Henry’s Crime

Not such an ordinary career

I didn’t even know he was in UK, let alone scheduled to be on TV – even though I’m not obsessive but maybe my crush is starting to mellow even further? My cousin (the one who originally introduced Keanu into my life, lol) texted me to say he was on TV right now and I thought he was being funny as usual. But he really was on TV! Keanu Reeves was on the Graham Norton Show, but sadly I missed it and had to wait until they uploaded it onto BBC iPlayer to watch it. He was so funny and entertaining (bless him!) and I am totally not being biased as my cousin also agrees with this, lol. You can see the Graham Norton interview here.

He’s over in the UK at the moment to promote his new movie ‘Henry’s Crime’ which is being released in Europe before America. Firstly I like that we get to see it before America and secondly, how bad do I feel for realising that he had a new movie coming out? Clearly I am a horrible fan! He mentioned that he’s going to be living in the UK for the 7 months or so (yay!) as he’s shooting a new samurai movie called ’47 Ronin’. I may plan a trip down to London (Hello stalker Saima!)… which would be pointless as I would never approach him anyway. Meh!

January 14th was the release for his new movie ‘Henry’s Crime’ which he produced and starred in … and I was rather tempted to go on my own as I really needed a break from university. Thankfully I didn’t have to go on my own as my lovely cousin Sara accompanied me (Thank you Sara!!!). I enjoyed the movie (like my opinion counts, clearly I’m biased) but it left a few questions unanswered. Post movie we had lunch at Frankie and Benny’s and then went to pick up Bilal’s birthday cake for his party the following day.

So yes, I got my Keanu fix but he does seem to be popping up everywhere lately – being interviewed on various radio stations including Radio 1, on early morning BBC news, as a guest on the BBC’s ‘The One Show’ (where again he was funny and charming), on the Graham Norton Show as well as a fair few of his movies being shown on TV such as Constantine etc.

One topic that kept reoccurring in all his TV appearances was the 'Sad Keanu' phenomenon that happened back in June/ July last year. (See this last post). Every single time he got that question, without fail he was charming, smiled and answered as if he had never heard the question ever before. He stated that he wasn’t really sad, he was just having a sandwich and yes, looking back it does seem pretty funny. And credit to him as I know I would have got annoyed answering the same question repeatedly knowing that it nothing to do with the real reason of why he was there. Bless him!

One of my favourite comedians

Yay for Micheal Macintyre!!! That is all :)

Darwin dating? Since when?

I read an article in the Metro today which was advertising what an essentially a dating website for ‘ugly people’. In a society where everything is over policed and critically analysed these days, how on earth did this mange to slip through the net?

Those people that do sign up must be comfortable in their own skin but it raises issues of self confidence in my mind. Reading further on, the article describes how ‘Ugly Bugs’ (the dating wesbite) is a antidote to the popular ‘Darwin Dating’ – the dating website for beautiful people.

Again I ask, how was that allowed? Judging a book by its cover does not give you the whole story and personally I find objectifying people into distinct groups is a little unethical. I mean I’m not saying people don’t do it (as they quite clearly do!) but I don’t think we should be promoting it. The only thing in the article that did make me laugh was when I learned that the creator of the Darwin Dating website had his own profile reject by the site! Just deserts anyone?

Burrito anyone?

Imagine if you won a year’s supply of burritos at one of your favourite restaurants. You’d be happy right? I mean free food, what with the recession and all - you would be mad to miss this opportunity. Speaking of opportunities, would you think that free burritos would also provide you with the perfect dating scene? Not for you huh?

Meet James. He’s a 28 year old male. He lives in London. He’s single.

When James won a year’s supply of burritos, he thought to himself, why not share this gift with other people.... other people who happen to be single ladies that would be happy to go on a date with him in order to obtain their free burrito. Simple enough.

Except afterwards he would then rate how the date went, the atmosphere, rate you, your company and your burrito eating skills... and then post it up online for others to read and comment on, along with a picture of you taken during the date. I have to point out this was all agreed beforehand, so all the ladies knew what they were letting themselves in for.

It sounds horrible being rated online like that BUT (...and here is my guilty secret) it does make for a highly addictive read. I know I’m horrible, but I think it is a pretty creative project and definitely fun to follow. Honestly and I don’t even know the guy!

