Artist: Pt. Jasraj
Genre(s):
Classical
Discography:
Tapasya, Vol.1 Pt. Jasraj
Year:
Tracks: 7
Fashion world bids farewell to Yves Saint Laurent
Monday, 30 June 2008
Pt. Jasraj
Artist: Pt. Jasraj
Genre(s):
Classical
Discography:
Tapasya, Vol.1 Pt. Jasraj
Year:
Tracks: 7
Fashion world bids farewell to Yves Saint Laurent
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
"The Book of Getting Even": Young man's tale fascinates, until he graduates
"The Book of Getting Even"
by Benjamin Taylor
Steerforth, 166 pp., $23.95
Benjamin Taylor's "The Book of Getting Even" is elegant and beautifully evoked, right down to the pediatrician — "the worst, the noisiest Nixon-lover in town" — who appears only in a couple of paragraphs. Set in the 1970s, "Book" follows brilliant, odd Gabriel Geismar, a kid with — literally — two left thumbs and a passion for mathematics, as he leaves his home in the South and heads for college in Philadelphia.
Gabriel is a rabbi's son who grows up in a New Orleans household ruled by his handsome, tyrannical father, who saves all his charm for strangers. At home, his tirades are awful but also funny and cartoonish. "He'd carry on in third person, like a sports hero or gangster: 'Tell a lie to Milton Geismar? You'll wish you hadn't!' "
On Gabriel's last night before leaving for college, he determinedly loses his virginity in a dim cubicle at a gay bathhouse, with eager Clarence Rappley, cold-heartedly described as a "king-sized cracker." After their brief encounter, Gabriel stills his racing mind with a foray into mathematics: "His mind veered to numbers, clean things, the cleanest indeed anywhere in or out of the world." It is a theme — the lifelong duel between mind and body — that resonates through the novel.
At Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, Gabriel meets the eccentric, irresistible brother-sister twins, Marghie and Daniel Hundert, who both fall in love with him. This strange, powerful triangle offers him everything he lacks: Danny and Marghie's parents are literate, worldly, opera-loving Hungarian émigrés — everything Gabriel's family isn't. Their father, to Gabriel's amazement, is a Nobel laureate. Gabriel quickly incorporates himself into the family.
This section, charting Gabriel's growing intoxication with the Hunderts, is the best in the book. The time and place are captured with aching perfection. But as the story moves on — Taylor divides it into sections taking place several years apart — it begins to come off the rails, largely because of Danny's disappearance from center stage.
An effortlessly charming college kid when we first meet him, Danny abruptly becomes an angry political activist — a transformation in tune with the times, but not one that's ever satisfactorily explained or explored. Like all 1970s activists worth their salt, Danny has a manifesto — his is the titular "Book of Getting Even." Unfortunately, it's unpersuasive, like the post-college sections of the novel. And while Taylor's story ultimately doesn't completely satisfy, his considerable gifts as a writer make it worthwhile.
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Monday, 23 June 2008
Jonas Brothers Act Out Their Wildest Fantasies - VIDEO
The Jonas Brothers act out their wildest movie role fantasies in the video for new single Burnin’ Up, with films such James Bond, Miami Vice and Karate Kid being re-enacted.
Youngest of the band Nick is first up with his 007 dream – He races in on a speedboat and beats a villain in a game of cards.
Next up it’s Joe’s turn and he dons a handlebar moustache, white suit and aviator shades for his Miami Vice role as he chases the bad guys.
Finally, eldest sibling Kevin indulges in some kung-fu action for his segment. After successfully karate chopping a plank of wood, he athletically beats a gang of enemies by spring-jumping into the air.
The band’s good friend Selena Gomez almost makes a cameo in the promo as the love interest of Nick. Should Miley Cyrus be jealous?
Catch Burnin’ Up in the clip below, and be sure to leave your thoughts about the video below.
Youngest of the band Nick is first up with his 007 dream – He races in on a speedboat and beats a villain in a game of cards.
Next up it’s Joe’s turn and he dons a handlebar moustache, white suit and aviator shades for his Miami Vice role as he chases the bad guys.
Finally, eldest sibling Kevin indulges in some kung-fu action for his segment. After successfully karate chopping a plank of wood, he athletically beats a gang of enemies by spring-jumping into the air.
The band’s good friend Selena Gomez almost makes a cameo in the promo as the love interest of Nick. Should Miley Cyrus be jealous?
