When I'm in the Middle of a Dream

Just a stupid shitty poster I made up for Strawberry Fields. Maybe I should have added Dylan and the Stones to the band list. Anyway, this one-of-a-kind poster now rests on my wall, just above my head when I sleep.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

September 21, 2008. I'll remember this day for a long long time. Its been one of my happiest days in Law School. By no stretch of imagination was it perfect (no electricity for 5-6 hours), but I felt a certain kind of bliss the entire day. After grumbling about the heat for half an hour, I decided to borrow the body builder's camera and head off looking for pictures to click

The first person I encountered was Chomal. He was busy on the phone but still found time to pose.

A few minutes were spent in the terrace. I realized that this was probably the most tranquil area of campus, okay, the second most tranquil since the LLM terrace beats all. Anyway, today it was just the ravens and me, sunbathing under a glorious September sky. Until some people walked in and ruined it all.

An dark, empty mess hall has a beauty of its own I realized. The black granite (Who knows?) tables and matching black steel chairs look good with a green natural backdrop. This was taken on the "panoramic shot" mode, whaetver that is.

Well, after that, I just began to explore Nags. Checked out the almost completed "road-like thing" in Nagarbhavi Circle. Kept walking till Vijaynagar, but then it was just shops beyond that and wasn't really interesting anymore.While heading back to campus, I met Ashish (II) who was also randomly taking pictures out of boredom. We compared photos and shamelessly complimented each other. Anyway, for the first time in my life, I noticed that the NLS campus was pretty scenic, but only if the lighting was right.

And capped off by a stunning sunset.

Posters and all

Admit One, the annual law school play festival is probably the next big event to take place. And of course, I thought I'd make a poster for it, but any ideas of an original nature are currently a scarce commodity. I've designed two posters so far, but they look like shit according to me.

This is the first one. Random chick holding a mask, with her face hidden by the curtain. Gothic-"ish" looking font. Overall, very bleh.

And this is the other one. I know, I know...red and black, how original. And I screwed up the text as well. Anyway, not bad for 10 minute's work.

Can't believe I got away with it. My biggest scam in Law School and nobody realized it. Lady Luck must have been smiling really REALLY wide today.

Stranded

This was a picture I had modified today in Land Law class. I did a Google image search for "Bihar Floods" and this was one of the pictures that was displayed. Attempting to make it seem "stylish" was not something I wanted to do with this. Simple black and white mode with high contrast, added an overlay layer and then use a soft light brush and went to town on the sucker. The resulting picture looked nice...very simple and it put the limelight on the people and the situation, not the photo manipulation. Most of the time I try so hard to make my pictures look impressive that I completely lose track of what I'm doing and miss out on some simple techniques which would have a far greater effect.

A Perfect Day

Wake up at eight thirty, to find out that its a holiday due to some obscure reason. Grab some breakfast (bread-butter-jam, eggs, tea and pineapple) in the mess. Then its back to the room, switch on the computer and play some music from last.fm (Tag = "summer"). Read the paper and then some chit-chat with the body builder.

Hmm, slight boredom beginning to creep in, so I'll head off to town. Meet up with Haroon and co., and go to Ulsoor for lunch at THAT place. Followed by a drive to the new airport and back. Dinner at Pecos, and then back to campus by ten.

To do list for the October holidays

Things to do these hols, assuming I stay back in Bangalore:

1. Finish at least one and a half projects.

2. Perfect my "cut-in" free kicks and also learn to do the rabona faster.

3. Watch a few good movies.

4. Wake up at a respectable hour every weekday.

5. Learn to use that friggin g-pad.

6. Buy an "up" button for the keyboard (gee, thanks a lot George Thomas).

7. Design a poster for Admit One and Strawberry Fields, just for kicks.

8. Spruce up the room a bit.

9. Explore Nagarbhavi and the surrounding area.

10. Be happy.

11. Stay in the hostel, and not randomly crash at some friend's place.

Photoshop....again, uh again

Created the brush out of scratch...liked the pattern it created, even though it looks kinda gay.

SLR? Digi? Gah!!

I'm jealous of a certain breed of people in college. Those who possess a camera, essentially half the student population I guess. I WANT a camera, and I'm saving up for it. The only question now is, which one? Some random 7/8.o MP digital camera, or maybe...just maybe...a cheap SLR.

The good thing(?) is that I'm nowhere close to possessing the required amount of money in order to purchase either of my options, thus giving me enough time to decide on what to buy. It'll happen one day...and till then, I can still dream.

Note to self: Try and save money every September, far faaar too many birthdays this month.

The Dark Knight 2 (Tentative)

So we have all watched The Dark Knight by now, and apart from a few people, the general consensus was that Nolan's second Batman movie kicked ass, thanks largely to the late Heath Ledger.