Yay! It’s DT day

You get a date that has the same digits for the day, the month, the year... and well people always want to make something of it. So as today is the 10th day of the 10th month in 2010, naturally people would assume it to ‘DT day’.

DT as in David Tennant as in the 10th Doctor in the BBC TV series ‘Dr Who’ – Seriously how did you not see that? :P





Sad Keanu meme

Before I begin this post, can I just say that my crush on Keanu Reeves is completely my cousin Imran’s fault. I mean I hadn’t even heard of the guy before my cousin lent me a DVD of ‘The Matrix’ which I sat down and watched with them. Still nothing! But then I watched it a second time to understand the story and something just clicked. I was 14 the first time I watched ‘The Matrix’ and now ten years later, I STILL have a crush on him. Other people have been and gone after him but he stills seems to be kind of hanging around I guess. I mean it’s not like I’m an obsessive fan, I just like watching his movies, even though other people give them really low reviews, lol. Okay, seriously I’m approaching my mid-twenties next year, so really I should stop this Keanu stuff now. Right?

Where was I? Oh yes, the point of this particular post. That same cousin posted this on my Facebook wall a few days ago and at first I didn’t get it so I googled it, lol.

The story goes that some paparazzo snapped a picture of Keanu Reeves, whilst he was sat on a bench eating a sandwich, alone. Certain people felt that he looked rather sad in this particular picture and decided to send messages to him, telling him to cheer up. Pretty soon the original picture of Keanu was then photo shopped into different scenes, some of which were really funny – the good kind of funny, not the bad.

More details can be found here.

Well firstly, I don’t think that Keanu Reeves really is sad to be honest. I mean we all have our ups and downs in life and yes Keanu Reeves has had a sad life, but come on… the guy was just having a sandwich on his own! Seriously how is that proof that he is depressed? Secondly, I smiled because upon seeing a ‘potentially sad’ picture of Keanu, his fans cared enough about him to try and change this situation, not that this would have direct effect on him! The point is I admit that he may not be the best actor out there, but despite being in Hollywood, he is a nice guy and people recognise that and feel connected somehow.

So yes some of the photo shopped pictures are pretty funny. No he’s probably not depressed but it’s nice that people care. Surely that is worth smiling about? Knowing that so many people care?

I replied to my cousin that it made me smile and he told me to check the link properly. It still brought a smile to my face. You’re probably wondering why do I like seeing my favourite actor sad, right?

Awww, bless him!

Would you dare to wear spray on clothes?

In one word – no! Personally I have normal clothes and they suit me just fine.

Also looking at the pictures in the article, I think the guy lab just looks a little bit TOO happy to be spraying the liquid fabric onto the nearly naked volunteer. I’m pretty sure the female writer (Laura Stott) just wanted to get her kit off, lol. Maybe she’s an aspiring model and thought this would be a great opportunity: P

Jokes aside, as a technological advance in textile technology, I have to say it is pretty interesting. The spray is a mix of short organic fibres that bind together to form a solid material, without the need for any stitching or weaving

Eventually when it will be put into production, costing about £10 a can, which is not bad. The material that you spray on can be to your own designs specifications and it will certainly be one of a kind. The texture of the fabric can be varied as well as the method of applying the spray to produce new styles. Once the material has dried it can be washed and it is removable, just like normal clothing. It is also ecologically viable as it can be dissolved and reused to make a new item.

But where would be see it fitting into our clothing habits? Would it even fit in here in the UK or would it be better off used abroad? Any ideas?

WORLD CUP!!!

This year’s world cup has been a bit of a surprise and it started on a funny note with this. Personally it was disappointing for me in that every team I supported didn’t make it through... England, Argentina, Germany - all such a shame! Spain were this year’s (unexpected?) winners and congratulations to them :)

Some people just couldn't handle their win though. Shame really.  This last article I found particualrly funny because this female TV presenter previously completely blasted her footballer boyfriend live on national TV... only to do a complete u-turn when they won the world cup. Loyalty, eh?

Crop circles

I think this looks pretty cool?