Catch Burnin’ Up in the clip below, and be sure to leave your thoughts about the video below.
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Strong emotions follow Vancouver screening of oAir India 182"
VANCOUVER - Some still want answers. Others just want to move on.
There were strong and conflicting emotions by family members and people affected by the Air India Flight 182 bombing following the screening Saturday of a documentary that recounts the events leading up to the biggest terrorist attack in Canadian history.
"Air India 182," directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, tells the story of what happened on June 23, 1985, when a bomb exploded on the plane off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people onboard.
The documentary is based on factual information from court transcripts and wiretaps and includes re-enactments and intimate interviews.
Family members recount waving one last time to their loved ones who were about to board the plane. The woman airline clerk who checked in the luggage that was carrying the bomb admits that scene frequently replays in her memory in slow motion.
After the Vancouver screening on Saturday, many people who had lost family members in the bombing praised Gunnarsson for vividly showing the pain they've experienced for the last 23 years.
However, during a question and answer session following the film, one audience member asked why the filmmakers didn't do more investigative reporting since what was screened in the film was information that was already known.
"We never saw this as an investigative film, as journalism," said Gunnarsson, who was raised in B.C.
"We felt this is one of the major moments in modern Canadian history and it's never really been embraced as a part of Canadian history."
He said the film was also a way to give the victims in the attack "a voice and a name."
"Because death through terrorism is meaningless."
Another family member in the audience spoke up during the session, saying that after 23 years, it was time for people to move forward.
But for some who have ties to the historic event, that has been incredibly hard.
Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, who testified at the Air India inquiry and was in attendance at Saturday's screening, said some people are still trying to intimidate him for being critical of extremists.
The World Sikh Organization named Dosanjh in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against CBC regarding a documentary that featured an interview with him.
The lawsuit alleges the CBC documentary "Samosa Politics" by reporter Terry Milewski likened the Sikh separatist movement to terrorism and defamed members of Canada's Sikh community.
Some journalists who were at the screening and have closely followed the Air India trial said that they had also faced death threats and lawsuits.
Renee Saklikar lost her aunt and uncle in the bombing and was interviewed for the documentary, which she described as a skilled, multi-layered film that captures a major part of Canadian history.
"(The film) hopefully brings it home that sadly it's still an on-going story, it's not a closed story" she said.
"We do need to move on and we do move on...but it is psychologically implausible to just erase it."
"Air India 182" will air on CBC on June 22.
News from �The Canadian Press, 2008
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"Guru" falls short of comedy nirvana
The Love Guru
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After the "Austin Powers" trilogy, there was a sense that comedian Mike Myers had elevated his game. He evolved the series from slapdash skits into real movies that had connective tissue and continuing characters. "Love Guru" is a regressive step in the extreme.
Not only does the film stumble badly from one skit to another, but the skits themselves have too much dead air. Neither Myers nor a group of hesitant actors -- who seem more like an endless number of sidekicks than supporting players -- show much confidence in the material. They seem to deliver lines or perform bits so that they may quickly duck the rotten tomatoes surely headed their way.
Two film comedies go head to head this weekend, "Love Guru" and "Get Smart," a strategy that's anything but smart on the studios' part. But the real question is, which is the worst?
Quite possibly "Love Guru" will out-awful "Get Smart." Myers' name should ensure a respectable No. 2 finish, but all bets are off the following weekend.
The basic problem with "Love Guru," as it was for "Get Smart," is that the filmmakers never define the central joke. Myers plays Guru Pitka, the No. 2 Near-Eastern Self-Help Specialist. (Deepak Chopra is No. 1.) This inspires all sorts of spoofs of self-help mumbo jumbo, inane mantras, Bollywood dances and Beatles-era costumes. These almost get lost, though, amid gags involving urination and defecation, elephants, ice hockey and penis size. Not to mention Verne Troyer, the little person who played Mini-Me in two "Austin Powers" films, who here is the butt of endless size jokes as well.
Oddly, Myers entrusted his first film with a new character to a rookie director, Marco Schnabel, who directed second unit on all three "Austin Powers" films. Schnabel not only lacks visual flair and the ability to pull together a style to link the skits, but he is probably too young and inexperienced to help Myers edit himself. When, say, one in four gags hit with any force, there is a need for serious editing.
