An Actor's Lot...

...is unhappy.

The Hollywood celebrities have to contend with paparazzi, stalkers, lack of proper wear... you know the lot. The Bollywood celebrities also have a lot to worry about. From being a target of jokes (and Siddhuji) on TGILC, to getting (per)sued every time they appear on screen, off screen. From getting sued for doing their director's bidding to getting sued for appearing in public... And now even bloggers want their pound of flesh when they get bombarded with a song (ok, that was an unfortunate pun).

So my fellow bloggers, please spare a thought for our (not so) poor actor brethren, and leave them to do what they do best (i.e. give us crazy comments like, "...though there were various offers from people from around the world to write my autobiography...").


And please maintain two minutes of silence for my late lamented capacity for good jokes (Puns? Puns?? What next???)

Difference

Do you know what is the difference between good comedy and just comedy? Canned laughter...

Do you know what is the difference between canned laughter and "live" laughter? Two points:

First, canned laughter is same every time, which gets irritating after first few times. I mean, I don't think any person can laugh the same time after time after time.

And, most important point is, canned laughter sounds like you are pointing out to people watching that you want them to laugh at that point. It reminds me of the guy we know who could not tell a joke even if there was a loaded gun pointed at his head (I think he is still the same). We used to tell him to raise his hand after he finished telling the joke, so that we could laugh. I mean, I like to laugh at points I find funny, not when somebody does his "pop the can, hahaha" routine.

So, in summary, that's the difference between "Naya Office Office" and " Sports Night". And if I am sounding cranky, I have been working in a overheated library with outside temperature near 20C, while we were expecting a nice, cool thunderstorm today. Nothing bugs you like not having to take a forced break from work.

Anyways, "Sports Night" is great... Unfortunately, there are very few videos or promos on YouTube, so go get the episodes. It is a definite precursor to Studio 60, I am going to get after Aaron Sorkin's filmography (or televisionography, or whatever it is called).

(Type) Writer's Block

I want to write... I want to tell the people about a very good book series, and a very good (though old) TV serial. But, somehow last few days all I am doing is sit around and watch episodes of West Wing and Sports Night. The Office just came back on the tube after the Christmas break, and Studio 60 is on the break till 24 Jan, and I fear it might not finish the first season. I have the entire post in my head, but no wish to type anything.

In short, I am suffering from Typewriter's block (not Writer's because I have the post in my head).

So, please bear with me till I overcome the block (and no, it is not laziness).



P.S. The picture at the top remains there till my college starts or till I feel, whichever is later.

The Year of Sequels

The year has been a sequel year (as truly all the years in the calender are, but that's not what I meant).

There were direct sequels, like Hera Pheri II, Dhoom II and Munnabhai II (though the names were slightly different). In Hollywood we had Pirates of Carribean II, Saw III, Santa Claus III. Not to mention nth Superman movie, and nth Rocky movie.

Then there were remakes (which are let's say sequels of cast and crew of the original). Sholay (though it is yet to be made) and Casino Royale to name a few...

Last but not the least, there were titular sequels (nice term isn't it? I coined it), i.e. the movies which "sequelled" the name of the original. To give an example, in Bollywood "Main Hoon Na" became "Tum... Ho Na".

All in all, it seems it was A Good Year for Deja Vu (though apparently, both these movies tanked at box office)

A Bit of Christmas Cheer

UPDATE: Changed lables. Additions: None
Looks like people have started giving us Christmas presents early this year.

• Finally, J. K. Rowling announced the title for the seventh and (unfortunately) last Harry Potter book on her website (The Secret Door is open again, as you must have guessed). For all the interested people, it is: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
  Let the speculations, theories, discussions begin... (Oops, they have already...)


• Looks like some people were listening to me when I planned my post-mortal activities. Since Blogger allows posting by mail, I can even post my "final" post using this service, as well as other things in my list. A nice backup plan for the "envelope with my attorneys", I am sure.

As I said before, Studio 60 is shaping up to be a nice series. I don't know what it is about this part in the latest episode (where Matt tries to bring some Christmas cheer to the studio), but every time I watch the episode (and I have watched it at least thrice), I am helpless with laughter:

I am sure "Let's get rid of demented Santa" is not exactly in Christmas spirit, but even Santa laughs.


S.P. (a.k.a. Small Print): If you feel I am a bit weird in the last point, I am still a bit rubber-legged from my bicycle ride. But in Nov 2003, I came in third in intra-DC cycle race in Hyderabad after getting on cycle after around 1 year, so I am not exactly out of practise.