Movie Review: The Martian

I'm a Space Pirate!

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Matt Damon (I love him in everything)
               Jessica Chastain        
               (Interstellar's McConaughey's daughter)
               Kristen Wiig (my SNL star)
               Kate Mara (House of Cards' Zoe Barns)
               Sean Bean (The Ned Stark)
               Sebastian Stan (whom I confused with Robb Stark)
               and many more...

Genre: Science Fiction

Recommended For: Matt Damon lovers like me

The Gist: Due to a severe storm on Mars, NASA's astronauts are forced to leave the Red Planet, leaving behind a crew member Mark Watney (played by Damon) they believe is dead. How Mark spends his time there and what NASA and other Earthlings do about it is what the movie is about.

-ve points: Towards the end, a launch vehicle has to be designed such that it is 5000 tonnes lighter (or some other figure like this). This requires losing some parts of the vehicle like the seats, a few machine attachments, the windows (yeah!) and the top of the ship (get this!). What they do use as a substitute is something I can't digest! (not sure if scientifically the new material makes sense, but it defies my common sense)

+ve points: The movie did not leave me at any point being hopeless or sad like Gravity or Interstellar (both awesome movies) The Martian takes the adversities with a pinch of salt and uses his brain to come up with solutions that are so simple they are elegant!

All the greatest brains of earth, literally all of them, are trying to solve my problem and the greatest solution that they have come up with is- drill a hole.

My Verdict: Watch it.

My decision: To read the book "The Martian" from which the film has been adapted. My friends say the movie is good, but the book is way better.

TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 3

Episode: 3
Title: The Bachelor Party Corrosion

The Gist: Men 'kidnap' Leonard to his bachelor's trip and the women decide to avoid strippers' club and inform their families of their relationship statuses.

Cool stuff: 

• Men drive off to Mexico for the bachelor's trip in Sheldon's "personal favorite physicist" Richard Feynman's van.
• The science that the guys put in on the flat tyre is as always innovative. The best one- 

"We will, we will, Percussive Shock you".

• Sheldon's eidetic memory and it's curse; him singing like crazy!

Highlights:

• Penny's hair looks absolute delight.
• Amy

1. broke up with Sheldon
2. pierced her ears, and
3. made the girls eat penis cookies

• Leonard v/s Penny: worst weekend- Leonard wins

I'm a Slave

I'm a slave. Technology is my master. But my master has left me alone, in shackles. I'm tethered to the remains of my phone and laptop, and can't help but cling to memories.

My phone, just an year old toddler, had never troubled me. It was a good baby. I was a careless guardian. While rushing up the 96 stairs to my classroom, I fell. A regular affair for me. But this time, I didn't get bruised at all. My phone's screen got the scars. All the doctors- small, unorganized retailers to big service centers- all suggested a surgery. Replace the entire LCD, they said.

I contained my grief, and continued using the phone, now for bare minimum phone calls. FYI, everything was working, the touch, the apps, the widgets, all ok. But looking at the broken screen shattered my heart into as many pieces.

Anyway, yesterday, after 2-3 hours of working on my laptop, and a 20 minute sleep, my laptop contracted a skin disease too. Its screen got a patch. Still an infant, I couldn't believe my laptop's bad luck. I lulled it to sleep and once again, tried to console myself. It's ok, tech babies are prone to mild hiccups, their life expectancy is short anyway. I believed time would nurse them back to health.

Meanwhile, all my friends tried to cheer me up. My roomie prepared coffee, my neighbors ordered pizza and engaged in gossip and I tried reading Wodehouse.

Today, the laptop repair guy said replace the LCD.

So I had two tech kids, both de-faced. I could sense myself welling up. Of-course proper medication- repair and warranty maintenance-would bring them back to life. Obviously, my life without them was simpler but still rocking. And there are so many more books on my shelf.... but with all my work data stored in these two babies' brains, I am a mere slave.

And this post was brought to you by my dear roommate's laptop, a generous loan. 

TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 1-2

Episode: 1

Title: The Matrimonial Momentum

The Gist: Season 9 starts a few hours later than when season 8 ended. All the trailers and promos showed Leonard and Penny getting married, so no spoilers there. Parallely, Sheldon and Amy are broken up and 'coping' with it.

-ve points: After raising the bar with season 8 finale, the ninth season's beginning seems lacklustre. It feels like you are watching all the trailers put together, with nothing extra.

+ve points: The Shamy track is fun. Add to it, Stuart's creepy attempts of consoling a sad Amy (and potentially Penny)

My Say: Maybe it is smart on TBBT's part to not match the expectations of the previous season. This episode leaves you wanting more, as clearly Leonard's past and Sheldon's present need to be explored.
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Episode: 2
Title: The Separation Oscillation

The Gist: Episode 2 does the trick. It starts with a Sheldon-lip-lock-shock. It ends with Sheldon's goofy self confidence that he's "gonna get this girl (Amy) back".

+ve points: 

• The start of this episode more than compensates for the previous episode. 
• The TBBT usuals: "Howard-Raj relationship" and "Fun with Flags" add to laugh
• A glimpse from Leonard's past

My Say: A typical TBBT episode that tickles your ribs.

