100 best movies of all times

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 10:59 AM

  1. Casablanca (1942), dir. Michael Curtiz
  2. The Godfather Part II (1974), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
  3. North By Northwest (1959), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  4. Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles
  5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962), dir. David Lean
  6. Manhattan (1979), dir. Woody Allen
  7. Gone With The Wind (1939), dir. Victor Fleming
  8. Chinatown (1974), dir. Roman Polanski
  9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), dir. John Ford
  10. City Lights (1931), dir. Charles Chaplin
  11. Raging Bull (1980), dir. Martin Scorsese
  12. Sunset Boulevard (1950), dir. Billy Wilder
  13. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), dir. Stanley Kubrick
  14. The Philadelphia Story (1940), dir. George Cukor
  15. To Have and Have Not (1944), dir. Howard Hawks
  16. The Graduate (1967), dir. Mike Nichols
  17. The Maltese Falcon (1941), dir. John Huston
  18. Star Wars (1977), dir. George Lucas
  19. It's A Wonderful Life (1946), dir. Frank Capra
  20. The Wild Bunch (1969), dir. Sam Peckinpah
  21. Vertigo (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  22. Singin' In The Rain (1952), dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
  23. The Godfather (1972), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
  24. E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), dir. Steven Spielberg
  25. The Palm Beach Story (1942), dir. Preston Sturges
  26. Blade Runner (1982), dir. Ridley Scott
  27. Double Indemnity (1944), dir. Billy Wilder
  28. The Manchurian Candidate (1962), dir. John Frankenheimer
  29. All About Eve (1950), dir. Joseph Mankiewicz
  30. The Searchers (1956), dir. John Ford
  31. Rear Window (1954), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  32. Annie Hall (1977), dir. Woody Allen
  33. Ninotchka (1939), dir. Ernst Lubitsch
  34. Blue Velvet (1986), dir. David Lynch
  35. The Wizard of Oz (1939), dir. Victor Fleming
  36. Bringing Up Baby (1938), dir. Howard Hawks
  37. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), dir. David Lean
  38. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964), dir. Stanley Kubrick
  39. Pulp Fiction (1994), dir. Quentin Tarantino
  40. Some Like It Hot (1959), dir. Billy Wilder
  41. On The Waterfront (1954), dir. Elia Kazan
  42. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975), dir. Milos Forman
  43. Taxi Driver (1976), dir. Martin Scorsese
  44. Touch Of Evil (1958), dir. Orson Welles
  45. Nashville (1975), dir. Robert Altman
  46. Apocalypse Now (1979), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
  47. The Hustler (1961), dir. Robert Rossen
  48. The Big Sleep (1946), dir. Howard Hawks
  49. Bonnie And Clyde (1967), dir. Arthur Penn
  50. Unforgiven (1992), dir. Clint Eastwood
  51. Network (1976), dir. Sidney Lumet
  52. The Silence of the Lambs (1991), dir. Jonathan Demme
  53. Jaws (1975), dir. Steven Spielberg
  54. The Deer Hunter (1978), dir. Michael Cimino
  55. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), dir. Woody Allen
  56. Gunga Din (1939), dir. George Stevens
  57. Schindler's List (1993), dir. Steven Spielberg
  58. Hud (1963), dir. Martin Ritt
  59. The Third Man (1949), dir. Carol Reed
  60. Modern Times (1936), dir. Charles Chaplin
  61. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), dir. Steven Spielberg
  62. Red River (1948), dir. Howard Hawks
  63. The Empire Strikes Back (1980), dir. Irvin Kershner
  64. Hamlet (1948), dir. Laurence Olivier
  65. Notorious (1946), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  66. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), dir. Elia Kazan
  67. Last Tango in Paris (1972), dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
  68. Sweet Smell of Success (1957), dir. Alexander Mackendrick
  69. Out Of The Past (1947), dir. Jacques Tournier
  70. All That Jazz (1979), dir. Bob Fosse
  71. Top Hat (1935), dir. Mark Sandrich
  72. The Misfits (1961), dir. John Huston
  73. Tootsie (1982), dir. Sydney Pollack
  74. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), dir. Frank Capra
  75. Short Cuts (1993), dir. Robert Altman
  76. The Grapes of Wrath (1940), dir. John Ford
  77. The Apartment (1960), dir. Billy Wilder
  78. A Clockwork Orange (1971), dir. Stanley Kubrick
  79. Psycho (1960), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  80. Moonstruck (1987), dir. Norman Jewison
  81. GoodFellas (1990), dir. Martin Scorsese
  82. Stagecoach (1939), dir. John Ford
  83. The Last Picture Show (1971), dir. Peter Bogdanovich
  84. Die Hard (1988), dir. John McTiernan
  85. Midnight Cowboy (1969), dir. John Schlesinger
  86. West Side Story (1961), dir. Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
  87. The Quiet Man (1952), dir. John Ford
  88. Reds (1981), dir. Warren Beatty
  89. Rebel Without a Cause (1955), dir. Nicholas Ray
  90. A Hard Day's Night (1964), dir. Richard Lester
  91. A Room With A View (1986), dir. James Ivory
  92. From Here to Eternity (1953), dir. Fred Zinnemann
  93. The Piano (1993), dir. Jane Campion
  94. Adam's Rib (1949), dir. George Cukor
  95. This Is Spinal Tap (1984), dir. Rob Reiner
  96. It Happened One Night (1934), dir. Frank Capra
  97. Do the Right Thing (1989), dir. Spike Lee
  98. The Thin Man (1934), dir. W.S. Van Dyke
  99. Patton (1970), dir. Franklin Schaffner
  100. The Terminator (1984), dir. James Cameron

100 best songs of all times

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 10:45 AM

1. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (Redding/Cropper) - Otis Redding, 1967.

Shortly before he died in a plane crash in 1967, Otis Redding had recorded six takes of the melancholy (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay. The slight crack in that sweet young soul voice, the sparse semi-acoustic arrangement, the whistled solo - divine.

2. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Whitfield/Strong) - Marvin Gaye, 1968.

A terrific arrangement and a stunning vocal performance from Marvin Gaye on this classic tale of betrayal. The ominous organ andgrim, tribal drums are warning enough badnews is afoot.

3. Fall On Me (Mills/Buck/Berry/Stipe) - R.E.M, 1986.

A few years before they became one of the biggest rock bands in the world R.E.M. delivered this supreme piece of jangly, post-Byrds folk-rock. Counter-melodies fromthe angels.

4. Everybody's Talking (Neil) - Harry Nilsson, 1969.

A simple bassline, the tap-tap-tap of a hi-hat cymbal, zippy, finger-picked acoustic guitar, keyboard pads and Harry Nilsson's suitably weather-beaten delivery of Fred Neil's greatest triumph.