Guru Pitka is hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs owner (Jessica Alba) to reunite her star player (Romany Malco) with his wife (Meagan Good), who is shacked up with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (Justin Timberlake); on the eve of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, that turn of events has sent her player's game into the toilet. This tissue-thin plot gets interrupted for flashbacks to Pitka's guru classes at an Indian ashram by an exalted cross-eyed guru played by Ben Kingsley.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After the "Austin Powers" trilogy, there was a sense that comedian Mike Myers had elevated his game. He evolved the series from slapdash skits into real movies that had connective tissue and continuing characters. "Love Guru" is a regressive step in the extreme.
Not only does the film stumble badly from one skit to another, but the skits themselves have too much dead air. Neither Myers nor a group of hesitant actors -- who seem more like an endless number of sidekicks than supporting players -- show much confidence in the material. They seem to deliver lines or perform bits so that they may quickly duck the rotten tomatoes surely headed their way.
Two film comedies go head to head this weekend, "Love Guru" and "Get Smart," a strategy that's anything but smart on the studios' part. But the real question is, which is the worst?
Quite possibly "Love Guru" will out-awful "Get Smart." Myers' name should ensure a respectable No. 2 finish, but all bets are off the following weekend.
The basic problem with "Love Guru," as it was for "Get Smart," is that the filmmakers never define the central joke. Myers plays Guru Pitka, the No. 2 Near-Eastern Self-Help Specialist. (Deepak Chopra is No. 1.) This inspires all sorts of spoofs of self-help mumbo jumbo, inane mantras, Bollywood dances and Beatles-era costumes. These almost get lost, though, amid gags involving urination and defecation, elephants, ice hockey and penis size. Not to mention Verne Troyer, the little person who played Mini-Me in two "Austin Powers" films, who here is the butt of endless size jokes as well.
Oddly, Myers entrusted his first film with a new character to a rookie director, Marco Schnabel, who directed second unit on all three "Austin Powers" films. Schnabel not only lacks visual flair and the ability to pull together a style to link the skits, but he is probably too young and inexperienced to help Myers edit himself. When, say, one in four gags hit with any force, there is a need for serious editing.
Guru Pitka is hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs owner (Jessica Alba) to reunite her star player (Romany Malco) with his wife (Meagan Good), who is shacked up with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (Justin Timberlake); on the eve of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, that turn of events has sent her player's game into the toilet. This tissue-thin plot gets interrupted for flashbacks to Pitka's guru classes at an Indian ashram by an exalted cross-eyed guru played by Ben Kingsley.
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway smarten up as new Max, Agent 99
LAS VEGAS - Steve Carell did not necessarily see the Maxwell Smart in himself. Everyone else did, including co-star Anne Hathaway and the studio behind the big-screen "Get Smart," which simply called Carell in and offered him the job, no questions asked.
Carell takes on the title role created by Don Adams in the 1960s TV show about a brainy but bungling spy, with Hathaway playing his supremely capable partner, Agent 99, a part originated by Barbara Feldon.
Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry as a comic response to James Bond and other espionage adventures, "Get Smart" has endured in syndication, in follow-up movies and a short-lived second TV series in the 1990s.
Directed by Peter Segal, the new "Get Smart" chronicles Max's rise from crackerjack analyst to field agent for U.S. spy outfit Control, paired with dubious 99 as they try to foil a plot to distribute nukes to unstable governments.
The cast includes Dwayne Johnson as a star Control agent, Alan Arkin as the Chief and bad guy Terence Stamp, who played Kryptonian supervillain Zod and made Christopher Reeve kneel before him in "Superman II."
Carell and Hathaway chatted with The Associated Press, fondly recalling Feldon and the late Adams, discussing the show's longevity and sharing a funny Zod tale.
-
AP: People tend to be skeptical about TV adaptations, but when Steve was cast as Max, they kind of nodded and said, "Good choice." What do you and Don Adams have in common?
Carell: There's a bit of a physical resemblance that would be part of the equation. But aside from that, it's hard talking about him in the same breath as myself, because I don't aspire to be as good as he was. He's iconic and the way he did the character is iconic, and I don't have any pretence of trying to live up to that. If anything, I'm just trying to get an essence of what he did as opposed to any sort of imitation or channelling.
Hathaway: I thought it was perfect casting. He pays me to say this, but Steve's being very, very humble, because his take on Max is just spectacular. I think the reason Steve Carell seems to fit (glances at Carell and laughs) - I can't look at you while I'm saying this ...
Carell: I love it when you use my whole name.
