A few weeks ago I had realised that there were no Hollywood in Bollywood films on the horizon. Could it be? Could the Slumdog Millionaire franchise actually fail to produce another saccharine feel-good Hollywood blockbuster? Are there no more Americans that need to travel to India and “find him/herself” and return a changed human being for the greater good?
And then just like buses, three films come at once. One I’ve forgotten about already. I couldn’t face the Helen Mirren cooking one. But the baseball one seemed palatable, not least because the hunk (haven’t said that for a while) from Mad Men was in it. Enter… Million Dollar Arm.
Sexual assault against women in India, particularly Uttar Pradesh, seems to be taking turn for the worst as rapists become emboldened by the lack of police investigation and political sympathy in favour of the criminal. In the last fortnight four women have been raped and hung from trees by their own dupatta (scarf) or sari.
These crimes are outrageous enough but even more so are the continuous foot-in-mouth statements from the chief minister of the state, his father and a growing chorus of male chief ministers from other states. I watched a TV discussion on NDTV (channel 511 on Sky) where a representative of the UP government repeatedly stated ‘what about men who are wrongly accused?’
Love! A fabulously exclusive Lebanese restaurant (what, you didn’t book weeks ago? You mustn’t have any friends this side of the pond darling). A little darker than I like for a restaurant but phew, the tables are lit well
Of course in New York you have to go for brunch. I have plenty places to recommend but my favourite is one that you don’t go purely to eat. You simply must try the Beaumarchais in the West Village, New York.
Don’t waste your time going there in the week, you have to go on a Sunday afternoon to get that truly bonkers feeling of turning repeatedly to people around you screaming oh my god can you believe this crazy place on a SUNDAY??
It starts off ok. A little bit pretentious and we were made to wait over 30
‘The world’s largest democracy’ cast more than 500 million votes over five weeks to decide who would win and take India roaring into the future and Narendra Modi came out on top with a huge majority. India has spoken. Decisively.
For the first time in 30 years Indian voters helped create a majority government blasting the incumbents to an insignificant minority. Right wing and Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) had long been tipped to win the election but most Delhiites I spoke to last month were sure that they wouldn’t have an outright majority and would inevitably have to form a coalition of sorts. My goodness was everyone shocked, it was time for a new generation. Even former MPs that had held on to their safe seats for 15 years or more were ousted for the first time.
If you were going to make the USA your biggest enemy, shhhurely you’d plan your travel arrangements a little better? One way ticket to Mars anyone?
Edward Snowden’s grand whistleblowing revelations have not saved lives and were not super urgent so why did he not fly to a safe country before making his announcements? He could then skip along to the respective embassy that he would apply for asylum and hey presto, relief and a new start while the USA initiated life-long legal proceedings for extradition.
Earlier this week Rosa Parks became the first black woman to be honoured with a life-size statue in Washington. The first statue commissioned in 140 years in the USA, President Obama said it was because of civil rights activists like Rosa Park that he is President.
But only in the USA! For those of you that don’t know, NKOTB stands for New Kids On The Block. They former boy, now man, band have teamed up with Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees (whoever they are) and will tour the whole USA in the coming year.
Whilst researching their website for their non-existent London tour dates
I’ve never seen a bullet and I’ve never held a gun. I am of course British where guns are not the norm. After the awful shooting incident at the school in the USA the gun debate is back in the front pages over there.
The Mayor of Newark, USA, appeared on a talk show recently showing his Calibre Collection: a collection of bracelets made from melted down guns and bullets seized
Four years ago, Barrack Obama won the greatest ever Presidential victory known in modern history. I never believed that I would see an African American sit in the White House as President of the USA.
Memories of euphoria, of utterly disbelief and of hope filled the world. I do wonder what emotions will fill the world after this election?
The Nobel peace prize already began losing credibility, just like the Oscars, when it was awarded to the newly elected President of the United States of America, Barak Obama. This time the Nobel committee have gone one step worse and awarded the prize to the European Union.
The long drawn out explanation included praise for being democratic, for not being at war and for sticking together at times of crisis and conflict.
With not long to go before the US presidential election, some have declared today the day that Republican candidate, Mitt Romney lost.
Mitt Romney was filmed at a fundraiser sneering that he didn’t need to care about the 47% of Americans that don’t pay federal income tax. Subsequently, whilst it appeared that he was embarrassed by the remarks he only apologised for the tone and not the content.
Is Julian Assange a hero of democracy and freedom of speech or someone who fell foul of technology like a celebrity who didn’t think before hitting ‘send’?
Technological improvements and new product launches promising instant and global communication pour out across the world almost monthly. We are still naïve about the reach of the mass communication tools in our possession often to our detriment as recipients of fines for racist tweets are finding out.
Did Julian Assange honestly believe that there would be no consequences
Six Sikh worshippers were killed in the USA today by a ‘domestic terrorist’ and this is only days after the gunman broke loose on Batman fans in Aurora, Colorado.
After awful atrocities like these there often appears to be much hand-wringing and squirming amongst politicians who at once want to show sympathy whilst distancing themselves from the gun law debate.
Across the USA, there are a number of camps set up by an Atlanta-based non-profit organisation that exists to empower girls aged 10-16 to express themselves through rock music.
The girls -only music camps were set up to encourage girls to let go and, through encouragement and professional volunteers, form a band, perform, write lyrics, learn basic rock instrument chords and go crazy-wild
It’s Met Ball time yay! I’m sure it’s great fun actually being there but since most of us weren’t why don’t we all pour over the fashion instead? I’ve picked some of my favourites – when they’re good they’re really really good but when they’re bad… they’re shocking! First up, the lovely hostess:
Anna Wintour here wearing Prada with a lobster embroidery. Must have been great on paper.