5. Take Me To The River (Green/Hodges) - Al Green,1974.

Later covered by Talking Heads, but I'll take the Reverend Al Green's funky, horn-drenched mid-1970s original version any day of the week. Check out the Rev's dedication to his cousin over the opening bars - very, very smooth.

6. That's All Right (Crudup) - Elvis Presley, 1972.

When Elvis first covered this in the 1950s it was a pioneering manoeuvre. By the 1970s he had cranked it up to fifth gear, added blazing horns and gospel vocals and it kicked like an irritated mule.

7. Eleanor Rigby (Lennon/McCartney) - The Beatles, 1966.

Paul McCartney's grim, evocative, two-minute narrative about Eleanor Rigby, a curious, lonely woman who dies sad and alone. The song is brought to life, as it were, by the stark staccato string arrangement.

8. Sympathy For The Devil (Jagger/Richards) - Rolling Stones, 1968.

Driven by Rocky Dijon's congas, Nicky Hopkins's piano and Keef's bassline, this was a cleverly constructed, tightly-coiled piece of late-1960s pop.

9. River Deep Mountain High (Barry/Greenwich/Spector) - Ike and Tina Turner, 1966.

A mega-production from Phil Spector's School Of More. A mini-opera, it swings from finger-clickin' cool to oceans of swelling strings and vocals. All these years later it still sounds incredible.

10. Hurricane (Dylan) - Bob Dylan, 1976.

A devastatingly potent protest song about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin Carter. When Dylan sings "He coulda been the champion of the world", it's truly spine-tingling. Justice, American-style.

11. People Get Ready (Mayfield) - the Impressions, 1965.

12. Matty (Mulhearn) - Christy Moore, 1985.

A poetic Irish drunk heads out into the night and never makes it home. Johnny Mulhearn's tune about Matty is so exquisitely written and touching you'll need Kleenex at hand.

13. Superstition (Wonder) - Stevie Wonder, 1973.

14. Respect (Redding) - Aretha Franklin, 1967.

15. The Boy In The Bubble (Simon/Motloheloa) - Paul Simon, 1986.

16. Positively 4th Street (Dylan) - Bob Dylan, 1965.

17. Papa Was A Rolling Stone (Strong/Whitfield) - the Temptations, 1972.

18. Good Vibrations (Love/Wilson) - the Beach Boys, 1966.

19. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) (Harley) - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, 1975.

Steve Harley's only true global hit is a gold radio staple and is still used regularly in film soundtracks. A perfectly formed pop song topped off with a memorable flamenco-tinged nylon string acoustic guitar solo.

20. Feelin' Alright (Mason) - Joe Cocker, 1969.

21. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (John/Taupin) - Elton John, 1973.

22. Everlovin' Man (Lynch/Lovett/Anderson/Humphreys/Clyne) - the Loved Ones, 1966.

23. Last Great American Whale (Reed) - Lou Reed, 1989.

24. Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Holland/Whitfield) - the Temptations, 1966.

25. Stand By Me (Leiber/Stoller/King) - Ben E. King, 1962.

26. Monkey Wrench (Grohl/Foo Fighters) - Foo Fighters, 1996.

Full of crashing power chords and over-the-top pregnant pauses, this is asgood as melodic grunt gets. Thehighlight is when Grohl starts screaming the last verse. Let it out,Dave.

27. Downtown (Hatch) - Petula Clark, 1965.

28. Stuck In The Middle With You (Egan/Rafferty) - Stealer's Wheel, 1973.

29. Back In Black (Young/Young/Johnson) - AC/DC, 1980.

30. Sloop John B (Trad/Wilson) - the Beach Boys, 1966.

31. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cobain/Nirvana) - Nirvana, 1991.

32. I Feel The Earth Move (King) - Carole King, 1971.

33. In The Ghetto (Davis) - Elvis Presley, 1969.

34. Spoonman (Cornell) - Soundgarden, 1994.

35. Big Hat, No Cattle (Newman) - Randy Newman, 1999.

"Since I was a child/I've tried to be what I am not/I've lied, and I've enjoyed it/All my life." So begins Randy Newman's hilarious tune about a loser whose whole life is a lie. All set to a tasty, Floyd Cramer-ish country feel.

36. You Should Be Dancing (Gibb/Gibb/Gibb) - Bee Gees, 1976.

37. Golden Years (Bowie) - David Bowie, 1976.

38. It Was A Very Good Year (Ervin Drake) - Frank Sinatra, 1965.

39. Kinky Afro (Happy Mondays) - Happy Mondays, 1990.

40. Sign O' The Times (Prince) - Prince, 1987.

41. The Disappointed (Partridge) - XTC, 1992.

42. That's The Way (I Like It) (Kasey/Finch) - KC and The Sunshine Band, 1975.

43. Power And The Passion (Hirst/Moginie/Garrett) - Midnight Oil, 1983.

44. Son Of A Preacher Man (Hurley/Wilkins) - Dusty Springfield, 1969.

45. Lady Marmalade (Crewe/Nolan) - LaBelle, 1976.

46. Built For Comfort (Dixon) - Howlin' Wolf, 1966.

47. California Dreaming (Phillips/Phillips) - Mamas and the Papas, 1966.

48. Song 2 (Blur) - Blur, 1997.

49. All Along The Watchtower (Dylan) - Jimi Hendrix, 1968.

50. No Regrets (Rush) - Walker Brothers, 1975.

51. Higher Ground (Wonder) - Stevie Wonder, 1973.

52. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Benjamin/Caldwell/Marcus) - the Animals, 1965.

53. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Brown) - James Brown, 1966.

Ow! Get on the good foot! Get On up! The Father of Funk. The Godfather of Soul. The Hardest Working Man In Show business. General Groove. The dynamic dancing machine. Ow!

54. Love Is In The Air (Vanda/Young) - John Paul Young, 1978.

55. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And If Feel Fine) (Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe) - R.E.M, 1987.

56. D.C. (Clark/Peno) - Died Pretty, 1991.

57. X-Ray Style (Strummer) - Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros, 1999.

58. Tenterfield Saddler (Allen) - Peter Allen, 1972.

59. Hallelujah I Love Her So (Charles) - Ray Charles, 1963.

60. Get A Little Dirt On Your Hands (Anderson) - the Delltones, 1962.

61. Dream Lover (Darin) - Bobby Darin, 1959.

62. Heartland (Johnson) - the The, 1986.

63. Gypsy - (Nicks) Fleetwood Mac, 1982.

64. Love Rears Up Its Ugly Head (Reid) - Living Color, 1990.

65. You're No Good (Ballard) - Linda Ronstadt, 1974.

66. Jolene (Parton) - Dolly Parton, 1973.

67. Back On The Chain Gang (Hynde) - The Pretenders, 1982.

68. To Her Door (Kelly) - Paul Kelly, 1987.

Over the years the great Paul Kelly has messed around with the lyrics on this quietly hopeful folk-pop diamond, adding various expletives and changing "The Buttery" to "the North Coast" and "Olympic" to "McCaffertys".