Hathaway: The thing about Steve stepping into Don's shoes that makes sense is Steve's take on comedy. He can do the big, over-the-top, slightly absurd stuff really well, but he also does the real subtle moments really well. And the thing about Don Adams, he never played Maxwell Smart as a fumbling goon. He played him as a very serious man who didn't know he was in a comedy. And Steve's really good at doing that. A lot of his characters don't know that they're funny, and that's what makes him hilarious.
AP: Now the same question for Anne. What do you and Barbara Feldon have in common?
Hathaway: I appreciate this question now. It's a tough one. I'm so very different from Agent 99, and the bar that Barbara Feldon set and what Barbara Feldon's 99 meant to people, I'm never going to be able to touch that. The world was in a very different place then. We needed Agent 99. When Barbara Feldon played her, we needed to see a girl who could keep up with the boys, who was smart and who was sexy while being smart. She inspired so many women. When you look at the kind of women we aspire to be today, a lot of them are very similar to Barbara Feldon's 99. There's no way I'm going to be able to touch that kind of legacy, but I do think I have good chemistry with my co-star, so that's probably what I have in common with her.
Carell: Anne was the first person to come in and do a screen test. It was actually the first time I'd said any of the lines. And after she walked out of the room, we all looked at each other and knew it. It was almost as if everyone else could have gone home at that point, frankly. I'd seen a lot of Anne's work, but there was a sophistication to her and a slyness and sort of a coolness and a deadpan. And she is a great improviser, too. I tend to play around, especially during an audition, just to find different moments and beats, and she was not only there, following, but leading and sharing it.
Hathaway: I always tell people regarding improvising, Steve's an abstract expressionist and I finger paint. I'm a very good finger painter, but it's on a different level.
AP: Why has "Get Smart" endured so well?
Hathaway: It's sophisticated family humour. That's what the show had going for it. My parents watched it when they were kids, and then when it was on Nick at Nite in reruns, I would watch it with them when I was a kid. In addition to it just being so funny was the chemistry that Don Adams and Barbara Feldon had. You couldn't take your eyes off them. It was fun to watch them play. ... Don Adams, people don't remember that he was a fantastic actor. There's this one episode where he has to pretend he's gone bad and he has to convince 99 that he's gone bad, and he plays it so straight. It's a different Max. It's colder and harder and harsher. Don Adams was a really, really good straight actor.
Carell: Also, look at who created it. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. In terms of having longevity, "Young Frankenstein" is still one of my favourite movies. "The Producers," obviously. His stuff just holds up. For the most part, it really does. That's a huge element, the writing staff, if you look at the people involved.
Hathaway: Steve, you're such a nice person. I'm like, "It was the actors. The actors are what endured."
AP: The movie's more an action comedy than a spy spoof. Were you trying to avoid parodying spy flicks?
Carell: When I first started talking to Pete (Segal the director) about just tonally what the movie could potentially look like, I said, "What about a comedic 'Bourne Identity?"' You take the action in that and you make it a legitimate spy movie that's funny, as opposed to taking the cliches of spy movies and turning them on their heads. If the villains are like Terence Stamp, these guys are scary and actually have some threat to them. There's some sense of jeopardy. The comedy laid on top of that might resonate more.
Hathaway: There's a great story about Terence. He was switching hotels when we were shooting in Montreal. He just went downstairs and he couldn't find a taxi. He was standing around looking for a taxi and some guy just drove up and went, "Zod?" And he goes, "Yes." And the guy goes, "What are you doing in Montreal?" "I'm making a movie. Can you give me a ride?" And the guy goes, "Absolutely." So the guy drove him to his hotel.
AP: I hope the guy didn't make him say, "Kneel before Zod."
Carell: I'm sure he's had to say it to like, cash a check.
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Taylor Dayne - Dayne Ordered To Complete Anti-drink Course
Singer TAYLOR DAYNE has been ordered to attended a drink counselling course after pleading no contest to one charge of driving under the influence.
The Tell It To My Heart hitmaker was arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles in March (08) after she reportedly failed field sobriety tests.
On Monday (16Jun08), Dayne pleaded no contest and was sentence to two years' summary probation and ordered her to complete a Mothers Against Drunk Driving programme.
