The religion of GYMMING

I dunno what it is, but no matter what state i'm in, there's one thing that always gets me going - The euphoria of a good work out! Working day in and day out, late nights and weekends, all the stress in the world put together on one side - and the sweet ache of a pulsating, blood throbbing workout on the other side - it's a perfect balance.

The way i see it, i'm a religious man - only that for me religion is not big temples and structures and idols and flowers - its about pushing my body to a new level - 'working out' is religion to me. If we see it closely, work outs are like devotional offerings of a sort - a dedication towards a higher ideal. My Devotion. It is what i look forward to every day. Only difference between me and a 'religious' man being that, for me, MY BODY is my temple. I carry my temple along with me everywhere i go. And no matter where i am, i can always devote a few moments to it.
And just the way religious folk find solace in their visits to a temple/mosque/gurudwara, i find mine in a good work out.

You find people working out to get thin, to model, to look good, to fit in - Just like the 'DEVOTEES' who visit the temple coz their family thinks they should, or coz the cute chick from their colony goes there too.
The result in both cases: they drop out of the gym/temple routine in a few days or months and get back to the way they were before. Time lost. Nothing gained.

People say they don't find time. People say that they live a hectic life.
Ever hear a religious person say he doesn't find time for prayer????
It's all about prioritization. About FINDING time to do what you want. Those who want it, will find the time for it.
It may not be a full blown work out session at times - it may just be about taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or about walking home instead of taking the car (working alongside on the mobile phone), or doing a quick set of 30 push-ups before you take your bath! What matters is that you devote yourself to it. That you find the time for it.

I see people getting older day by day - even before they are 25! flopping paunches and lethargic attitudes, chubby faces and wrinkling skin, finding time to sit by the road side to take a breath and listen to their swanky i-pods - damn! they make my grandmother seem like RAMBO to me! Aging has hit them even before they crossed their youth! why? coz somehow they find all the time in the world for everything else but for the only thing that'll last them their lifetime - their body!

I dont know why, but somehow, the concept of working out, as a religion to me is very appealing.
Its the only religion that i've know that has no barriers and discrimination. Everyone is accepted into the religion - Everyone with faith enough to devote themselves to their own betterment. Your caste, creed, birth, color - nothing bloody matters!

All that matters is the WILL to endure the pain that grips your lungs when you take that run beyond the last mile, the DETERMINATION to stop that iron from toughing the ground when you think your muscles have given up on you, the DESIRE to push yourself beyond the limits you've known, the OBSTINATE NEED to take on that entire set even when you sweat yourself dry and your eyes blur red.

And when you are done - it sets in.
A sweet euphoria. A dizzy high.
The aching pleasure of a prayer well done.

Yeah, thats how it is. And that... sounds like religion to me.

TERMINATOR PARODY!

absolutely hilarious parody of the TERMINATOR!

juxtaposing the TERMINATOR with JESUS!

absolutely amazing!

as they say--- "The greatest ACTION story ever told!"

;)

On fire and Blazing through

Sometimes you forget how lucky you are to be alive and breathing, to have limbs that function and a heart that beats. Sometimes you just so take everything for granted that you forget you are still alive. You don't realize that you are still THERE!

The last time i felt this way was exactly eleven months ago - and now it feels the same - on FIRE!

I don't know how it happens or why but it does - you wake up one morning just tooo grateful to be alive, and look at the world as you never did before.
Its the same old world, its your mind that has changed.

The way i look at it - the question that really makes the difference here is -

"WHAT'S MY LIFE ABOUT?"

come to think of it; we all live, we all breathe, we all work, we all earn a living, we all age, we all die. That's how it is with everyone. That's how it has been since mankind's earliest existence. People choosing the easy way out. The 'logical', 'practical' way and living on.
JUST LIVING ON.

Is that the life i want? is that the life you want? the path that's been trodden a zillion times - just another family man, just another professional, just another old man walking down the street? Is that all your life is about?

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE AT THE END?

Did you life a life worth living?

What makes your life special?
Have you been any different from those million microorganisms that a scientist studies under his microscope - doing all you have to do, just to LIVE ON till you FADE OUT and DIE?

DID YOU LIVE 'YOUR' LIFE AT ALL?