69. The Honeymoon Is Over (Cruickshank/Perkins/Rumour) - the Cruel Sea, 1993.

70. I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City (Nilsson) - Wayne Newton (release date unknown).

71. Fairytale Of New York (Finer/MacGowan) - the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, 1987.

72. Don't Look Back In Anger (Gallagher) - Oasis, 1995.

73. Get Off My Cloud (Jagger/Richards) - Rolling Stones, 1965.

74. Run Through The Jungle (Fogerty) - Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1970.

75. Everything's Turning To White (Kelly) - Paul Kelly, 1989.

76. Sparky's Dream (Love) - Teenage Fanclub, 1995.

77. (You're The) Devil In Disguise (Baum/Kaye) - Elvis Presley, 1963.

78. Scorn Of The Women (Thomas)

- Weddings, Parties, Anything, 1987.

79. Relating To A Psychopath (Gray/Ruzumna/Swann/Wilder) - Macy Gray, 2001.

80. Anarchy In The UK (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) - Sex Pistols, 1977.

81. Oliver's Army (Costello) - Elvis Costello, 1979.

82. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Croce) - Frank Sinatra, 1973.

83. For What It's Worth (Stills) - Buffalo Springfield, 1967.

84. If I Can't Change Your Mind (Mould) - Sugar, 1992.

85. No Myth (Penn) - Michael Penn, 1989.

86. Into Temptation (Finn) - Crowded House, 1988.

87. Cheaper To Keep Her (Rice) - Johnnie Taylor, 1973.

Over a cruisy walking bassline velvet-suited Johnnie Taylor does the math: "Five little children that you're leaving behind/Son, you're going pay some alimony/Or do some time/It's cheaper to keep her". Finger-clickin', pre-PC gold.

88. Love Will Keep Us Together (Greenfield/Sedaka) - the Captain and Tennille, 1975.

89. Play That Funky Music (Parissi) - Wild Cherry, 1976.

90. Ray Of Light (Madonna/Orbit/Muldoon/Curtis/Leach) - Madonna, 1998.

91. Senses Working Overtime (Partridge) - XTC, 1982.

92. Still In Hollywood - (Napolitano) Concrete Blonde, 1987.

93. Not Fade Away - (Holly/Petty) - Buddy Holly, 1957.

94. Blister In The Sun (Gano) - Violent Femmes, 1983.

95. Nothin' But A Woman (Cray) - Robert Cray, 1986.

96. The "In" Crowd (Page) - Ramsey Lewis Trio, 1965.

97. Bittersweet Symphony (Ashcroft/Jagger/Richards) - the Verve, 1997.

A loop of an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones song The Last Time formed the basis for this sweeping pop tune. To gain clearance to record it, English band the Verve had to hand over 100 per cent of the royalties to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards's publishers.

98. Freak Scene (Mascis) - Dinosaur jnr, 1988.

99. Come Fly With Me (Cahn/Van Heusen) - Frank Sinatra, 1965.

100. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Bono/Clayton/Edge/Mullen) - U2, 1987.

100 best movie quotes

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 8:17 AM

  1. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." — Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), Gone with the Wind (1939)
  2. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." — Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), The Godfather (1972)
  3. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." — Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), On the Waterfront (1954)
  4. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." — Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  5. "Here's looking at you, kid." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca (1942)
  6. "Go ahead, make my day." — Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), Sudden Impact (1983)
  7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." — Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), Sunset Boulevard (1950)
  8. "May the Force be with you." — Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Star Wars (1977)
  9. "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." — Margo Channing (Bette Davis), All About Eve (1950)
  10. "You talkin' to me?" — Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), Taxi Driver (1976)
  11. "What we've got here is failure to communicate." — Captain (Strother Martin), Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  12. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." — Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), Apocalypse Now (1979)
  13. "Love means never having to say you're sorry." — Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal), Love Story (1970)
  14. "The stuff that dreams are made of." — Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), The Maltese Falcon (1941)
  15. "E.T. phone home." — E.T. (Pat Welsh), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  16. "They call me Mister Tibbs!" — Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), In the Heat of the Night (1967)
  17. "Rosebud." — Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), Citizen Kane (1941)
  18. "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" — Arthur "Cody" Jarrett (James Cagney), White Heat (1949)
  19. "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" — Howard Beale (Peter Finch), Network (1976)
  20. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca (1942)
  21. "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." — Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  22. "Bond. James Bond." — James Bond (Sean Connery), Dr. No (1962)
  23. "There's no place like home." — Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  24. "I am big! It's the pictures that got small." — Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), Sunset Boulevard (1950)
  25. "Show me the money!" — Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise), Jerry Maguire (1996)
  26. "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" — Lady Lou (Mae West), She Done Him Wrong (1933)
  27. "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" — "Ratso" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), Midnight Cowboy (1969)
  28. "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'" — Ilsa Laszlo (Ingrid Bergman), Casablanca (1942)
  29. "You can't handle the truth!" — Col. Nathan Jessep (Jack Nicholson), A Few Good Men (1992)
  30. "I want to be alone." — Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo), Grand Hotel (1932)
  31. "After all, tomorrow is another day!" — Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), Gone with the Wind (1939)
  32. "Round up the usual suspects." — Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Casablanca (1942)
  33. "I'll have what she's having." — Customer (Estelle Reiner), When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
  34. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." — Marie "Slim" Browning (Lauren Bacall), To Have and Have Not (1944)
  35. "We're gonna need a bigger boat." — Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), Jaws (1975)
  36. "Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" — "Gold Hat" (Alfonso Bedoya), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  37. "I'll be back." — The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), The Terminator (1984)
  38. "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." — Lou Gehrig (Gary Cooper), The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
  39. "If you build it, he will come." — Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), Field of Dreams (1989)
  40. "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." — Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), Forrest Gump (1994)
  41. "We rob banks." — Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  42. "Plastics." — Mr. Maguire (Walter Brooke), The Graduate (1967)
  43. "We'll always have Paris." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca (1942)
  44. "I see dead people." — Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), The Sixth Sense (1999)
  45. "Stella! Hey, Stella!" — Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  46. "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars." — Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis), Now, Voyager (1942)
  47. "Shane. Shane. Come back!" — Joey Starrett (Brandon De Wilde), Shane (1953)
  48. "Well, nobody's perfect." — Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), upon being told that the woman he hopes to marry is actually a man in disguise, Some Like It Hot (1959)
  49. "It's alive! It's alive!" — Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive), Frankenstein (1931)
  50. "Houston, we have a problem." — Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Apollo 13 (1995)
  51. "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" — Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), Dirty Harry (1971)
  52. "You had me at 'hello.'" — Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), Jerry Maguire (1996)
  53. "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." — Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Groucho Marx), Animal Crackers (1930)
  54. "There's no crying in baseball!" — Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), A League of Their Own (1992)
  55. "La-dee-da, la-dee-da." — Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), Annie Hall (1977)
  56. "A boy's best friend is his mother." — Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), Psycho (1960)
  57. "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." — Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), Wall Street (1987)
  58. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." — Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), The Godfather: Part II (1974)
  59. "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." — Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), Gone with the Wind (1939)
  60. "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" — Oliver (Oliver Hardy), Sons of the Desert (1933)
  61. "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" — Tony Montana (Al Pacino), Scarface (1983)
  62. "What a dump." — Rosa Moline (Bette Davis), Beyond the Forest (1949)
  63. "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" — Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), The Graduate (1967)
  64. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" — President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers), Dr. Strangelove (1964)
  65. "Elementary, my dear Watson." — Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
  66. "Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape." — George Taylor (Charlton Heston), Planet of the Apes (1968)
  67. "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca (1942)
  68. "Heeere's Johnny!" — Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), The Shining (1980)
  69. "They're here!" — Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke), Poltergeist (1982)
  70. "Is it safe?" — Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier), Marathon Man (1976)
  71. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!" — Jakie Rabinowitz/Jack Robin (Al Jolson), The Jazz Singer (1927)
  72. "No wire hangers, ever!" — Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway), Mommie Dearest (1981)
  73. "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" — Cesare Enrico "Rico" Bandello (Edward G. Robinson), Little Caesar (1930)
  74. "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." — Duffy (Bruce Glover), Chinatown (1974)
  75. "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." — Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  76. "Hasta la vista, baby." — The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  77. "Soylent Green is people!" — Det. Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston), Soylent Green (1973)
  78. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." — Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  79. Striker: "Surely you can't be serious!" Rumack: "I am serious… and don't call me Shirley." — Ted Striker (Robert Hays) and Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen), Airplane! (1980)
  80. "Yo, Adrian!" — Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), Rocky (1976)
  81. "Hello, gorgeous." — Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand), Funny Girl (1968)
  82. "Toga! Toga!" — John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
  83. "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." — Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Dracula (1931)
  84. "Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. 'Twas Beauty killed the Beast." — Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), King Kong (1933)
  85. "My precious." — Gollum (Andy Serkis), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  86. "Attica! Attica!" — Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino), Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
  87. "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" — Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter), 42nd Street (1933)
  88. "Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!" — Ethel Thayer (Katharine Hepburn), On Golden Pond (1981)
  89. "Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper." — George Gipp (Ronald Reagan), Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
  90. "A martini. Shaken, not stirred." — James Bond (Sean Connery), Goldfinger (1964)
  91. "Who's on First?" — Dexter (Bud Abbott), The Naughty Nineties (1945)
  92. "Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac...It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!" — Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), Caddyshack (1980)
  93. "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" — Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell), Auntie Mame (1958)
  94. "I feel the need — the need for speed!" — Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and Lt. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), Top Gun (1986)
  95. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." — John Keating (Robin Williams), Dead Poets Society (1989)
  96. "Snap out of it!" — Loretta Castorini (Cher), Moonstruck (1987)
  97. "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you." — George M. Cohan (James Cagney), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
  98. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." — Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), Dirty Dancing (1987)
  99. "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" — Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  100. "I'm the king of the world!" — Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), Titanic (1997)