Another thing that everyone probably knows by now is that The Dark Knight is the second in a trilogy. The question now is this, who is going to be the villain in the next Batman flick?

1. The Penguin

The most likely choice for part three in my opinion. Penguin is actually a mob boss, and not some two-bit gimmick bad guy who attacks with his poison spewing umbrella. So it would make sense to fit him into this "realistic" Gotham that Nolan's created.

2. Ra's Al Ghul

Batman Begins confused me. Did it try to imply that Ducard and Ra's were one and the same? In any case, since the Demon's Head is immortal, he can be brought back again for a glorious return. Hah. Oh, and I'd like Talia to make an appearance this time.

3. Bane

The only person to have broken (literally) the Dark Knight. Again, like the Penguin, there are a lot of misconceptions regarding this character, thanks largely to that abomination directed by Schumacher (the Clooney one, not the Kilmer one). He is NOT a steroid fiend who acts as a "bodyguard" to supposedly more important villains. He's shown to be a cunning tactician who masterminded Batman's downfall in the Knightfall storyline. Now, if only they would remove that ridiculous mask of his.

4. Lex Luthor

I know, I know...seems like a stretch doesn't it? Well, look at it this way, Lex is the only person rich enough to be considered a threat to Wayne Corp. So he could threaten both Bruce Wayne AND Batman.

5. The Riddler

Very under-developed character. He'd do fine as long as he loses the green uniform and that "Zorro" mask or whatever he wears. And he'll have to kill people, not just rob banks or something. What made the Joker so great this time was that he was so menacing, so if they could replicate that with Nigma, then they could possibly have a hit on their hands.

Football review....don't read unless you're interested in the game.

This has been a horrible weekend for all the "top" European football clubs. Seven matches played in all, and not a single win. Lets just look at this match-by-match:

1. Chelsea vs Tottenham

Chelsea pretty much dominate the entire fucking match, and score through Belleti (wtf?), but only to succumb to an equalizer by Darren "Where the hell was I last season?" Bent. Oh, and they lost out to Manchester City in their bid to get Robinho's signature. Idiots.

2. Manchester United vs Zenith Petersburg

"All right lads, lets just get this match over with. I've already booked the eight thirty back to Manchester." Maybe that's what Sir Alex told the squad minutes before the Super Cup match. Nothing else could possibly explain why the Champions League winners looked so DISINTERESTED throughout the ninety minutes (save Paul Scholes who seems to have enjoyed a few too many volleyball matches over the break). Two nil was a fair result for a squad which had Arshavin as a sub. Really Zenith? Arshavin not good enough for now is it?

3. Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Painfully dull draw.

4. Real Madrid vs Deportivo La Coruna

The Galacticos lose 2-1 at the Riazor. Fuck the "Riazor curse", this is what happens when you go around unethically troubling clubs throughout the transfer period. Karma comes back and bites you in the ass. And it doesn't help when one of your best players threatens to leave the country till his transfer demands are met.

5. Barcelona vs Numancia

Another few weeks of this and Guardiola will be known as "that guy who coached Barca, you know...that guy who had a pig's head thrown at him just like Luis Figo". Really, I know he's a 'home grown boy' and all that but Barca were all over the place after a quarter of the time was up. Absolutely no focus, and thats where the manager and/or the captain come in. He's supposed to give the team a common goal to pursue and the means to achieve it, and thats where he was found lacking in the end.

6. Inter Milan vs Sampdoria

A one all draw against a tricky Sampdoria squad is actually a good result if you look at it objectively. But since its the Special One who's managing Inter, it really is near impossible isn't it.

7. AC Milan vs Bologna

Ronaldinho sizzles. The rest of Milan are busy admiring his skills though. And Shevchenko's glorious return was a dud. All in all, a bittersweet night for Milan. The entire squad needs to regain match fitness, but atleast Ronaldinho's regained the early Barcelona form from the looks of it.

Living in a hiding place

I want to run. Run till my lungs burst. Run till me heart stops beating. Run till I don't know where I am. Run till my troubles are millions of miles behind me. But alas, its project submission season and this fine educational institution of mine has conveniently shackled me.

The sense of impending doom prevailing in my mind has become so vivid that I wake up everyday in a cold sweat, not knowing what has gotten me so worried, so anxious, so paranoid. "So what? People go through tougher ordeals everyday. What makes your problems so f*#king special, huh?", you might say. Well, nothing really. Maybe the degree of my troubles are probably one millionth of what anyone with "real" problems may be going through, but my problems are causing me to be unhappy so I guess I do have the right to vent.

New resolution: No more smoking up, boozing or anything else associated with it (22nd August, 2008).