that the people who care about you the most are the ones that you hurt, and the ones that hurt you are the ones that needed you the most. But most of all, you learn that love is only a concept and is not something that can be defined, it is differen...

For years, I have been using Photoshop … BUT My skill level with PS hasn't changed much. I have stuck to the rudimentary things I knew and somehow never took enough efforts to learn more (this is in spite of the fact that I did find some material – pdf files and videos – for learning the advanced tricks of PS). One of the things I would like to put on my 2012 new year resolution things is learning a bit more of Photoshop. Want to do this so that we can take Arbit to the next level – in terms of its visual appeal etc. Want to do this for fun too … if I knew more of PS, I am sure I will find opportunities to use that skill somewhere; and I am talking of personal usage here. (And No ... I am not hinting at reducing my size/weight/girth/tummy in my photos)

Continued from December Reading … Part 1   Well, taking the December Reading post further, as the end of the year 2011 came near; I read some of the best of my 2011 reading along with my favorite. I had read DORK and Immortals of Meluha last year and had also read about these being trilogies with sequels to be expected in late 2011. The wait was over and I could get my hands on their sequels only by December.   17. 7 Secrets of Shiva by Devdutt Pattanaik This one is a very interesting book that I have reviewed independently in a separate blog post. I received this book for review from BlogAdda as part of their book review program. I had heard about the author from my best friend and was planning to pick up some of his books from my friend and start reading them in 2012. It was interesting to read a book with pictures; after a long long time. This book was half text and half pictures with every left hand side page of the book filled with pictures. That would be almost 10...

  The month of December began with a 'false start' but then I got back to the regulars and the going was smooth. The end was absolutely amazing with fabulous (much awaited) books being read and closing the month and the year with my favorite. There was a lot of travel actually. I spent practically only one week in Mumbai and the rest of the month in Dubai. Dubai gives me a lot of opportunities to read and hence this month has a pretty splendid reading score of 27. (This is the reason this post will be in 2 parts, since I will be writing about each of the 27 stories I read) Key achievement being the completion of Feluda volume after a dry spell of couple of months and 2 very green months of Nov and Dec … practically read the whole volume in less than 30 days.   1. The Deck by Catherine Jinks The intro read … "Meet Roanna Hagelburgh. Her husband is never at home. Her two younger children are always fighting. Her next-door neighbour is a thorn in her side. W...

  Just saw the promo of the new Feluda movie 'Royal Bengal Rohoshyo' ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiEw56_-pio I just have one thought ... Why is Feluda looking so OLD in the movie ... I mean, why choose an actor of that age group. Feluda was supposed to be a young sleuth and Topshe was supposed a teenager. Why don't indian film makers try to be as authentic as possible and stick to the original charachters.   I had a similar qualm with the new Sherlock Holmes movies. Sherlock Holmes was famous for his deduction and 'brein work'. The movie has been made into an action movie with Holmes himself getting involved in a lot of action. This is not the character Canon Doyle created. Also, both Sherlock and Watson don't look like the characters described in Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock has pretty sharp features and had his customary tweed jacket and cap ... Watson was more round and stout fellow. The movie has glamorized them. Made them slim a...

  Highlights of the year that was 2011 … 9 months continuous stay in Dubai and then 3 months caught 50-50 between Mumbai and Dubai with occasional visits to Pune too 8 international flights between Mumbai-Dubai (all between June and Dec) 14 movies seen in theatres; 4 of them being Premiere shows (all of them in Dubai)   120+ stories read – novels, novellas, short stories. Feluda completed. Complete collection of Sherlock Holmes & 3 Investigators in progress; some new authors read whom I will continue to read in 2012.    Lots of places visited in Dubai … in the first 4 months before summers began At the Top of Burj Khalifa – 360 degree view of Dubai city from 124 th floor Dolphin Show – Amazing is the word Desert Safari – Fun Fun Fun in the sand Abu Dhabi Tour – twice … Grand Mosque is truly amazing ! Para sailing experience – parachute flying being pulled by sped boat over the sea with a view of the fantastic dubai skyline Ski Dubai – snow park inside a m...

  Well, first things first. Wishing you a very very happy happy near to you ... Wishing you a year of hope, peace, happiness, fun, laughter, joy, love and more ...   This short post is just to share the name of the book that I have begun on the first day of the year. "Myth = Mithya" by Devdutt Pattanaik who explains the concepts and symbolisms of Hindu Mythology thereby giving us a deeper understanding of our own (Hindu) beliefs. I read the first few pages today morning and I am hooked !