06.21.08
Pseudo-published?
I’m thinking it doesn’t quite count as being published. I mean, it’s not like I wrote something profound and ground-breaking, and some well-respected scholarly journal has included my creation in their next edition or anything. However, something I created is out there, and it was put out there by someone else and as part of a larger collection of things. So I guess we’ll call it being pseudo-published. Some photo scout (or whatever they call them) from a site I had never heard of before came across one of my photos on Flickr and wanted to use it as part of their travel and activities guide for the Pacific Northwest. They sent me an email asking permission and all that, and since I have no objection to being associated with a guide to Pacific Northwest attractions, I agreed. So, a little while later the whole world (or whoever knows about that site and is interested) can see a photo I took while wandering around Foster Island a while back. Want to see? Check out the finished product here.
06.14.08
Culture, Bollywood Style
Last night I went to see a musical. No, not a Bollywood film musical, a real, bona-fide musical. Live, on the stage, as a play. To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. Apparently, India hasn’t ever had a tradition of stage musicals, the kinds of things Americans are accustomed to seeing on Broadway. I got to thinking about it and it struck me that they seem to have done things backwards: they launched into movies, and movie musicals, without ever having had a tradition of musical theater. It made me wonder whether local audiences would welcome the stage version of Bollywood, or whether they would see it as extraneous.
The story centers around a girl named Adaa, who moves from the “small” town of Lucknow (this small town has well over 2 million people), to the big city of Mumbai, hoping to make it big in Bollywood. She runs into all the stereotypical Hollywood/Bollywood types – the struggling actress who’s played bit parts in films for 20 years and never got her big break, the sleazy producer with the “casting couch” interview, the high-flying movie stars, etc. Periodically, the action on the stage stops and a screen comes down for videos of some of Bollywood’s biggest stars talking about whichever aspect of the Bollywood business has just been portrayed. It’s a love story and a story about friendship, in addition to being fundamentally a story about Bollywood itself.
So what did I think? It was fun. It was entertaining. I was disappointed that the songs were not sung live (many of them were original songs for this production, but everything was prerecorded in a studio), but the dialogue was live. There were a few bumbles, some kinks that need to be worked out, but it’s only natural since last night was the first staging before an audience. Speaking of the audience, there were apparently quite a few Bollywood notables in the crowd, but I’m not yet familiar enough with that scene to be able to recognize who’s famous and who’s not. At any rate, my own verdict: it’s quite an experience, and I’m glad I went.
06.06.08
Panoramas
Tonight, we went out after work with a couple of colleagues from the consulate. We started the night at a social club just one or two doors down from work, where I took a photo that proves that yes, the monsoon weather has arrived:
We ended the night at a lounge in the bottom of one of the hotels along Marine Drive, probably Mumbai’s most famous street. My husband tells me it’s referred to as “the queen’s necklace.” It’s pretty:
06.05.08
Good News
I got a phone call today from one of the other employees at work – specifically, from the guy who’s in charge of tracking shipments and making sure that people get their things when they come to or leave a post. It went a little something like this:
He: Hello, I wanted to tell you something.
Me: Okay, what’s up?
He: I have news.
Me: Okay…
He: Don’t worry, it’s not bad news.
Me: Oh, good.
He: It’s good news.
Me: Great!
He: Can I tell you the good news?
Me: Of course!
He: Are you ready to hear it?
Me: Yes!
He: It’s about your air freight shipment.
Me: Okay…
He: It’s arrived.
Me: Great! So, what do I need to do?
He: We can deliver it to your house.
Me: Good!
He: We can deliver it tomorrow.
Me: Tomorrow? That’s great!
He: Can you be at the apartment tomorrow?
Me: I’ll have to clear it with my managers, but I think so – at least one of us should be able to.
He: We’ll come at 9 o’clock.
The moral of the story? My stuff is coming. Well, part of it, anyway. He called me again a scant few seconds after we’d hung up to tell me that, so as not to be unfair, they’ll deliver my husband’s air freight together with mine. So: our stuff is coming. Well, part of it, anyway.
I also learned today that we are allowed to paint the walls in our apartment, which should be extra-fun because it’s got some architectural features like recessed parts of walls and ceilings and such, so we’ve got multiple surfaces to work with. Any suggestions on colors? A friend of mine in another country has used purple to great effect, which is tempting (seriously, when else are you going to paint a wall purple except in a tropical country?) but her apartment is brighter and more modern, so I’m not sure… Got ideas? Share them!
