Clash of the Titans 3D: A Greek Fail?

3D movies have become the buzzword now. Of course, after the huge success of Avatar, all over the world.
But can high tech 3D effects hide a lame story treatment? All of us know the answer, I guess.
Yesterday saw me watching the movie ‘The Clash of the Titans 3D’ in PVR Select City mall, Delhi. And I came out disappointed.
Partly because most of the frames in the movie were out of focus (the reason might be faulty 3D specs provided, or more probably, the visual clutter in every single action frame to such a degree that you end up not being able to decide which portion of the screen you should be watching, and which one should be left unattended…)
I understand that this movie is a remake of the 1981 flick with the same name. But I fail to understand why it continues to make the same mistake that the last one did. A misnomer titling of an otherwise good story.
Clash of the titans. Hmmm. As far as I know, Titans were the elder greek Gods. And the battle of the Titans is actually used to refer to the battle between the Titans and the Olympians (The newer Gods, led by Zeus). Zeus won, and overpowered the Titans, hence establishing a paradigm shift in the greek theology.
That’s what the facts say. Now, this movie is all about the fight of Persius (who likes to call himself a man, but actually is a demi-God) and the Olympian God of the Underworld, Hades ( the brother of Zeus). There are no titans in distant sight, leave alone a ‘clash’ of them. Then why the title? :P
Coming to the treatment of the story, well, Sabotage with the scriptures is the first thing that comes to my mind. The characters of ancient greek mythology have been heavily played with.Ancient story intentionally meandered to suit the cinematic twists and turns.
Here are some examples:
            Zeus’s statue at Olympia:                                        Zeus as seen in Clash of the Titans ‘10 
                                                 
I mean, seriously, what’s with all this metal 12 pack abs?? Zeus’s character looks the funniest in the entire movie. Not only appearances, even facts have been tampered with. The father of one character in the actual story is shown as the husband of the same in the movie. The witches forecast excitingly in the movie about the death of the protagonist, while in the end he being given a girl all reincarnated just to make out with, and no effort whatsoever made to show how or why he was able to change his destiny…
We being Indians, should not complain at all, given the bottomline of the Indian cinema: Anything can happen, dude; Its a movie afterall.
But Hollywood going the Bollywood way? That sucked. Indeed.
The visual effects are good at some places. The fight sequences with the scorpions are captivating. And Io (Gemma Arterton) has a divine beauty. ( On an entirely different note, Gemma is gonna play the role of Princess Tamina, the Love interest of Prince Dastan in the upcoming movie, Prince of Persia… Can’t wait to see that flick :D )
Coming back to TCOTT, the worst part was the end, when Zeus, laughing sheepishly, reincarnates Io and gifts her to Persius, saying, “You are a God, afterall!” And Perseus can do nothing but grin in return.
That made the entire movie look like a spoof to me. Wait, even the spoof of 300 (Meet the spartans) was wayyyyy wayyyyy better than this boring clash of the self proclaimed titans.
I regret my bucks spent in the theatre. 3/10. Disappointingly Ungodly movie. Watch it only if you have nothing better to do this summer.
Or save your money for Kites. The english one. Barbara looks better in that. :)

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Some FOSS To Increase Your Accessibility

For those who love FOSS(Free and Open Source Software), I am bringing some reasons to rejoice. I have shortlisted a bunch of my favorite freewares which, according to me, will increase your accessibility on a computer. Those already rejoicing can carry on their good work; and those who like the gates and windows in their houses/offices; you have few reasons to rejoice.

Suggestions and demands for software, other than those listed are most welcome. 

• MULTIMEDIA
  
  • K-Lite Codec Pack (Plays all kindda media using Media player classic, after you program it.)
  • VLC Player
  • Winamp
  • Media Coder
  • Super/Any/Total (All in one video, audio converter)
• CD/DVD
  
  • ImgBurn
  • Daemon Tools Lite
  • Isobuster Free
• GRAPHICS
  
  • FastStone Capture v5.3 (last free version)
  • IrfanView
• INTERNET
  
  • Google Chrome (Oh yes!)
  • Firefox
  • Free Download Manager
  • Download Accelerator Plus
  • Filezilla
  • uTorrent
• SYSTEM UTILITIES/TWEAKING
  
  • CCleaner
  • Defraggler
  • Glary Utilities Lite/XDN Tweaker
  • Revo Uninstaller (Basically unnecessary)
  • Treesize Free(a free disk space manager for Windows)
• SECURITY
  
  • Avira Antivir Personal
  • Comodo Firewall Free
  • Spybot Search & Destroy
• MISC
  
  • 7Zip
  • WinRar Free
  • Foxit Reader(Pdf viewer)
  • Adobe Reader(always keep around)
  • OpenOffice
  • IOBit Gamebooster(fixes lagging of high end games by closing all unnecessary apps to focus all PC resources on the game)

All the above listed FOSS can be downloaded from: www.sourceforge.net  www.snapfiles.com  www.filehippo.com
And now, the shocker  open all the gates and windows to rejoice!
Five free software from Microsoft :

• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Bing Maps
• Windows Live package(Other than Writer and messenger, even includes a family safety! Have kids? Then you are good to go)
• Process Explorer
• Paint.NET(excellent graphic tool, not technically a MS product but mentored by it.)

