So I’m in Mumbai a.k.a Bombay & thus it is a perfect time to mention Bollywood dance numbers - one of the best things about India. Here is an awesome recent one with an great song that has been the Official Theme Song for My Trip. I saw it on MTVIndia one night & the next day heard it again on a car stereo & was hooked.
I bought the movie too (Movie Night Soon!) & it isn’t bad (a little cheesy of course) & is full of amazing eye candy - Hellloooooo Priyanka!) and even more importantly great song/dance numbers. This video covers pretty much everything great about Bollywood dance numbers:
great outfits
spectacle
ridiculous yet inspired choreography
and finally, pure joy
That last one is it actually, there is something about a musical (& India seems to be state of the art) that just does JOY perfectly….
‘deep
.ps be home soon & very much looking forward to it
.pps “Salaam e Ishq” translates to “Love’s Salute” I think.
So I’m an American & I’m traveling in the third world (maybe India is somewhere in-between by now) & I feel it is important that I represent! So I’m trying to use a hugely disproportionate allocation of resources while I’m here. But it really isn’t easy.
To wit:
Showers: It is very very hard to take 1 hour scalding showers when it is 4 milion degrees outside. Though that is in Celsius, so it is only like 2 Million degrees Fahrenheit. (& with the wind chill factor it’s like 1.9999 Million degrees F.)
In my past few trips abroad, I’ve discovered my favorite way to travel. I love it & India is a country that supports it fully. See the world, experience it as fully and immersively as you can (or as much as any tourist can) but share it with your friends as you do it & without compromising the experience itself. (I need a good name for it - electronic umbilical? e-travel?) Well one good way to think of it is travel with my Lil’ Electronic Friends. (DeepLEF?)
Those of you who don’t like their cell-phones or don’t check email when they can help it, you and I don’t see eye to eye anyway, so the joys of this will be lost on you, and shouldn’t you be putting more coal in your calculating-engine to keep it running while you read this anyway? And check the inter-tubes for blockages while you’re at it
This is the deal: Place meets ‘Deep with his lil’ electronic friends: Mr. Cellphone, Mr. Computer, Mr. Thumb drive, Mama Net & of course a digital camera (neuter).
While I was in France I suddenly noted how much happier I was when I was in Paris rather than the South & thought “Yep! I’m an Urban Monkey”* but then I got to Delhi & can’t say I enjoyed it much (though I never really gave it a chance - I was in the “suburbs” with the fam fam.**)
In any case, I’m not sure Delhi is big enough for 2 types of urban monkey:
spotted these guys in Delhi downtown, just as I walked out of Spider-Man 3 (cousin had free tix & took the family)
It is tough for an avowed urbanist to swallow, but so far India seems much more beautiful and interesting outside the cities. Maybe this is what the U.S. was like in the heydey of the Industrial Revolution…
Anyway, I’m just south of Chennai (city #2) and in a beach town called Mammalapuram… more soon…
*to be fair, the weather in the SoF was rainy & so we spent most of our time in the car driving around, not nearly the fun possibilities of sun/bike/Paris.
* more fairness: suburbs is a bit strong, Gurgaon is more like adjacent sprawl. I would imagine Delhi has more nightlife and restaurants, hustle & bustle etc.
[Ed Note: click on any of the pix for all my Space Invader shots, or read to the bottom to get the full scoop AFAIK.] [Ed Note: Added a few new Space Invaders I found 5/5/07]
Way back in 2003, on my maybe 3rd visit to Paris*, I saw some graffiti off in the distance (here’s the shot) & thought - “Hey! That’s a Space Invader!”
Then I thought “Hey that isn’t paint - that’s tile work!”
Then I thought “That isn’t just surface tile work…they’ve taken the time to mount it INTO the wall!!”
Needless to say I was in love. Ah Paris
So now every-time I come back to Paris, I see more….
