Here’s a little sum’n from Salon. But I must ask…frappe? What the hell?
Speed dating starts up in Bombay
Wealthy singles in Bombay are getting their first taste of speed dating, which works by bringing together a group of the unattached, and giving them three minutes to impress one another before moving on to the next potential date:
Organisers feel Mumbai was the right venue as it is India’s most liberal and cosmopolitan city. “Mumbai accepts a lot, its very tolerant city,” says Sandeep Shetty, one of the local organisers. Another organiser, Maha Khan, 25, a London-based British Asian who runs the Asian Speed D8, believes India is ready for speed dating. “I think cities like Mumbai are ready for a safe, informal way of getting to know each other face-to-face with a view to finding partners.” [BBC News]
Experts say the western phenomenon of speed dating is bound to find success in India, as it perfectly complements its centuries-old tradition of speed marriage.
BBC News: Speed
dating comes to India
Speed dating sites: Asian Speed D8,
BombaySpeedD8
Sepia Mutiny: By the Numbers
Number of Blog Posts on Sepia Mutiny: 1000+ as of today
Number of Comments: 5900+
Number of Fundamentalists (of one cause or another) that now hate us: 3598
Number of times my mom has started speaking in Gujarati because she thinks my phone is bugged because of SM: 6
Number of bomb threats at SM headquarters: 3
Number of times either Apul or I have met Rohini Reese after becoming bloggers: 0
Number of dates/lovin’ ANY of us have gotten because of SM: 0
Your continued visits to our site: PRICELESS (until you are hopelessly addicted and we can find a way to charge a price for this)
We at Sepia Mutiny would like to continue to thank our wonderful readers (except the prick that mailed us a picture of the Voodoo dolls of the seven of us). Earlier today we blogged our 1000th post. We STILL haven’t jumped the shark. We will all be getting s*it-faced in the basement of our North Dakota headquarters tonight. If you can find us you are more than welcome to join. Continue reading
Scene in New York
Just north of Manhattan’s Union Square (17th St. between Broadway and 5th Ave.), a small shop called Beads of Paradise has a big India display in the window. It’s the same old exotic schtick: saris, elephant statuettes, beads, you know the shpiel.
But the centerpiece of the display caught my eye: they’re selling some random desi family’s photos for half a G apiece so they can grace a Union Square trust-funder’s mantelpiece. Just imagine that poor family, the Griswolds of Rajasthan, cleaning out their attic and realizing some hippie’s snuck off with their family memories.
And what if we’d done it in reverse? Tourist in Delhi: ‘Thelma, come quick! I think I found cousin Edna’s bat mitzvah photos!’
Seen in San Francisco: here.
Indian film festival in LA
Pencil or Outlook in the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles from April 20-24, 2005. The organizers haven’t released the schedule yet, but they’re showing the newly colorized Mughal-e-Azam as well as Morning Raga (Shabana Azmi, Lilette Dubey; playing in New York at the Imaginasian).
Here’s the photo gallery from 2003 with indiephreaks Rahul Bose and Koel Purie, and the festival home page.
Desi MovieLink
A former coworker of mine from Microsoft just launched Masala Downloads, which lets you legally download and watch Bollywood films and cricket matches. The price is $2.99 for a 3-day rental, and the downloaded files come DRM’d (locked) in Windows Media format with a 3-day expiration.
The idea is convenient for people with fast Net connections who don’t live near an Indian movie rental store. And since those stores often rent out pirated copies, this concept is potentially as legit a rental as you can get. It’s similar to MovieLink and CinemaNow, which offer downloadable Hollywood flicks, and CrimsonBay, which serves up desi music downloads.
The films are high-quality rips of DVDs they’ve purchased. The site says it enforces DVD licenses; I imagine they have a ripped version on a server, buy several DVDs and block over-limit downloads until at least one outstanding rental expires. I can’t imagine they’ve negotiated with film companies for authorization directly, but maybe they’ve spoken with distributors.
The site is pretty young — it’s got limited selection and only takes credit cards via PayPal — but the concept seems sound, and the trial movie, a 15 MB snippet of Veer-Zaara, downloaded quickly. Check it out.