hate

1 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 11:59 PM

I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme. I hate it, I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.
its from the movie "10 things i ahte about you"
it repeats hate a lot in the poem but it dosent mean hate

Kat in "10 things i Hate About you"

the F1 saga

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 11:57 PM

Where art thou lady luck ??

Lewis Hamilton is one of the most impressive talents to emerge out of the formula one paddocks in the recent years. And by hiring him in when he was brought in, Ron Dennis again proved that he had amazing eye for talent. All through the past decade he has bet on drivers who on over sight showed amazing talent, I mean just look at the list, Kimi Raikkonen, Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya, to name but a few. They were let down for by the car some time or where overwhelmed by the competition (namely one guy called Michael Schumacher) but they were all good, but the thing about Hamilton is that he just might be the biggest and best driving talent to step into F1 after Senna or Prost. Well, hear me out before you start throwing things at me, and don’t even think about throwing that kitchen sink at me. Michael supporter can go take a hike, he was a good driver but he won most of his races on team strategy, he overtook more times in the pits than on the track. Mika was mediocre, with a great car and team, Juan Pablo was only good at going round and round in circles. Jenson Button, Massa, Davidson, Wurz, webber and every other driver who came on with great fanfare just kindoff failed. Kimi could have come over as a great but he was always outclassed by Schumi. And now that F1 is free of the Schumi-Todt-Brawn Triumvirate he will always live in Shumacher’s shadow.

So again, Awesome talent, Raw temperament and the best car in the field and one of the most exciting F1 seasons in 21 years and still the dominating news was what was going on off the track be it the Alonso – Hamilton competition or the spying scandal. It just kept getting funnier and funnier as the season went on. There is this kid first season in F1 and an Amazing car and he was on the podium every race and all that people could talk about was the spying scandal. He kept walking allover two seasoned veterans namely Kimi Raikkonen and Double world champion Fernando Alonso and all people could think of was the spying scandal. So, so idiot got a little greedy, is that what F1 is about?? No it isn’t over all these past years when Shumi was beating the crap out of every one left right and center we moaned the fact that F1 wasn’t exciting enough, and now that we actually have a really talented bunch of drivers and teams that are capable of giving their drivers good cars day in and day out no body noticed the racing.

I have gone round and round in circles about my bitterness at the way the season ended so now we will talk about the racing highlights of the season.

1. There was one constant through the entire season. That was Lewis Hamilton Amazing consistency, at getting podiums, Alonso’s growing amazement and to some extent jealousy at his teammates exceptional performance and talent, and the way Ferrari and all the other teams where stumped and then fumbled around with the amount of talent on display.

2. Kimi’s amazing comeback in the second half of the season, no doubt due to excellent teamwork and loyalty towards the team from Massa.

3. Kimi again with a donut at the pit lane exit at spa was arrogance personified. May be his move to Ferrari has given him the confidence he needs

4. inspite of the abundance of talent in the top 4 to 5 teams the championship was an open fight the first time in 21 years if i can recall correctly

The low point was the acrmonius dispute between Alonso and Lewis, and the unbelievable spin Lewis had at the Chinese GP neither were McLaren and neither was Lewis naive enough to make such an elementary mistake.

5. so here’s to kimi the new world champion, and here’s to Hamilton saying that he wants to win the championship on the track not by appeal. And I thought racing drivers were and extinct species.

So bring on the 2008 F1 season I say and may the best driver win and perform more burnouts ……………………..

