The album has pictures taken by me mostly during my travels - of course, the ones I feature in are excluded from that description. The pictures are taken using either my Canon Powershot G5 camera or the 2 megapixel camera on my Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone.
I have just returned from a weekend trip. I planned to go to Salzburg but I ended up going to this place in Germany called the Neuschwanstein. On the face of it, it looks like one hell of a tongue twister. Just separate the syllables and understand the meaning NEW SWAN STEIN, stein means stone and it becomes easy. The swan was the favorite bird of King Ludwig the Second of Bavaria and he was obsessed with building castles, among other things. This is the most beautiful castle he built and arguably the most beautiful castle on Earth. There are a couple of other castles around but this castle, surrounded by beautiful lakes and the Alps, remains a symbol of fairy tales and the legends of the knights of yore.
Neuschwanstein Castle If the picture of the castle looks familiar to you, it would mean that you have been to Disneyland in California and have seen the Sleeping Beauty Castle there. The castle in Disneyland is built on the lines of Neuschwanstein castle. Personally the experience of watching this castle as you see in the picture stands shoulder to shoulder with the experience I felt when I watched the Taj Mahal, the snow-clad Kanchenjunga range and to a lesser extent, the Eiffel Tower. I wondered why Germany does not advertise this place aggressively as a symbol of their country's tourism. First they ought to call it by a simpler name and then make it a tourism symbol and I can imagine this place becoming one of the most sought after destinations in the world.
Caution: If you don’t like toilet humour and find it too crude and vulgar to your sensibilities, you can skip the following paragraph and proceed to the next. On the face of it how would the idea of being taken to a castle along the hill side in a horse-drawn carriage sound? For me the idea seemed very exotic and taking this
highly interesting and unforgettable ride made me reflect on the truth in that adage 'all that glitters is not gold'. Let me introduce you to the Farting Horses of Fussen. God knows what the bloody horses ate for breakfast but not less than a few minutes into the ride the horse behind whose ass I was posted started farting, to the thrill of the fellow sitting on the other corner of the seat and my consternation and horror. The stench was unbearable and adding to the misery was the embarrassment of the fellow sitting at the other end doubling up in cachinnations. Something to the effect of divine providence intervened to prove that that mills of the Gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine and taking inspiration from its colleague the second horse started off a series of flatulences and shat all over the place to the annoyance of the aforementioned thrilled-chap for he was seated behind the second horse. Revenge, I would like to say, smells like shit.
On the way I passed this place called Frankenstein which if folklore is
to be believed was the place that gave Marry Shelly the inspiration for
the atmosphere and the name of her book.
When I was near the Alps, I learnt from a friend that Alpenliebe means 'love for the Alps' and so I wondered when I was in Heidelberg if one could call the love for the Neckar River, Necrophilia.
Over the weekend, I experience for the first time in my life the marvels of the invention called the GPS. Just feed in the destination and keep driving.
I also saw that the face of a young girl parting with her lover is just the same all over the world. The sorrow in the eyes and the tragic smile on the face is same everywhere on earth. I shall never forget that face of the young girl standing on the platform bidding goodbye to her love.
This is my first attempt at posting a video on my weblog. I
struggled for a while to achieve it but finally figured out how to post videos.
Cutting to the chase, as the name suggests, the post has my list of
10 great movie monologues. I like them so much that I have learnt a few of them
by heart – notably the Contender speech by Marlon Brando and Samuel Jackson’s
Ezekiel 25:17 in Pulp Fiction – and the rest are on the way to be perfected. I
have the Ezekiel 25:17, the Good Will Hunting and the Superheroes monologue
from Kill Bill stuck on my workstation – Fight Club would be joining them one
of these days. A few of them give me goose flesh and well up tears of emotion
whenever I read them, listen to them or watch them. The famous ‘I am Maximus’
speech from Gladiator stands out for the sheer adrenaline rush it provides; the
King of Cool is at his quotable best when he gets biblical in Pulp Fiction; I
never fail to be moved to tears when I listen to Morgan Freeman uttering the
line ‘I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams’ in Shawshak
Redemption …
Well, this list is very much expandable because 10 is too
small a number taking into consideration the number of wonderful lines that
English movies have offered. I shall add more if I come across or get reminded
of more monologues that mean something to me.
The biggest trouble was to arrange the list; what comes at
#1, what comes at #2, what comes at #3 and so on and so fourth – the list is
definitely about the present and the order might slightly change if it were
another day.
Without any further ado let me present to you the lines and
videos. Read, Listen, Watch and Enjoy.
10. Goodfellas – As
far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster
Henry Hill: As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me... being a gangster was better than being president of the United States. Even before I went to the cabstand for an after-school job... I knew I wanted to be a part of them. It was there that I knew I belonged. To me, it meant being somebody... in a neighborhood full of nobodies. They weren't like anybody else. They did whatever they wanted. They parked in front of hydrants and never got a ticket. When they played cards all night... nobody ever called the cops.
The initial part of the video is a bit gory – please excuse
for it.
9. To Kill a
Mockingbird – The courtroom scene
I don't have the video for this. We have to make do with the link to the audio clip.