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The graceful nine yards

Saree originates from the Prakrit word "Sattika" . While ancient scriptures suggest the tradition of draping Women[considered to be embodiment of power and divinity] in something as exquisite and auspicious, there is another view also.
According to natyashastra, the midriff is left bare while wearing a saree because the naval area is supposed to be source of life, creativity and positive energy. Hence follows the silhouette.
Every Indian has seen women in their family gracefully attiring themselves in Saree. The world of wefts, folds, patterns, texture and wearing styles which is 108 to be precise is a splendid thing to know. The modern ‘urban’ style of draping the garment was first adopted and popularised by Rabindranath Tagore’s sister-in-law. Saree has given a niche' identity to Indian fashion industry from the times immemorial. While traditionally Indian saree is worn on all formal and special occasions,the wearer finds a unique glory in wrapping up in it.
Their are innumerable types of it popularized according to various regions where they are made-
Northern styles

Banarasi silk saree from UP-wherein real gold,silver and bronze threads are used to adorn the most exquisite floral and geometrical patterns. Shalu saree from UP also comes under this category. The brocade work is a thing to preserve from one generation to another.
Western styles
Paithani – Maharashtra , Bandhani – Gujarat and Rajasthan .The bandhani print is now famous world wide , Kota doria Rajasthan, Lugade – Maharashtra ,Patola – Gujarat
Central stylesChanderi – Madhya Pradesh,Maheshwari – Madhya Pradesh, Kosa silk – Chattisgarh
Eastern Style
Tussar Silk – Bhagalpur area in Bihar is a hub of fine soft silk higly acclaimed all over ,Tangail cotton – Bangladesh,Jamdani – Bangladesh,Dhakai Benarasi –Bangladesh,Rajshahi Silk – Bangladesh,Mooga silk – Assam,Tant famous Bengali cotton – Shantipur. The village Shantipur is also a cradle of learning due to Shantiniketan-vishwabharti university in West Bengal,Dhaniakhali cotton – West Bengal,Murshidabad silk – West Bengal
Baluchari silk – West Bengal,Sambalpuri silk – Orissa ,Kotki (from Cuttack) – Orissa
Ikkat (from Orissa)
Southern styles
Kanchipuram (locally called Kanjivaram) – Tamil Nadu ,Coimbatore – Tamil Nadu,Chinnalapatti – Tamil Nadu,Chettinad – Tamil Nadu,Madurai – Tamil Nadu ,Arani – Tamil Nadu,Pochampally – Andhra Pradesh ,Venkatagiri – Andhra Pradesh,Gadwal – Andhra Pradesh,Guntur – Andhra Pradesh,Narayanpet – Andhra Pradesh,Mangalagiri – Andhra Pradesh,Balarampuram – KeralaMysore Silk – Karnataka,Ilkal saree – Karnataka .

Here’s the bottom line: whether you are an everyday wearer or a special-occasion wearer, or even someone who sees the sari as a work of tactile art, It is special for all!
It is something that India has given as an input to the world in terms of fashion. Where else will you find so much emotions,drama, flow, gracefulness and sophistication all entwined into one piece of garment simultaneously?

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A Contrast that haunts.

                     

No Words.

Pic 1: A child with an empty container in one of the ‘kachhra-khanas’ of Uttar Pradesh.

Pic 2: ‘Behen’ Mayawati being honored with a garland worth 5 crores of 1000 denomination Indian currency notes.

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Distressed aesthetics

Notice the distressed tattered denim which is making a comeback dynamically. Once upon a time youngsters wearing such stuffs were considered cynics and rebels. Brands like Levis, Diesel, Guess etc. made a huge profit by in cashing this uber young tendency of 'break free'. To break -then prevalent laws of decent clothing and carving a different identity was what governed youngster's choice in tattered distressed garment/outfits. This FAD continued for so long that it was given a status of a different style trend altogether. Initially what seemed to be an outlandish change, soon caught attention of not only teenagers but also grown ups. I am excluding decent blue denim jeans and white shirt combination from this category because that counts in classic evergreen fashion. It has been for so long within the fashion circles that fashionistas have almost stopped considering it an article of style. it is a basic necessity which every one has in the closet.