Bloggable things just happen to me
The bane of a blogger’s existence is that once you become one, once you descend into such a depraved state, EVERYTHING around you becomes a potential post. If you see a puppy you think, “how cute, but where is the blog angle?” Do something noteworthy puppy.
Last week I returned to my barber shop to get a much needed haircut (which by the way looks like ass today because my building seems to have no hot water for a shower). You guys seemed to like the story of my previous trip, so I thought why not post this one also. I sat down in the chair and proceeded to drift off. The buzz of clippers against my head makes me sleepy. I happened to have a very talkative barber though. After ten minutes he starts,
Barber: So man, what ethnicity are you
Me: I’m Indian actu…
Barber: Yeah that’s what I thought. I knew you were Indian. Were you born here or did you come over?
Me: I was born here. In Chicag…
Barber: Yeah I knew you were born here. You know how I knew? The Indians from India won’t let me anywhere near their head with a pair of clippers. They like big hair.
Me: Hmmm. You’re right actually.
Barber: Yeah. I don’t know what it is. At the most they will let me use clippers to clean up their neckline. That’s why I knew you were born here.
Me: Yeah, as a matter of fact when I went to India I stood out a lot because I have short hair.
I swear, every time I am at the barber shop I grow wiser. Continue reading
“Nightline” profiles desi Muslim comic
Last
Friday’s episode of “Nightline” featured an in-depth profile of attorney
Azhar Usman, an Indian-American Muslim who performs stand-up comedy. The segment
focuses on the role of religion in his act, and the reaction he’s received
from his family, the Muslim community, and audiences on the club circuit.
“Nightline”: Azhar
Usman Torrent (Quicktime,
19 MB, 18 mins.)
Requires a BitTorrent downloader — PC, Mac
Usman’s official web site hosts some choice cuts from his act: FBI Follows Me, Patriotic American Muslim, Spread by the Sword, Middle Eastern Characteristics and Criminal Defendants
Seen in San Francisco
Was walking through downtown SF earlier this evening and passed by this sign for the ubiquitous Club One fitness chain. Entry #1 under group exercises was mos def a hoot.
Pretty cool to see Masala Bhangra go from an “ain’t that special” sideshow into the leading entry on the advert posters for a major fitness chain. San Franciscans can now enjoy sweating to Daler every Tuesday Evening — any ClubOne mutineers in downtown SF willing to give us a first hand report?
UPDATE:ADS left an excellent comment on the Masala Bhangra post with a first-hand review — Continue reading
Jucier Matters
I have grown tired of blogging about right wing Hindu fanatics and responding to ignorant comments so I am going to come back to some Jucier issues. Like Daisy Dukes for example. Sonia Kaur tips us off to the fact that the director of the upcoming Dukes of Hazard movie starring Jessica Simpson, will be one Jay Chandrasekhar who is also credited with the script.
In other movie news, tipster Deepa Menon sends us a San Francisco Chronicle article about Ash filming in San Francisco. I am breaking my self-imposed ban on writing anything about Ash because my only alternative is to write about Modi.
Crews transformed a historic section of downtown Oakland into a tableau of bright lights and cameras this weekend as Indian super star Aishwarya Rai, the queen of Bollywood, filmed her latest American movie, “The Mistress of Spices,” about an Oakland shop owner trained in the art of healing with spices.
On Sunday, Old Oakland became a veritable outdoor set — complete with adoring fans clamoring for autographs — as the Legogo bargain store at 8th and Washington streets was dressed up as the lead character’s spice shop and an adjacent postal store did its duty as a taqueria. A parked taco truck played itself.
Some passers-by were enamored of the 31-year-old Rai, who was crowned Miss World in 1994 and whom actress Julia Roberts — with whom Rai is compared in India — proclaimed “the most beautiful woman in the world.”
All you Gurinder Chadha fans can rest assured that a very handsome white gentleman will be playing opposite Rai. Oh come on. Actor Dylan McDermott is such a hottie. But the real question is, “will they kiss on screen?” I so care. NOT. Now I will reinstate my ban on blogging about Rai. The only thing that will get me to break my pledge is if a story comes out that says her passport has an “E” on it. Continue reading