Sometimes it makes sense for all of us to just go on living every other day like it was just the natural thing to do - do your job, get the money, earn that living, meet your friends, be with family - end the day - wake up to the same.

Its SIMPLE. ITS LOGICAL.
It is the EASY way out. It is so much easier for us to live by those EXCUSES. That's what we have learnt all our lives! We've lived in a world of excuses.
I'm not saying that it's bad. All I'm saying that its the 'PROVEN & TESTED' way to live out a life and fade out and die.
Maybe that's just how life goes.

OR then.....
There is that ILLOGICAL WAY.

To dare to dream. And CHASE it!
To be on fire and blaze through!
To Throw out all the 'no you can't do this' and 'no you cant do that' from your life - AND LIVE YOUR LIFE!
Live your life the way you meant it to be!

The chances are you'll fall flat on your face, the chances are that you may soar, the chances are that you may get burnt, the chances are that you'll find them worth it -
but whatever the outcome, one thing is certain -
You'll have what very few men have ever had------- The conviction of belief!
The Feel of having LIVED. Having LIVED your life. Having made your little difference in this large mosaic of a zillion people living out their lives.

Maybe, when you are at the end, maybe an old wrinkly clump in an old creaky bed, you'll be able to say to yourself -

"Yes, I've lived.
I've lived it all!"

Dedicated to every copywriter in the world! ;)

this is simply fab!

if you know what copywriting is--- or even better if you are one--- u'll know why!

amazing video-- using scenes from the movie TAXI DRIVER - amazing laugh!

:)

MYSTIC RIVER: The best piece of acting you may ever see!

monkeyrating: 8/10

The plot is simple.
It is about 3 friends who grow up together in the same neighbourhood, in similar circumstance, except for an incident of childhood sexual abuse that still scars one of them (tim robbins). The characters, Jimmy Markum (Penn), Sean Devine (Bacon) and Dave Boyle (Robbins) that have all come to live their own separate ways, reunite following the death of Jimmy's oldest daughter, Katie (Rossum).

Clint Eastwood's directorial genius is eveident from the flow of the sequences right from the start. The summer of 1975- the retro, mid-town america comes out alive on screen right in front of you. In every scene, their character streaks arte as obvious as can be - the rebellious nature of jimmy, the submissiveness of dave, the 'evil' intent of the priest, the paedophilic cop - it's all as convincing as can be. And im glad it is so, coz thats what takes on the entire movie into the plot. Its like the perfect starter for a brilliant meal.

Fast forward to 25 years to the present day Clint Eastwood has framed 3 of the best characters to ever grace the screen. The story grips as Tim robbin's character - DAVE is haunted into adulthood by his childhood trauma, and he becomes a primary suspect when Jimmy's daughter, Katie, is found murdered. Sean, assigned to investigate the crime, and he finds himself facing both demons from the past and demons in the present as the circumstances surrounding Katie's death are uncovered.

This is where the magic unfolds. I shall confess that the story was just the average joe for me. I could very well predict all of it. But what kept me glued is the PERFORMANCE and the DIRECTION in every sequence!
(i add in direction not so much for the scenes as much as for the direction in acting terms)
SEAN PENN's depiction of a hard, edgy personality maimed by the death of his daughter is REAL. His sobs, his rage, his desperation, his cold determination, his tears - all his emotions and feelings - all of it - it makes you wonder if he ever ACTED his part at all! If ever an actor thinks he acts too good, i bet watching sean' performance in this movie would change his mind.
For soem reason i tried comparing his performance to SHARUKH KHAN and AMITABH BACCHAN... and it really made me smirk. Yes, they can surely come close - but SEAN would still be wayyyy ahead!

Moving over to another brilliant performer who adds to the experience - Tim Robbins. The confusion, the trauma within, the feel of the growing psychosis, the meekness of the character - post SHAWSHANK, he seems like the man who was made for the role. All together i can say this is a film BASED on the acting. The perfortmances are the true MOVIE. The tragic story of the loss of the youth is as real, full of human flaws, disturbances, prejudice and judgements as can be.

