February 4, 2012 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

Posted on February 4, 2012January 19, 2013 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

Ladies v. Ricky Bahl, 2011

If you want your money’s worth– or your time, for that matter– Ladies v. Ricky Bahl guarantees satisfaction on both counts. Super-energy from all the actors, especially Dimple Chadda, the nouveau riche girl from Delhi who has her priorities right with her cleavage-shevage. The other two women are also very believable and complement the rest of the team very well. But the two that steal the show are without a doubt the winning combination of Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, the Band-Bajaa duo.

As the consummate conman, Singh spares nothing to show his versatility with the ladies and their gullible families, and his charms include the frequent display of his sculpted abs– on the beaches of Goa, for good measure. Ms. Sharma is a very talented young woman, and as I’d predicted a year ago, she is certainly on her way to the top of Bollywood’s heroines.

A very entertaining story–albeit a little predictable–is what’s in store. Just the kind of fun Bollywood masala movie you want for a Friday night!

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

Prayer Changes Whom?

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.

– Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Posted on February 4, 2012January 19, 2013 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

“History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.” This is the seemingly pedantic definition provided by Adrian, one of the protagonists’ in this very slim book of a novel by Julian Barnes, last year’s winner of the Man Booker prize. When that definition of history is read a few times over, one begins to fully understand the import and impact of each word in that framed sentence– and one can’t begin to wonder if that mightn’t be the most perfect way to describe the concept of history, especially one’s personal history.

Which is what this story is all about. When memory is imperfect, documentation is equally imperfect. And yet, from what is left of memory, one may piece together a story that may or may not have the integrity of the facts, but when corroborated by one’s peers, the truth will slowly but surely reveal itself.

With a minimal plot and a most ordinary rendering of the reflections of his life, Barnes creates a most compelling and suspenseful story. Told repeatedly by his old girlfriend that he “just doesn’t get it,” Tony, does indeed get it at the very end. And this realization puts a lifetime into perspective. Barnes’ genius lies in the simplicity that he employs to reveal a plethora of the most difficult and complex features of the human condition. He frequently references the popular song “I have time on my side” to make his case for perhaps the most notable characteristic that he possesses: patience.

And so it is that with a lot of patience and considerable reflection on the manifold interpretations of his past, he pieces together the puzzle of his friend Adrian’s life, and how it is that he himself contributed to it over a period of forty years, all unbeknownst to him.

This is a most clever story that is deceptive in its negligent girth and even occasional boredom and frustration to reveal a most dramatic ending. It will, in the end, no doubt, afford you a most definite sense of an ending.

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

Updated February 3, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Feb. 4, 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Go to article »

On Feb. 4, 1902, Charles A. Lindbergh, the American aviator who became the first man to fly the Atlantic solo nonstop from the United States to Europe, was born. Following his death on Aug. 26, 1974, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1783 Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.

1789 Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

1861 Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.

1913 Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Ala.

1938 The Thornton Wilder play “Our Town” opened on Broadway.

1941 The United Service Organizations (USO) was formed.

1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

1948 The island nation of Ceylon – now Sri Lanka – became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

1974 Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1977 The album “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac was released.

1997 A civil jury found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

1999 Four plainclothes New York City police officers fired 41 bullets at Amadou Diallo in front of his Bronx home after mistaking his wallet for a gun. The unarmed West African immigrant was killed.

2003 Yugoslavia was dissolved and replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.

2004 The Massachusetts high court declared that gays were entitled to marry.

2004 The social networking website Facebook was launched.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Rock singer Alice Cooper turns 64 years old today.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Former Vice President Dan Quayle turns 65 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

1923 Conrad Bain, Actor (“Diff’rent Strokes”), turns 89

1936 David Brenner, Comedian, turns 76

1940 George A. Romero, Director, turns 72

1959 Lawrence Taylor, Football Hall of Famer, turns 53

1962 Clint Black, Country musician, turns 50

1971 Rob Corddry, Actor, turns 41

1975 Natalie Imbruglia, Rock singer, turns 37

1977 Gavin DeGraw, Rock singer, turns 35

1988 Carly Patterson, Gymnast, turns 24

Historic Birthdays

Charles A. Lindbergh 2/4/1902 – 8/26/1974 American aviator.Go to obituary »

85 Mark Hopkins 2/4/1802 – 6/17/1887
American educator and theologian

85 Clement Ader 2/4/1841 – 3/5/1926
French engineer and pioneer of flight

78 Ludwig Prandtl 2/4/1875 – 8/15/1953
German physicist, “father of aerodynamics”

70 Jacques Copeau 2/4/1879 – 10/20/1949
French actor/critic/director

74 Fernand Leger 2/4/1881 – 8/17/1955
French painter

75 George Kennedy Bell 2/4/1883 – 10/3/1958
English Anglican bishop of Chichester

95 Raymond Dart 2/4/1893 – 11/22/1988
Australian-bn. South African physical anthropologist

73 MacKinlay Kantor 2/4/1904 – 10/11/1977
American author/newspaperman

39 Dietrich Bonhoeffer 2/4/1906 – 4/9/1945
German Protestant theologian

90 Clyde W. Tombaugh 2/4/1906 – 1/17/1997
American astronomer who discovered Pluto

1783	Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.
1789	Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
1861	Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.
1913	Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Ala.
1938	The Thornton Wilder play “Our Town” opened on Broadway.
1941	The United Service Organizations (USO) was formed.
1945	President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.
1948	The island nation of Ceylon – now Sri Lanka – became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.
1974	Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1977	The album “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac was released.
1997	A civil jury found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
1999	Four plainclothes New York City police officers fired 41 bullets at Amadou Diallo in front of his Bronx home after mistaking his wallet for a gun. The unarmed West African immigrant was killed.
2003	Yugoslavia was dissolved and replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
2004	The Massachusetts high court declared that gays were entitled to marry.
2004	The social networking website Facebook was launched.

1923	Conrad Bain, Actor (“Diff’rent Strokes”), turns 89
1936	David Brenner, Comedian, turns 76
1940	George A. Romero, Director, turns 72
1959	Lawrence Taylor, Football Hall of Famer, turns 53
1962	Clint Black, Country musician, turns 50
1971	Rob Corddry, Actor, turns 41
1975	Natalie Imbruglia, Rock singer, turns 37
1977	Gavin DeGraw, Rock singer, turns 35
1988	Carly Patterson, Gymnast, turns 24

85	Mark Hopkins 2/4/1802 – 6/17/1887 American educator and theologian
85	Clement Ader 2/4/1841 – 3/5/1926 French engineer and pioneer of flight
78	Ludwig Prandtl 2/4/1875 – 8/15/1953 German physicist, “father of aerodynamics”
70	Jacques Copeau 2/4/1879 – 10/20/1949 French actor/critic/director
74	Fernand Leger 2/4/1881 – 8/17/1955 French painter
75	George Kennedy Bell 2/4/1883 – 10/3/1958 English Anglican bishop of Chichester
95	Raymond Dart 2/4/1893 – 11/22/1988 Australian-bn. South African physical anthropologist
73	MacKinlay Kantor 2/4/1904 – 10/11/1977 American author/newspaperman
39	Dietrich Bonhoeffer 2/4/1906 – 4/9/1945 German Protestant theologian
90	Clyde W. Tombaugh 2/4/1906 – 1/17/1997 American astronomer who discovered Pluto