The London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has intervened to ban a right-wing Christian group’s adverts going up on London buses. The adverts were apparently a response to another group’s advert: Some people are gay: Get over it!
British people love success but not too much of it. Is being overly successful vulgar? Don’t worry though, the British critics will get their knives out to cut you down to an acceptable level. This is what I believe is happening to Julian Fellowes and his new TV drama about the Titanic.
You may have read about the alleged killing spree that Staff-Sergeant Robert Bales went on in Afghanistan killing seventeen people including women and children as they slept in their houses.
It is news today that the US government paid compensation to the remaining relatives of the deceased but it was news over the weekend
New York was the fifth best friend in Sex And The City and who didn’t fall in love with it? Well, for $9.65 million Carrie’s apartment can be yours. It’s only £6,171,654.21 with today’s exchange rate
An increasing number of Americans are willing to fly even 100 miles to get to work every day, most at their own expense as professional struggle to get employment.
Perception of distances and our tolerance of travel are open to change.
Oprah Winfrey caused a stir in India this week as she visited Mumbai, Agra and finally Jaipur for the literature festival. As I checked to see what one of the USA’s most influential women has been up to since The Last Show I was intrigued by this enquiry on her website:
Are you a middle class woman in Mumbai? Are you a typical middle class woman living in Mumbai who can you talk to us about what it is like to be a woman in India today? Do you have an opinion about how women
Extradition is a hot topic at the moment as Sarah Ferguson avoids being sent packing to Turkey for exposing a brutal orphanage and Richard O’Dwyer is appealing against his extradition to America for listing a numerous sites on which you can watch new American series for free.
A story that may have been buried in all the season’s festivities about the US Senate trying to force Twitter to close/block accounts believed to be registered to terrorist groups such as the Taliban and Al Shabab from Sudan. Reports have also claimed that Israel has threatened Twitter with legal action if they do not close Hezbollah accounts.
So…free speech is only okay with the expressed permission of the USA.
Nasa have identitified a potential new planet Earth, currently named Kepler, for future Earthlings to colonise and ruin. It will take them 600 light years to reach there so I hope we manage to create warp speed in time.
Can you imagine the type of people who would colonise it?
In the USA only three out of eight of the Republican candidates for the next presidential elections believe in the scientific basis for evolution and some have even portrayed scientist as perpetrators of a massive hoax.
As Unesco members voted overwhelmingly in support of independent Palestinian membership the USA decided to show everyone who the daddy is by withholding its funding
An interesting new trend from NYC sees men squeezing their size 11s into the latest designer heels and it seems that the sky is the limit as to how high they will go and how much men will spend. Of course many designers don’t produce styles in larger sizes so some of these guys have spent $3,000 on custom designs.
New drugs to selectively wipe bad memories are being debated in the US. Controversial to say the least, these drugs have been developed to help trauma victims wipe out their experiences and are being touted as potentially more effective than therapy. However…I think their potential for misuse is wide.
Our personalities are made up of memories, good and bad and whether a memory is bad enough to be wiped is subjective.
The Guardian reported a new craze of divorce parties taking place in the States to help women get rid of their possessions, make some cash and give to charity – turning a negative into a positive and so on. It’s sort of the theme that runs through a movie I watched over the weekend, First Wives Club.
This movie is on constant repeat on Sky and Freeview but it’s such a gem of a movie I love it every time (such as last Sunday). It’s a hilarious movie starring Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler
I’ve had an unhealthy interest in china tea cups since I was a tot and was pleased to read the latest Wedgewood news in The Independent’s business section. That, however, is not so interesting but this is: it is hardly known that the original founder of the pottery company, Josiah Wedgewood, was one of the first active supporters in favour of abolishing slavery in Britain.
Many States in the USA have reduced the regulations regarding fireworks sales in order to increase demand and hence income from licences and taxes. Perhaps their most special friend, Britain, should follow the example so we can all light fireworks to help raise funds for the pension gap and the NHS?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released on bail and freed from house arrest as the case against him collapses thanks to his victim’s past and our prejudices.
The victim has a shady past and so now, according to an article in the New York Times, although the police privately believe DSK probably is guilty it will be a difficult case to win. The police compared it to cases such as when prostitutes are raped where the perpetrator can often get away.
I read an interesting debate recently about country attitudes to cars and their cities. The main comparison was between European cities and the USA but I will throw my experience of being a seasoned Delhi rally driver into the mix.
It seems that while Europe is becoming increasingly hostile to cars, theUSA is researching better ways to help drivers have a less stressful experience
The Obama campaign embarked on a cheeky way of raising cash by laughing at the people who demanded to see his birth certificate to prove he qualified to run for president.
Now that Enemy No 1 has been killed can we all go back to normal now with international civil liberties? Will governments now claim that Al Qaeda is even more of a threat as they seek revenge for the USA’s revenge killing in this Abrahamic tit-for-tat?
Ashley Judd has been getting some stick Stateside for making comments about rap music containing sexist, misogynistic lyrics.
Ashley has had to apologise and rephrase her comments as she got more attention than she anticipated but I find the debate surrounding the story interesting.
A seven-year-old has had plastic surgery in the USA (where else!). When I first heard the news I was horrified .. then it transpired that all she had done was have her ears pinned back – check out the result below.
Her parents’ motive was to prevent their child from being bullied.
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