The funny thing about life ……………

1 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 3:14 AM

Something funny happened a few days back. See on the third of sept. me and another friend were trying to finalise a deal on a house that we had found. Great house, two bedrooms, ground floor, the landlord was a scientist and a researcher, a man who you could talk to, and most importantly a floor you could fall in love with, well we did fall in love with it eventually. And for some reason the deal kept getting delayed from one day to another. So that day we decided we will go and finalise it. We reached the house and the landlord was busy so his wife asked us to come to their house which although not near was within walking distance for two strapping youth i.e. us. We got instructions for up to half way and then so as not to confuse ourselves and the nice lady on the other end of the phone we decided to call her from there. So we trudged in the humidity of Bangalore.
We got to the half way point and while my future roomie called our landlady, I was looking around and I saw this frail old lady with a ton of groceries in one hand and a walking stick in the other shuffling along trying to flag an auto. And Bangalore autowalas being what they are wouldn’t agree to drop the little lady round the corner even if they get paid. So being the gallant (sic) boys or men (if you will have it that way) that we are we offered to carry the bags and escort the lady to her destination. The lady meekly protested but we prevailed and we trudged after her talking all the while and we discovered that she was from Lucknow and had lived in Jaipur for some time and was here with her kid who was a techie. Any way we slowly walked and in the process passed our next landmark that our landlady had given us, resolving to come back and resume our task once we had escorted this nice lady to her home.
Once we had completed our journey and refused the offers of coffee and tea from an extremely polite lady we decided to retrace our route and go find our landlady who, we were sure by now, thought that we had lost our way or something. Any way we walked back another half a kilometer or so and called her again and she gave us instructions which sounded suspiciously like the route we had walked twice in the past 15 minutes or so. Any way we walked looking for the ninth house in the lane while my roomie told me that we had dropped the nice old lady at the fourth house and it was most likely that they, as in our landlady and the other nice lady both knew each other and would talk one of these days and have a laugh at our expense. When we arrived at the house our landlady called us from the first floor of the house that looked suspiciously like the house we were at fifteen minutes ago. And we both had a laugh at our own expense and later as everyone, i.e. the landlord the landlady and their tenant the nice old lady her daughter we all had a laugh. It turned out that “no good deed goes reward less” it may take time or it may be instantaneous, the rewards may be material or something entirely abstract like the smile from a nice old lady, or the trust that develops between a landlord and his tenants but the rewards will come and they will be worth the wait. Hey if nothing else you do it thinking that it was your one nice deed for the day and u can tell it later to your friends or your grand kids when you reminisce about old times and may be they will learn something from it or just to have a laugh.
You know what do your nice deed for the day forget about the consequences and hope the person you were nice to will repay you by passing that nice jesture to someone else who will again in turn pass it along making our world a nicer place.

World Champions .............

2 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 2:10 AM














India Won ...................... as one of my friends said, dont ask about the margin, dont ask the about the game and dont say any thing ............. sit down take deep breath and just bask in the glory of hitting the pinnacle of the game. The game was close, it was gut wrenching with flashes of briliance coming from both sides flashes that showed why these teams were in the final and why it was anybodies game. and the funny part inspite of having so many brilliant performers and performances from both sides the game was decided by a mistake an impulsive shot selection, but thats how the dice fell isnt it. instead of the dice falling one way it well the other way. two young teams, two fearless and tecnically briliant captains, some amazing revelations and some guttsy come backs, and some confirmations as to why they were in the national team. the result people who absolytely hated the game or had no thoguths about cricket sat and watchd the game chewing their nails and shitting bricks every time the game turned on its head.
India went in a little unsure of waht it needed to do
the first match against scotland was washed out
the second against pakistan was a humdinger
the third against new zealand was lost
against england it would suffice to say that yuvi hit 6 sixes done deal
we tripped south africa in the next match and
we wrapped our bare hands around australia and choked them (we had to do it as we had developed choking to an art over the years )
so here we are in the finals against a team that has lost only one match oh and they lost it to us how nice,
hey why bother with all this now we are the champions arent we

down hill derby

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 3:39 AM




















when you are going downhill and you know you have no brakes, then u might as well enjoy the ride.......... and pray to god that there are no trees or sadistic boulders in your path. and hope that the momentum carries you thru the valley and starts taking you up ones u hit bottom

The thing about friends…………..

6 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 3:20 AM

The thing about friends is that they even if they are the best thing that could happen to a person they are also the worst that can happen too. I recently moved to Bangalore to find a job, which a friend helped me find, though it’s not the best job in the world, it’s something I want to do, and I don’t have to depend on any one for my survival till I find something more to my liking. Before I came here I was not sure where my life was heading, I was ashamed to face my parents, and I tried to run from myself even though I knew it was futile. Another friend encouraged me to take this step and move to Bangalore take charge of my life she convinced me to believe in myself when I couldn’t trust my thoughts. Others provided me shelter, food and help or simply sat around with me to talk when I was lost. One guy took me in when I was totally at a lack for a place to live in even though he had met me only once about four years ago. His other roommates welcomed me like long lost friends and made me feel at home, sharing the second bed so that I could have the other one to myself, though I’m not entirely sure that their gesture was selfless.

Jokes apart what I’m trying to say here is if this bunch of people weren’t here I would probably be sitting at home brooding about the mistakes I made, the streak of bad luck that had brought me to the edge of disaster I was at and listening to my father recount my mistakes from the time I was two every time he looked at me. Though he is probably and more likely right. They still believed in me they let me close my eyes and step into the void because they told me that they believed in me and pushed me to rediscover myself. When I thought I was no good to anyone, another friend called me telling me that she missed me and needed me? Needed me when I wasn’t even sure where my day was heading. I went to Bombay and the moment I saw them I knew it was a mistake. Mistake, because that moment I realized how much I missed them and depended on them to keep me on track with life, tell me that no matter what happened or how spectacularly I failed or self destructed I could always count on them to pick up the pieces and put me back together, it might take them some time and it might take me more time to decide which way is up but eventually it tells me that everything will be all right eventually and they will still be around to egg ne on to new heights. That is the good thing about friends, when families will be thinking about how badly you’ve let them down and how disappointed they are in you. Your friends would already be busy picking up pieces, mopping up the blood and gore and preparing to help you stand up again and regain the footing you’ve lost. They will never tell you how bad you have been but only what you can do and how much they believe in you. They will lend you money when you don’t have any, the will provide you shelter, and take care of you. Does this make you weak and dependent? may be. Would I give up this for all the riches in the world? (are you out of your mind).