And no I don’t believe in aliens… but just to be on the safe side  ;)

Britain’s got bhangra

Saba: Hey I found this thing online. Do you want to go?
Me: Err, yea ok. Who’s in it?

Saba: *Looks towards to computer screens*

Me: *Peering over her shoulder* Oooh that DCS* guy? He’s good! Yes let’s go!!!

Clearly DCS* was a major selling point for me, lol. I love them as a band so hopefully this will be good too. I hope.

We booked tickets for auntie Naseem, Saba and I and off we go. Prior to the show starting, we had a dance group performs some of their routines in the foyer of the Yorkshire Playhouse. It was a mix of Asian and English ladies who made a real effort and were actually pretty entertaining. However there was this one female asian dancer who kept focusing on us with very direct (and alarming) eye contact and facial expressions towards both Saba and I. Trust me, it was disturbing at the time! We filed into the theatre and the show started – unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures but it was a great show and enjoyed by everyone regardless of whether you were Asian or English. The jokes translated well, it was colourful, the performers gave it their all and overall it was so much fun and such a laugh. I mean come on, an evening of bhangra – what’s not to love?! :P I could sit her all night typing out funny dialogues but it wouldn’t be the same and you would get bored. Plus you really have to be there, absorbing the atmosphere which is why I would urge you to go and watch it for yourself.

It’s had some pretty good reviews here and here, plus here's a YouTube clip so you can see what kind of things are involved in the show.

*DCS (Desi Culture Shock, the band) not DFS (the sofa making company) as someone misunderstood earlier when I was telling them about the show, lol.

Photography by Jonathan Griffiths

British Photographer Jonathan Griffiths and his interesting subjects :) ...

This last picture is my favourite :)

Nahiiiiii!

For those of you that don’t know me, I may have a small crush on Keanu Reeves :P Ok, so maybe he can’t act as well as others but isn’t he just so handsome/ pretty? Lol

My cousins’ love fuelling my crushes so when Saba forwarded this email to me, I should have known something was up. I mean come on; even hotmail knew this message was dangerous for me!

How could you Saba?!

Wah!!! :'(

Read the full article here.

You want to know what the bad thing is – I quite like Charlize Theron as an actress and so it makes it very hard to dislike her. Damn! Saba said they make such a cute couple... and I’m afraid I might have to agree :(

The new doctor

So here it is, Matt Smith’s turn as the new doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. Verdict – everyone seems to like him and doesn’t seem to have let the side down. His version of the doctor seems to fit with the story and everyone seems to like it. Everyone including my family...

I agree with Sob Phupho... his head is an odd shape :P

And yet even though I also think he is good, for some reason I think that my admission is a form of betrayal. Why? Because I still have a soft spot for David Tennant :P lol. I even refrained from commenting on family FB status updates... as I’m still childish like that :P

But yes I will admit, Matt smith is great new doctor. Will he be even better that David Tennant? Perhaps for some, but for me personally, I’m saying no for now. But what do I know... I mean I am utterly biased towards the Tennant camp anyhow ;)

Zoomed in food

Clearly I am procrastinating, but honestly how fun are these pictures?

Find more of them here. 

Death note

Ok. I’m not really into manga/ anime films as I haven’t really had many opportunities to watch them. But I came across this movie and well… I really liked it.

You can see Ryuk flying in the background

I just enjoyed the story; the whole premise of the movie, the actors etc, so much so much so that I just had to go and download the second part and watch it before I go to bed. My favourite character was the shinigami, Ryuk; the angel of death. Err, I don’t know how that reflects on my medical aspirations but if it’s any consolation, Ryuk turns out to be a good guy towards the end. Phew!

It’s funny how I watched part one with my mother who is my usual movie partner at home and she just wasn’t that interested in the movie. Part two I watched with my father (which is very rare occurrence!) and he ended up really liking it. It reminds me of one of the funny things that my father does. He doesn’t really like us watching TV too much or Bilal playing on the playstation and yet at the same time, he’s the only one that buys us numerous DVD’s and games on a regular basis. Aah, I love my dad :)

Anyhow I’m wondering off the point. Deathnote – I’d definitely recommend it, if you don’t mind watching movies that have been dubbed into English or reading the subtitles etc.