I am not much of a literature person but yes, having read a lot i cudnt help but get a hint of a shakespearean essence from the movie. The whole drama of emotions is very Shakespearean - as though it were a Macbeth/Othello set in the modern day america. The whole idea of simple human beings being cast into a ocean of strong emotions and its consequences and that being the Theme is overbearing - typical to shakespeare.

AND YES - the one thing i hate (and love) about CLINT EASTWOOD - the blooody philosphical OPEN ENDINGS! it's here too! and it kinda pisses u off a bit. wondering what the hell has happened!

Whatever it maye be, the movie was still goddamn worth it. The memory still remains, the experience can still be felt and the performances play on over and over again in my head even now! Yes, the plot is simple. But hell what a movie!

The official MYSTIC RIVER trailer:



SEAN's scene from the movie:



WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

We bury our sins, we wash them clean.

Single parenting. oh damn!!!

The day begins at about 8 in the morning - there ios this big white furry thing on my bedside thats pushing me. the paws kind of tickle. and then it comes--- licccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! thats big wet tongue slaps an alarm across my face and io wake up to these two stoopid little button eyes staring at my face.. as if asking me to wake up and smell the.. well - dog food!

I pull the little idiot back into bed, put one foot over him, pull the mattress back in shape and just pack in a little of my sleep back again. WOOOOF! there hje goes again! and now he's gonna be jumping all over me till i give in - i know that for sure!
A few minutes later a groggy, bedheaded me is pouring that PEDIGREE crap into his bowl and poof! its vanishing even before i look again!
Im off for my bath and now he's loaded!!!!

CRAP TIME!
' What goes in, has to come out! ' before the most dangerous law of nature comes into action i got to get going! I slip into whatever my hands find in the cupbuoard snap my fingers at the little jumping jack "diego, lets go!"
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSH! he's out of the bloody door even before i open it to the ends! running down the stairs, stopping, looking back at me for approval and running down again. JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! SCAMPER! RUN! RUN! damn! the kid is crazy! within a moment he is all over the compound just letting off steam before he lets out the call. By the time i reach the gate it bears his signature already. It's kind of amusing - the relieved look on his face when he signs the gate!
Stage 1 is over. Stage 2 begins.
I dunno what is it with him, but he's just got to build up enough pressure before he bombs away.
You can see people walking by the edge of the road while this godzilla pup of mine runs havoc over the street. chasing every cat he lays his eye on and barking at the dog thats 5 times his size (shhhh! dont tell him thats a cow, he thinks its a dog that never barks!)
and ah! he stops. looks around. and right in front of the neigbouring colony's gate - BOOOOOOOOM! radioactive waste finds home!

25 minutes later we are home again. I grab him by the ears. wrestle for a while. and yup, im off to work, barking off instructions to the maid on my way to work. CRAP! im late again!

EVENING.
It has been a crazy day a work. A great time at the gym. and im back.
The door opens to barks! human and creature alike. A long list of complaints of what my son's done all day gnaws at my ears as i take off my shoes and head to my room.
OPEN SESAME!
Holy shit of sweet swearing jesus!
the room is a ruin! pillows on the floor, the cotton on the fan, new clothes are now sans the NEW, the bedsheet has an improvisation that can be termed as a leg hole, the shoes have an extra strap, my cds are now in portable pieces of 2 and 3's, the cd rack is a piece of modern art, the paintings i made are much more modern than when i left them, the phone charger is now a 'do it yourself' set, the paint bottles are broken and theres a new look to room floor.. and walls...
and yes! oh, there he is!
A god damn multicoured breed of dog that i swear i have never seen before!!!!! (but for those stoopid eyes that just look as confused as they did in the morning)

CUTTTT!

3 hours later the room is back to normal again. The night stoll is done and we are back home again. As i put off the lights, really bloody tired and crawl into bed... damn! he makes it there even before i do!
I just make a little place and put myself there. and this furry little godzilla licks me again - i dunno why it fels like he's saying sorry dad, but i love you too.
yeah, its kinda "i love you TOO" coz he knows for sure that i love him all the time.
and i just grab that idiot again. kiss him goodnight.
and tired as hell i fall asleep.

and so does he. 'Diego' - The little furry godzilla of a dog. Son to the most stoopid single parent of allllll time.

darn! i love him!