But the question is such a dependence good?, and the answer is that I don’t know, I really don’t know, maybe I make more mistakes because I know there are people around to bail me out and just may be I would be better off without them but would I be happy? That I can answer positively – no, never. I would probably die if I was left to my own devices. I need them and I would do anything for them they are my life. And I’m honored that they consider me as their friend.

thanx , Deepti, Sakshi, Mudassir, Vineet, Raj, Sowmya, Shival , Anuj, Cheriachen , Babu , Abhishek, Harshita, Vnieeta , Moose , Sonal, Vinitha, Arpita, Surya, Urmi , Preena, Vishruti new and old you guys helped me back on my feet . give me a call when ever and what ever you need . I owe you guys one . love you All

tango

1 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 2:32 PM

watch me tango. follow my lead,
i will teach u how to dance, i will ful fill your every need.
watch me twist and turn,
ill teach u how to crash and burn.

LOVE

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 12:23 PM

I know you think we can't be together, but can't you respect me enough to let me make my own decision? I know there'll be risks but I want to face them with you. It's wrong that we should be only half alive... half of ourselves. I love you. So here I am - standing in your doorway. I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?
mary jane watson to peter parker - spiderman 2



Simply love

simply love you,
nothing less, nothing more,
never judged, never will,
you make me happy, you make me sad, of all the time here, will think about u the most, as all that matters is you, simply love you

mudassir khalil

isnt love wonderful

poems

3 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 11:35 AM

FOR YOU

there is a sweet song penned just for you
but its missing some thing cause its not sung by you
there is a beautiful picture but it looks dull
cause its not your's
its the same in every thing i do
whatever i do
where ever i go
i keep missing you




TWO DREAMS


living one life, in two dreams
prince in one
pauper in the other
who am i
where am i
lived in the belief
of invincibility
till destroyed by my own centurions
saved by my enemies
I am living one life in two dreams


shanu s john

Fear

1 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 7:30 PM


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Timo Cruz ---- Coach Carter
Fear is an integral part of all human existence. we are afraid for our lives, for the lives of our loved ones, we are afraid of failure, of what the future might bring us, of what other might think of us, of what our actions or inactions might bring upon us or our loved ones. fear that life might prove us to be much more inconsistent than what we imagine ourselves to be.
The question every one asks them selves and others is "what is your deepest darkest fear?"

My fear
my deepest fear is that i will fall short. we walk in the shadow of giants, and angels people who rose above themselves to become larger than life and transceded sainthood, i am afraid i wont be able to stand up to the stadards of saints and angels that preceded me.

this is how a heart breaks

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 4:10 PM 

Don't you wanna go for a ride
Just keep your hands inside
And make the most out of life
Now don't you take it for granted
Life is like a mean machine
It made a mess out of me
And let me come between
Like an anchor dream, I was stranded
I was stranded, yeah yeah yeah

And I'm steady though I'm starting to shake
And I don't know how much more I can take

Chorus:
Well this is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
You take a hit now
You feel it break down
Make you stay while I wait
This is how a heart breaks

Don't you wanna go for a ride
Now to the other side
Feels so good you could cry
Now won't you do what I told you
I remember when you used to be shy
Once we were so fine, you and I
And why you gotta make it so hard on me
Yeah it's hard on me

And I'm sorry but it's not a mistake
And I'm running but you're getting away

Chorus:
Well this is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
You take a hit now
You feel it break down
Make you stay while I wait
This is how a heart breaks

This is how a heart breaks

You're not the best thing that I knew
Never was, never cared too much for all this hanging around
It's just the same thing all the time
Never get what I want, never get too close to the end of the line
You're just the same thing that I knew
Right before the time when I was running from you

Chorus:
Well this is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
You take a hit now
You feel it break down
Make you stay while I wait
This is how a heart breaks

Chorus:
Well this is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
You take a hit now
You feel it break down
Make you stay while I wait
This is how a heart breaks

Oh yeah
This is how a heart breaks
Oh-oh-oh
This is how a heart breaks
I can't take it
How a heart breaks
Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah
This is how a heart breaks
This is how a heart breaks
Oh-oh

This is how a heart breaks
This is how a heart breaks

About me

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 3:21 PM

About me ummm let me think ……….

When I look in the mirror I see three people, the man I am, the man I ought to be and the man I want to be. The conflict between these three tears me inside. But the day these three become one is the day I will conquer the world. Pain is an integral part of my being, my existence. Pain I believe is good it makes me feel alive. The existence of pain lets me enjoy those moments of life to the fullest were I am at one with my self and the inner conflict ceases to exist. Other times it helps divert my attention from the inner conflict that is a continuous part of my existence as a human being. I live my life in search of moments of bliss moments where every piece of my jigsaw life falls in perfect harmony, even if only just for a moment, a nano second in the moment, that fraction of time I can see what I am in search of here. That glimpse no matter how brief I realise what my vocation in life has to be.

I am a nomad in the wasteland of my dreams. Looking for an oasis where my dreams will fructify. I dream of a day when I can chase the sunrise and swim with the whales, Dance underwater with the mermaids and race the clouds. A day when I would be free of expectations, desires and am one with my dreams, a day when I am free. ……

These dreams may sound impossible but then u are forgetting one thing and that is that impossible is just an opinion. Your opinion ……. If Icarus could fly with wax wings, if Neil Armstrong can walk on the moon, then who is to stop me from chasing sunrises and sunsets.

In short I am a dreamer addicted to life, its dangerous combination, I am always waiting to explode, to charge at the horizon chasing an impossible dream climbing an impossible mountain. But then hang on if you can, I promise you that this journey, if you keep up, will be an interesting one.

Life for me is an incompetent mugger who even though fails to mug me, still leaves me with nothing at times and at time with more than I can handle ………. Life is also a beautiful bitch who stomps all over me but is still hard to ignore and still stunningly beautiful. So cheers to life and her addictions.

I love to ride, I live to ride, the wind in my hair, sun in my face feeling that comes from hurtling down a well-paved stretch of tarmac at insane or ridiculous speeds is a high that can never be explained but only experienced. I live for my dreams, my family and my friends, not exactly in that order. They have given every thing to make me the man I am today. Love to eat love to cook, I think the most romantic thing any one can do is serve his or her loved one a hand cooked dinner with a nice bottle of wine and lots of flowers. Love to rock climb, the feeling u get hanging of a cliff 120 feet high with only your fingertips is a rush that puts your entire life in perspective. Love to spend time with my friends, goof around, play practical jokes, play silly games, or just simply laze around. I love to fall in love the feeling of being in love with some one who cares for u the same way u care for them is ecstasy personified.

I aim to achieve one off two things by the time I’m forty-five, head my own agency or travel round the world once. The Wanderlust inside me can only be quietened by the achievement of an onrush of a big high.

That’s all that I can say about me for now because I also believe I am a work in progress, constantly evolving, constantly changing, improving and growing with every moment and experience. To know me you’ve got to walk with me, journey through life with me …………





Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare.
Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.

What does freedom mean to me???