Movie Review: The Intern

From phonebook to Facebook

Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro
Genre: Comedy
Recommended for: Feel Good

The Gist:
Benjamin Whittacker (De Niro), a 70 year old much retired and much widowed man starts as an intern at an online fashion website. He works for Jules Ostin (Hathaway), the founder of this ecommerce startup. The movie revolves around this.

Some picks:

• Ben Whittacker is handsome, evident to the audience and to himself from all the attention he gets from the ladies. Add to it charms and chivalry, gentlemanly attire and enjoyment of new experiences (professional and personal). He's the Grand-dady Cool!

• Above The Fit gives a glimpse of a startup. "All-Cas", same floor, no cubicles culture. Work pressure- enormous. Staff bubbling with enthusiasm, founder leading a sleepless, foodless life, company grappling with customer service, delivery and VCs' issues. Also how you can have all the fancy degrees from big colleges and still don't get recognized at work.

• The Internship:

1. Ben- just like me- works for the boss and waits for an email that never seems to come. Waiting for work when all the other interns have started can be both fun and frustrating.
2. One of the guys gets to deliver an order for Jay Z and Beyonce. They are all 'psyched'. It's like you don't know what will happen at the end of the internship. You may or may not get hired. But your project gets you entry into a 5-Star. Or takes you across international waters. Unicorns and rainbows.
3. Sharing a table builds friendship. Ben and the boys gell well and share all the fun moments: the ladies and how to pick 'em up, drinks and doing bizzare stuff for your boss and fist-bumps. The guys help out Ben with things like operating a laptop and he teaches them all about dapper suits and vintage briefcases.

• The generation gap-it's sweet. How Jules helps Ben- the man with a 40 year old career in phonebook printing company- to join Facebook.  The self-made entreprenuer and the experienced ex-VP. While the boss is constantly texting, skyping and talking on the phone, her intern still sets alarm on his alarm clock. The guys wear crazy tees and jeans and the old intern loves to don a suit and shave everyday. 

• The work-life (im)balance

• Tai Chi- martial arts for longevity. 

Ambition: yay or nay?

"Why do you go home so often? Yes it's nearby, but why do you go all the time?"
"Whenever there's a holiday, you head to your uncle's place."
"You read gossip and fashion magazines?! MBA students have time to read these things too?"
"Are you not participating in any case study? Job kab milegi?"
"Students are into start-ups? Kuch entrepreneurship tu bhi kar.. Any business plan?"
- things I'm accused of and questioned about. Sometimes I wonder am I the right kind of MBA grad student? I do participate in some competitions and try to know the world. But what I can't do is give up my day and night and food and ethics. I try to contain my ambition. Aim high but not too far away in the sky. Is that wrong?

I am twenty two. Most of my friends are working. Some of my friends are pursuing higher education: a few technically inclined ones are doing M.Tech, Science and/or foreign university- enthusiasts are abroad for M.S. and many are pursuing MBA like I am.
All of them are smart. Most of them funny. Many are intelligent. Some talented. A few brave about life choices.
Everyone is deceptive. Not all have much figured out, but all are confident. There are those who are not only sure of themselves, but also make sure others aren't. And then some are too cool to think too much. They just save their charm for the right moment and remain passive and "chilled out" for rest of the time.
Five years ago, I was in class XII and that in India means Board Exams followed by Entrance Exams. I knew I'm good at academics but I knew I can't slog. I ate, slept and watched a lot of TV- which helped me remain sane. I appeared for two exams- didn't clear one of them and did well in the other. In the hindsight, limited ambition helped me enjoy the toughest year in a student's life. College? I went to an NIT. Pretty neat!
Two years ago I was in the final year of engineering and decided to give CAT a shot. Herd mentality? Maybe. I did appear for oncampus placements for a few days, because normally I'm a risk averse person. But somewhere in between,I decided to focus only on belling this cat and not suiting up for the interviews. Risk taken. Return? I got a decent score, call from some decent institutes and finally admit into a good college. That right there was pretty ambitious, I believe.
Last year during internship program, till I didn't get an offer, I had a fractured toe and a bruised ego. One day, I decided to just take a break and spend the night at my cousin's place. The next morning I got my plaster off and following that I got an interview call. It wasn't a company in my dream league. It wasn't a company I knew much about either. After seeing many rejects, ambition had taken a backseat. Regrown toe did the job of  injecting happiness. So I gave an interview sans ambition and voila- I cracked it. The company? It is top in its industry and gave me paycheck for having fun for two months.
It is true hard work pays off. Risks precede returns. Being fit and at peace can help win the game. What remains unclear is ambition: yay or nay?

Naya Daur

Parents complain kids don't have a reading habit, while enjoying the spoils of a Kindle.
I may be fed up with the number of WhatsApp groups that spring up like mushrooms in rains; but mummy enthusiastically has reunions with batch of '77 via WhatsApp.
Soundcloud is my chitrahar; Big Basket my sabji-mandi.
I wear American Eagle tee, and like 'Make In India' posts on Facebook.
Ma doesn't have to wait for National Holidays and tune to Doordarshan, she just YouTubes Roja.
Trips to Shani Bazaar are a thing of past. Now Rakhi shopping will be done on Ferns and Petals.
Naya Daur.