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Charlie Sheen: Denise Richards Can Sue Me
The public battle between ex-partners Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards stepped up a notch on Wednesday (May 21) following her appearance on the U.S. 'Today' show, where she discussed a reported email about Sheen's sperm.NBC News obtained an email that was allegedly sent from Richards to Brooke Mueller, Sheens fiancee, requesting a sperm donation from her ex-husband."That email is not legitimate," Richards explains, saying she was with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora at the time the email was reportedly sent. "If I wanted anybody's sperm, I'd have asked for Richie's."Sheen retaliated via a statement saying, "Her claims that her e-mail has been fabricated or altered in any way to create this story are absurd. The mere fact the she continues to publicly discuss and harass both Brooke and me three years after our separation which, for the record is longer than the actual length of the marriage, is beyond desperate and speaks volumes."He adds, ""I will no longer sit back and be egregiously painted as a liar. If any proof can be established that these are not in fact her words and statements verbatim, I openly invite her and would even encourage Ms. Richards to sue me in a court of law."Photo courtesy of ABC.
Craig Morgan
Artist: Craig Morgan
Genre(s):
Pop
Country
Discography:
Little Bit of Life
Year: 2006
Tracks: 11
My Kind of Livin'
Year: 2005
Tracks: 12
I Love It
Year: 2003
Tracks: 11
Singer/songwriter Craig Morgan was an uS Army brat ahead he opted for a life history in music. Born and raised in Nashville, Morgan was already a land euphony fan with dreams of playing guitar and making it large. But ahead his melodious dreams could suit reality, Morgan fatigued time service in the U.S. Army, where he had a identical good life history and achieved high honors during peace and wartime. It was too during this time that Morgan whetted his guitar-playing styles to do for military personnel whenever he could. Such mania lED to a handle with Atlantic and a blot out of the service. His self-titled debut was released in May 2000. His future three albums, 2002's I Love It, 2005's My Kind of Livin', and 2006's Little Bit of Life, all appeared on Broken Bow Records.
Queens Of The Stone Age man joins UNKLE on new album
Mac Dre and Jay Tee
Artist: Mac Dre and Jay Tee
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Eveybody Aint Able
Year: 2007
Tracks: 17
Gorilla Zoe
Murray's Wife's Drunken Brush With The Law
Police were called to Bill Murray's home in March after his estranged wife got drunk and became "physical" with their children, according to police reports. Jennifer Butler Murray filed for divorce last month , accusing her husband of almost 11 years of domestic abuse, drug addiction and infidelity. But police near their home in Charlston, South Carolina were called out twice in one day in March , while Murray was in California. According to police documents obtained by the New York Post, cops first visited the family home after neighbours had heard Butler Murray drunkenly shouting at her children. The attending officer writes, "I spoke with her and advised her of the complaint. The w/f (white female) seemed to be very impaired and didn't want me on her property any more, she slammed the door and I left the residence." Later the same day another neighbour called the police, after two of Butler Murray's kids had run to her house asking for help, because their mother was drunk. The police report continues, "I then had the complainant meet me at the police station to talk with the juveniles. They informed me that their mother had been drinking heavily and had (become) physical with them." Butler Murray's lawyer has refused to comment to the Post about the reports. Murray and Butler Murray have four sons: Caleb, Jackson, Cooper, and Lincoln, all aged between 14 and six.
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Beatles gold-plated ukulele up for auction
A ukulele formerly owned by The Beatles' George Harrison and 1950s star George Formby is being auctioned in London.
The gold-plated Dallas E Banjolele was bought by Harrison at auction and sold back to the Formby family well after the music hall star's death in 1961.
The instrument is being sold with two other instruments owned by Formby, including a Dallas C Banjolele and an Abbott 'Monarch' - also known as a 'Little Strad' - which Formby used on his most famous tune 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.
According to Uncut.co.uk, the gold-plated banjolele is expected to fetch �20,000-�35,000, the Dallas C Banjolele is expected to sell for �25,000-�45,000 and the Abbott 'Monarch' is estimated to make �20,000-�30,000.
George Harrison was a long-time fan of Formby's mix of northern wit and music hall comedy songs.
The gold-plated Dallas E Banjolele was bought by Harrison at auction and sold back to the Formby family well after the music hall star's death in 1961.
The instrument is being sold with two other instruments owned by Formby, including a Dallas C Banjolele and an Abbott 'Monarch' - also known as a 'Little Strad' - which Formby used on his most famous tune 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.
According to Uncut.co.uk, the gold-plated banjolele is expected to fetch �20,000-�35,000, the Dallas C Banjolele is expected to sell for �25,000-�45,000 and the Abbott 'Monarch' is estimated to make �20,000-�30,000.
George Harrison was a long-time fan of Formby's mix of northern wit and music hall comedy songs.
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