1 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 4:56 PM


We recently celebrated our independence day, august 15th came and went just like every year and a lot of official functions were held a lot of buildings hoisted the tricolor and a lot of little toddlers were very happy as they got lots of sweets to eat and got a holiday from school. The significance of independence for most adult Indians has decreased. The generations that fought the colonial powers to over throw their yoke have long gone into the mists of time and those who saw people dying to secure their freedom are in their twilight of their lives. The current generations were born into a free India and breathed free air. They grew up getting used to having every thing their way. But they also grew up in a socialist environment, in an environment were the government decided what they will wear, what they will eat and what they will see on the television. Don’t get me wrong, Nehru’s conservative policy gave nascent India a lot. Majority of our infrastructure set up was due to that policy but it also limited human choice, but the most harm that policy caused was in the fact general Indian citizens looked at the two national holidays of most significance as a sort of official holiday not something that was to be celebrated by the common man. For people these became just two more days were a person could take a break from work and stay at home.

Freedom for me means a freedom to err, freedom to make mistakes and learn from my errors. In today’s environment of terror and stringent security the values of freedom and most important the right to make mistakes has been the most compromised. Today we cannot sneeze in the vicinity of a sensitive installation without being jumped upon by nervous security who thinks you are a terrorist with a new weapon. Today mothers cannot carry liquids on board aircrafts for their babies without tasting it in front of the security in the airport. The President came to visit our campus and we couldn’t carry our room keys in our pockets. We couldn’t have pens in our pockets and could not shake hands with him. Is this the kind of freedom that our fore fathers thought of us to have, one that we aren’t considered of any significance and one that does not give us the freedom of committing error?, where every human being, every citizen is guilty and looked at as a potential threat till proven innocent through means off a very demeaning body search. The world we live in today is fraught with dangers, it has become intolerant, it is starting to loose its patience. A country that was a welcome haven to any one wanting to make it their home today looks at fear at any gathering of minority communities. Our tolerances to the fallacies of our friends, neighbors and our fellow citizens have gone down. A minor spat on a railway station leads to a burnt railway carriage, and wide scale riots in one of the most progressive states of the country. One statement in favor of an anti-dam movement leads to the banning of a movie starring that actor. In today’s time women cannot roam free in our countries capital, in another metro, girls and boys standing together or just talking to each other are frowned upon. We live in a world where Hitler’s fundamentalism seems like child’s play. Young men and women are ready to go to war for some imagined utopia and kill innocent bystanders for a higher cause. They are ready to blow them selves up just to prove a point and hijack planes and crash them into buildings to make a statement.

Leaders fear to reach out to their followers for fear of being shot at or being blown away. People getting on trains and planes give up prayers for a safe journey. People from certain geographical areas or following a particular faith are strip searched in the name of security. One of the most monitored as well as liberal countries had to face the wrath of fundamentalists when its heavily crowded public transport system was bombed last year.

This might sound as a rhetorical question, but what has our world come too? Why have we become no intolerant to each other? when the world is facing other dangers has highly temperamental weather patterns, the uncontrolled growth of diseases like cancer and HIV AIDS we are creating problems that we all could do without. Intolerance leading to fear which in turn leads to paranoia which leads to mistrust, and violence against fellow human beings, all engineered to further some petty human interests.

We have reached a place and time in our history where the threat of big brother is very real and very omnipresent. We have involuntarily given up civil liberties, the freedom of speech and movement and other such assorted rights that our freedom fighters from Washington, to Jefferson, to Nehru, to Gandhi, to Nelson Mandela all fought very hard and long to secure just so that we can protect the same rights. Is this the world we want to live? What kind off legacy are we going to leave our children? Are we going to teach them that hope and dreams and free enterprise were utopian subjects that they were to high objectives and us humans to lowly to keep them so we took them away from our selves?

I agree the choice is very difficult, keep living life as we are used to and let others keep hurting our children, keep blowing buildings, cars and let anarchy have a shot of taking a place in our lives, or we give up all the freedoms and rights that we hold dear and allow some one of debatable authority to tell us how to live our lives, and dictate history and time. In the first case how long can morality and decency hold out before anarchy and chaos descend on us and ruin all these years of hard work. But the alternative isn’t that pretty too, let the governments take total control of our lives, let security agencies go over our private lives with fine tooth comb with softwares like the fabled “carnivore” from FBI. Evolve into a world where human beings lack free will and free speech. Develop into a species that has two distinct classes one which tells us what to do and the others what to do and when to do, what to eat where to go.

How did we get to such a point in history? And are these the only choices that are available to us. I really hope not, with them life just doesn’t seem worth all that pain and heartaches. There has to be an alternative to these and we have to find them soon or we will end up being something that we dare not contemplate. I leave u with a song from Green day

"Boulevard Of Broken Dreams"

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,
Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
What's fucked up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah
Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I walk alone
I walk a...

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone...

The world is slowly spiraling out of control and it is up to us to decide what freedoom means to us do we really think that the world is worth living as a free citizen or as Greenday sang we become Jesus of suburbia with no one worth trusting and no one able to trust another human being.

So can you answer me now as what does freedom means to you????

cycle of life

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 4:32 PM

this not some thing i wrote ........................... but love it so here goes and hats off to the author

Wouldn’t it be great if the whole circle of life was reversed? I mean, look at the way we live our lives – we have the best of times in our childhood and great times at the threshold of entering the world of adults. The remaining part of our dutiful lives is spent toiling at some place earning loads of money to buy expensive clothes and splurge in exotic foods and other such nefarious worldly pleasures but never as happy as when we were during the innocence of our younger days.

I read a comment of a comedian some time back and this inspired me to muse that all is not right with the way we age. In fact, it would be much more fraught with meaning and significance, not to mention enjoyable and gratifying, if only the whole circle of life was turned on its heels.

Here’s the right way to do it. You enter this lovely world as an octogenarian or a nonagenarian or if you have enough good karma from your previous births, you could even be a centurian. Straight into an old-age home. You can hardly walk, talk or involve in other such human interactions. At best you can successfully remove your dentures just before you go to sleep.

As the years move on, you begin to feel rejuvenated as your health improves dramatically. And when you’re all hale and healthy, you’re unceremoniously kicked out of the old-age home. It’s not yet time to celebrate, for with the newly found vigor and fitness is associated the despicable concept of earning one’s living. Now is the time for work and office and all that jazz. You’re around 60 by now.

At work slowly the responsibilities dwindle, which is an amazing concept in stark contrast to the existing norms. You begin to climb the ladder, downwards and there is no pressure on you to perform. Whatever you do, you’re going down.
Somewhere along the way, you meet a nice homely woman of your age and marry her. You may even have children… I mean adults.(Unfortunately, not all aspects of this brilliant plan have been worked out but I am sure that given the mysterious way the miracles of Nature work, stranger things have happened. For example, President Bush was reelected) Fifty is somewhere around the corner or perhaps you just passed it. The usual razzmatazz of midlife crisis hits you and you are seen philandering with older women.