Tony Montana:What you lookin' at? You all a bunch of fuckin' assholes. You know why? You don't have the guts to be what you wanna be? You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fuckin' fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." So... what that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don't have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. The last time you gonna see a bad guy like this again, let me tell you. Come on. Make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy comin' through! Better get outta his way!
8. Gladiator - My
name is Maximus Decimus Meridius
My name is Maximus
Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix
Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a
murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this
life or the next.
8. Harvey - Nobody ever brings anything small into a bar
Harvey and I sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fella." Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers - soon we have friends. And they come over... and they sit with us... and they drink with us... and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that's envy, my dear. There's a little bit of envy in the best of us. That's too bad, isn't it?
7. Amadeus - It
seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God.
Salieri describes his rival Mozart’s music with great
passion all through the movie. F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri delivered one
of the greatest screen performances I have witnessed – it is sadly, I think,
also one of the most under-mentioned and under-discussed performances in
Cinema.
Salieri: Extraordinary!
On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse
- bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high
above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet
took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no
composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled
with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed
to me that I was hearing a voice of God.
Elsewhere he says,
Astounding! It was
actually beyond belief. These were first and only drafts of music yet they
showed no corrections of any kind. Not one. Do you realize what that meant?
He'd simply put down music already finished in his head. Page after page of it,
as if he was just taking dictation. And music finished as no music is ever
finished. Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one
phrase, and the structure would fall. It was clear to me. That sound I had
heard in the Archbishop's palace had been no accident. Here again was the very
voice of God! I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink-strokes at
an absolute, inimitable beauty.
I also love the last lines he says in the movie. That will
have a place in my list of best movie quotes.
I will speak for you,
Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am
their patron saint. Mediocrities everywhere... I absolve you... I absolve you...
I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you all.
6. Fight Club - We're
the middle children of history
It’s kind of funny. I think this movie has one of the most
surprising climaxes I have seen and I love these lines and a few others. But I
wouldn’t want to watch the movie once more. I don’t like the movie very much.
Tyler Durden: Man, I see
in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this
potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping
gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars
and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the
middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No
Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is
our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all
be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly
learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
I couldn’t find the video clip for this, so you have to
adjust with these bits of audio. If you find the video clip somewhere please
send me the link. Thank you.
I have a T-Shirt with the poster of Pulp Fiction - the
picture that has Samuel Jackson and John Travolta in black suits pointing out
their guns – on the front and Ezekiel 25:17 printed on the back. It is a gift
from a fellow Fiction fan and a friend.
Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel
25:17. The path of the righteous man is
beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil
men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the
weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper
and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great
vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my
brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.
I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass.
I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded
thing to say to a motherfucker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw
some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean
you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the
shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be
you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil
and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're
the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin'
real hard to be a shepherd.
Caution - The video is a bit long.
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
– Superhero Mythology
Simply put it, I would have loved to have thought of this
myself.
Bill: l'm quite keen on
comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology
surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not
a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology... The
mythology is not only great, it's unique. Now, a staple of the superhero
mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is
actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character
wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to
become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone.
Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman
wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.
3. On the Waterfront
- I coulda been a contender
This speech is considered one of the greatest movie
monologues and has been parodied and attempted several times in Cinema. In
Raging Bull, Robert De Niro pays a fine tribute to Brando in the scene where he practices
these lines in front of the mirror.
Terry: You don't
understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been
somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.
Watch the clip
2. Shawshank
Redemption – I Hope
As I mentioned before, I get teary-eyed when I come to the ‘I
hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams’ line. It is just
amazing. I hope you have watched this movie.
Red: I find I'm so excited,
I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the
excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey
whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope
to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has
been in my dreams. I hope.
1. Good Will Hunting
– The greatest lines of them all
Sean: So if I asked you
about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written.
Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him
and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you
can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually
stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you
about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites.
You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels
like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And
I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right,
"once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near
one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his
last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably
quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally
vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God
put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of
hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love
for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't
know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her
hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting
hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only
occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt
you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an
intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a
genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of
you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of
mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan right?
You think I know the
first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are,
because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't
give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from
you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who
you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport?
You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.
Isn't it stuff that goosefleshes are made of?
Do you think I missed something better? Remind me.
Do you like the list? What are your favorite movie
speeches/monologues? Tell me.
Siddy-Piddy Unlike Madhu-Dash which are two names this is just one name. The little fellow is 7 months old (Sep 2007) and is the youngest kid on the blog.
highly interesting and unforgettable ride made me reflect on the truth in that adage 'all that glitters is not gold'. Let me introduce you to the Farting Horses of Fussen. God knows what the bloody horses ate for breakfast but not less than a few minutes into the ride the horse behind whose ass I was posted started farting, to the thrill of the fellow sitting on the other corner of the seat and my consternation and horror. The stench was unbearable and adding to the misery was the embarrassment of the fellow sitting at the other end doubling up in cachinnations. Something to the effect of divine providence intervened to prove that that mills of the Gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine and taking inspiration from its colleague the second horse started off a series of flatulences and shat all over the place to the annoyance of the aforementioned thrilled-chap for he was seated behind the second horse. Revenge, I would like to say, smells like shit.
On the way I passed this place called Frankenstein which if folklore is
to be believed was the place that gave Marry Shelly the inspiration for
the atmosphere and the name of her book.