Coming back again to the denim outfitters, Jeans that was a casual clothing for daily wear is made to look extra ordinary and exaggerated by tattering it.
So the next time you see a torn pair of jeans don't start looking for sewing needle and thread to stitch it back. Instead, include one in your summer wardrobe . Go shopping! :)

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To My Writer Friends

Windows Live Writer 2009, yes, this application had everything to seek my attention the last week, when I accidentally ended up to the writer’s zone of Windows Live. Don’t read this if you are on a platform other than windows, it will waste your time. Windows users like me, generally don’t care to use applications provided by Microsoft. Reason-- Money, honey; I am quite a fan of FOSS. We easily get similar identical software over the net for free. I just don’t get Microsoft’s policy of pirated license. Okay, enough bragging. Lets get to the point.

In case you are unfamiliar with Writer of which the chances are quite high, allow me to do a little introduction. As the name suggests, it is a writing tool for windows users and unlike other Microsoft products, it’s free. Writing tool? No, I don’t mean Word! Writer provides you a platform to writer over your blogs/websites, offline--Windows Live, Wordpress, Blogger, Live Journal, TypePad, and many more. The 2008 edition had minimal functionalities but the 2009 release is cool, in every sense of word. You write from your desktop offline and publish to your blog on one push of button; of course after connecting to the internet. Not just that, you can add photos/albums, hyperlink, table, maps, and video(s) on just one push. And it has more. You can set/add categories, time and date, add tags, save draft and what not! Yes, no need to go to your dashboard. All you have to do is, to set up your blog in writer by entering your username, password, blog url and you are done. It downloads the theme of your blog in no time and you start blogging straight from your desktop. So, it simplifies blogging.

Full Feature List

• New border treatments (including Instant Photo)
• Crop and tilt photos
• Insert multiple photos
• Toolbar alignment commands enabled for images
• Insert and upload Windows Live photo albums
• Insert and publish video to YouTube
• Additional spell checking languages: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, English (Australia), Estonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish, and Ukrainian
• Server-side tagging (for supported blogs)
• Type-down filtering in the Open dialog
• Twitter, Digg and Flickr Plug-ins
• Improved blog account setup
• Lightbox and Windows Live Spaces inline preview support
• Improved category control: adding categories, type-down filtering
• Tabbed view switching
• AutoLink glossary
• Smart quotes/typographic characters
• Word count
• Support for bidirectional languages (like Hebrew and Arabic)
• Tabs for view switching
• Beautiful look and feel

The Good.

Let me tell you what I like most about this tool. I have been using Wordpress since long forget that I am writing on blogger now and I always wanted to customize my font style at my blog, but wordpress allows you limited customizations. Again, Money, Honey. But guess what, Writer provides you all the fonts that you have installed on your computer to use on your blog and infinite number of customizations. Unlike the boring dash boards of blogs, where you are bound to write in a visual box, Writer downloads the layout of your blog and you actually write on your blog page, plus you can always see the instant preview of your post which is integrated in an inline tab; again the one push thing comes into action and, and, and, for those who like html editing while writing, there is a ‘source’ tab also integrated inline and shows your html in twinkling of eyes. It also gives you an option to publish your post as a draft to your blog and do online editing.

The killer feature of this tool is that, you can add as many blogs as you want, write on them at the same time by instant switching from one to another.

The Interface.

Like every Microsoft product, it’s quite user friendly. In one window, you have every tab to comfort you, and also, it allows you to opt for multiple windows for different blogs. It’s very light. There is a side bar, which is basically useless, because the utilities on the sidebar are also present on the task pane. You can always remove the side bar. The feel is awesome. The light blue menu bar is nice and you can always change it’s color according to your mood. You can add plug-ins from windows gallery to suit your needs but that might ruin the light experience.

The Bad.

The major drawback of Writer is that you can not add pages to your blog using writer, it only gives you an option to create new posts. Repetitive menus in the interface irritate. I mean, the menu options on the menu bar under different menus are the same ones on the task pane and the side bar. As you publish your post, it doesn’t appear publicly until you update it on your blog; this happens with Wordpress. Though works flawless with Live space. On other blogs, I am yet to figure. Another thing that is bothering me is the preview with blogger, it’s showing a comment and Shivi’s name as the author of this post. Though preview works fine with all other blogs.

The Conclusion.

I will give a Seven out of Ten to this product. Try it and tell me what do you think of it. You can download it here for free. For my Linux and Mac friends, I will find something like this for you and review it, not accidently though.

Anyway, talking so much about windows and Microsoft reminds me of Office. Did you guys try MS Office Beta 2010? Found anything new? Okay, I am not a MS fangirlboy. :)

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Patch Up!

This season is going to witness patch works as a major trend. Not only is this a picturesque trend due to possibility of seeing ample joyous colors , but also because it saves material while construction.

The number of panels/patches you have in your outfit, the scope of utilizing waste area of the fabric also increases[ well that may be from a designer's view because we believe in cost cutting] ,yet present trend supports our effort. :)

Seeing this in another perspective-

Biggest problems in our lives can be solved if we try and break it in small pieces and then solve it. Patching up can heal wounds effectively!

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