See, now, when you leave for work daily, with that perfectly knotted tie and that charming blue shirt, you know that somewhere down the line you will be fired from the office for being too young to continue working. Which is awesome because that is like the worst thing that can happen. By then it’s time for college. You get to choose whichever college you want to go to because ultimately it really doesn’t matter what you learn at college anyway. So basically this means partying and sleeping. “Karmanyevaadi kaaryasthu maa phaleshu kadachane”. Your actions must not be done so as to expect the fruits in return. Yeah right. There are things which are said and there are things which are done. Proverbially we know which is easier.

College is a blast and before you know it, you hit 18! High school! Young love. Maths! Hmm, yeah. Young love! Its brilliant. You grow through the awkward phase of adolescence as you unmature from giggling hirsute masses of body odour into cute cuddly unsuspecting bundles of naivette and innocence. Absolutely no responsibilities. Which is the most you can ask for as you live the rest of your joyous life pampered by everyone around you.

The last 2 years would be quite a hoot albeit it is debatable whether you actually know what is going on by this time, having lost the ability to make meaningful conversation or even comprehend language. Sign language is the best forms of communication. 9 months remaining, you are given the comfort of a heated room with room service and a lot of attention. Many people have killed for much less.
Finally after all this fuss, you fade away. Not into nothingness. Nay, it would be far too demoralizing for someone to lead his whole life just to disintegrate into oblivion. And it would just be plain wrong. So finally, finally, you become the quintessential orgasm that should have started it all.

Amen.

amen brother

59 years and counting...............................

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 2:54 PM


59 years and counting...............................

Let me tell u about my self, I'm an Indian. Ok I know what u are thinking hyperbole, and its attendant extremities are going to land now. But it’s true, I think of my self of as an Indian first and last, and I feel proud about it too. We did a lot of things wrong since the first steps taken on that fateful night in 1947, but we must have got at least one thing right that we got so far. You’ll agree I hope(if not, who cares). We stumbled, we tripped, we fell, but every time we got back on our feet with a promise to make it right, when the whole world waited with baited breath for us to stumble and fall and stay there. I mean this mish mash of geographical, religious, ethnic, caste aggregate should have ended as a collection of homogenous and independent entities, not the existing melting pot which maintains a love hate relationship amongst itself.

We went off in to space, (at least two of us did, though a lot of us are high at most times), we conquered the mighty atom (oops........ I didn’t know it could do that) built the worlds most efficient rail network (it goes where?), created a postal system that even though it mails letters to wrong addresses with a scary consistency or misplaces them altogether, will deliver a letter addressed to Darkness, Bombay, India to Andheri in Mumbai (not kidding), and the amazing thing is we show flashes of brilliances and a mind boggling range of idiocies at the same time. And we still manage to overcome all expectations and hurdles laid in our way. We borrow technology to make commercial grade automobile steel from other nations but we have managed to build a mach three capable cruise missile, Bhramos(the tomahawk's history) get the gawky and laughably light 4th generation fighter Tejas off the ground. Built a satellite launch system that even the Chinese can’t beat for price, and oh least I forget the world’s largest shanty town that even the Brazilians can only look at and envy. We try to scam on the coffins we buy for our soldiers, but we still have cab drivers who return bags full of money to their rightful owners.

we quibble about quotas in higher education, but still have the highest rate of school dropouts, but still manage to educate so many people that the world comes to us for managers, doctors and engineers. the best brains in the world in research, the best surgeons, the best scamsters too, amongst the countries with the largest growth with the most untapped potential too, we quibble, and quarrel amongst our selves about who sits in a stupid chair, but still the world sits up to take notice when we tend to even whisper some thing. with cities that have a history and a past older than the combined history of the Americas, we have developed welcoming guests and hospitality to such a fine art that even though we turn from grateful hosts to hooligans or plain criminal (cricket in Eden gardens any one or how about touts in Agra, or coolies of Delhi), people come here and fall in love and remain here for ever. we look upon sex and any and every discussion concerned with it with wide eyed disbelief, but procreate with amazing consistency and what’s more a country that holds some thing in such a taboo we breed like rabbits(you heard me right). But we take care of each of our brood with the same affection. The great Indian joint family has become an institution the world over and a savior for parents who both work at the same time. The support system it provides pulls people thru the direst of disasters. Yet some thing is always never right (did some one say female feticide?)

We specialize in beating the world in obscure games (cricket, chess), but can’t manage a gold at the showcase Olympic events. 1 sixth of the worlds population and we still can’t kick a round leather bladder efficiently enough to go to the world cup. at times we generate so much hatred in our selves that we are ready to kill former friends and neighbors (Godhra, Ayodhya riots etc) and brothers (Praveen Mahajan) and at others we give every thing we have and more just to rescue another soul in distress (Mumbai floods, blasts, Gujarat earthquake, tsunami) the entire gamut of human emotions course thru us within the blink of an eye.

We are good, we are bad and most important we are every thing in between because we are human beings, and in spite of our fallacies we built a nation, of greats. Sure we have a large number of impoverished people in our country, sure some of us look at the females of our country as secondary, sure villages are rampant with the evils of casteism and communalism, sure we haven’t been able to feed all our citizens even after record grain production, sure even after 15 years of reforms our system has more red tape than used in all the gifts they pack for Christmas and sure the levels of corruption we see in our system is mind boggling.

But you know what it really doesn’t matter and the reason is no matter what the status of woman in our country we were I fact the second country to choose a female Prime Minister, we were also ones to have instituted a program to fast track food grain production, as well as milk production. and what ever the evils of caste and religion we are still the worlds largest functioning democracy, our army has always stayed staunchly apolitical and our soldiers so good that they some times border on superhuman. We have defied aggressor after aggressor internal and external. We have given the world so much, CV Raman, Amartya Sen, Gandhi, kautilya, chess (there's that game again) Buddhism, Geetanjali and Zero (0, zilch, nada, naught)

The most important reason of all no matter what is wrong with her India has always stood firm, Gia, mother, Mata call her what u want she has always been close to perfect for me and given me my hearts desire, sure there are lots of things to be done, but then if things were perfect, wont you and I get bored living perfection.

raving

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 8:14 PM

ravings now tht looked and sounded like ravings, didnt they
well the dipict my mental state exactly, wht to say i think i m slowly but sure ly loosing it.

confused soul

0 comments Posted by vagabond dreamer at 8:11 PM

i dotn knw wht and why of my existance but the day i find out surely u will the first to knw, i do not for get people its the world that forgets me. i go around looking for love but its only misery that finds me

Get away from me, this isn’t gonna be easy. But I don't need you, believe me

dont ask me any thing tht i wont be able to give answers to??? i stubble from one blind alley to another trailing my troubles behind life for me is a incompetent mugger who none the less still manages to mug me with outh taking any thing with him