Disney Cartoons

A bit of fun, but I have to say, somewhere along the way these cartoons do have some sort of hidden message. And we grew up watching these cartoons, hmmm...

SRK on Friday night with Jonathan Ross

I don’t know if this is the first time if a Bollywood star has been on 'Friday night with Jonathan Ross' but it is definitely the first time Shahrukh Khan (SRK) has been on any British terrestrial television show. Judging by the tweets on the night, a lot of people were excited by his appearance on the show. It actually made the trending topics list in the UK so very cool I suppose.

A bit nervous to start with, SRK soon relaxed, talking about his new movie ‘My name is Khan’, the recent (and unnecessary) controversy and other life stuff. My favourite moment has to be when Jonathan Ross asked about his home life and how it works out for the kids and what religion they belong to as he belongs to the Muslim faith and his wife is a Hindu. With everyone expecting a deep and meaningful reply (to further fuel recent controversies as mentioned) it was refreshing and very funny when SRK replied with ‘Well we’ve confused the shit out of them, that’s for sure!’

Other guests included Lorraine Kelly and John Barrowman (love him, he is such a funny guy!). The exercise machine with all the guests trying it out was hilarious and the Copacabana karaoke at the end with Barrowman singing was very funny. A genuinely good show and it was nice to see that everyone loved it – asian or not! Friday nights just won’t be the same without Jonathan Ross seen as he’s decided to move on, but here hoping he finds something equally fun to do. Also I may not be a huge fanatical fan of SRK but at the same time I would like to see more SRK appearances over here as it makes a nice change :)

'Friday night with Jonathan Ross' can be viewed in the following part one and part two.

SRK on Twitter

Clearly a hit with the British public :)

Really like this one tweet of SRK's. Good, don't you think? :)

CBB winner

I honestly don’t watch Big Brother (BB) anymore, not after the first few series and I couldn’t even name the last few winners - that’s how much it’s dropped off the radar. But what with it being the last Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) this year, I thought I’d give it a go. I mean it’s not going to last the whole of summer like BB usually does, CBB only lasts like 2 weeks or something doesn’t it?

Anyway I’ll admit my favourite to win was Dane Bowers and I did think he had won it. DJ Basshunter aka Jonas was my second favourite to win but not very likely, so it was a bit of surprise when Alex Reid actually won! After all the controversy surrounding him (I was indifferent, lol), I really didn’t think the public would vote for him to win. The country went mad when Peter and Katie announced they were splitting and post divorce you were either Team Price or Team Andre. After her divorced, Katie went back to the jungle (where it had all begun with Peter) to gain ‘closure’, but the public hated her and made her do every single bush tucker trial whilst she stayed there, lol. Therefore by that same token, logic says that Alex Reid, the guy dating Katie would get treated the same way and probably wouldn’t get very far on CBB.

But who would have thought it? The man who was booed in, ended up being cheered on his way out and being declared winner of CBB. How unpredictable are the public? I have to admit it was a good watch this year and Dane, Jonas and Alex had some excellent moments in the house; Dane’s ‘nightmare’, Alex’s tanning session, Jonas’ ‘romance’. Even though Alex is a great guy, I still think Dane should have won. In the exit interviews, Katie made an appearance saying that she’s misunderstood by the public and clearly she only dates good guys (i.e. Alex current and Dane and Peter her ex’s), which made me laugh and begs the question; why would you leave a good guy? Lol. Anyhow in the interviews everyone discussed their plans after leaving the house and talked about this and that… until they got to Dane. Dane just sat there and said he had no idea what he was going to do after leaving the house and because he’s such as sweet guy, I think everyone had the same response and simultaneously went ‘Awww, how cute!’

Dane Bowers :)

Trending topics on the night just showed how popular CBB was this year!

Anyhow the point of this post was because I just wanted to talk about Dane Bowers really. And to be honest, I don’t really remember him when he was in his group ’Another level’ but I do remember his solo singles with Victoria Beckham etc. That’s about it really and so I suppose my liking is not really based on much, lol. I must however apologise for this post taking an unexpected turn towards Katie Price and her weird lifestyle. Normal service will resume shortly!

A national treasure...

I admit it! I adore Stephen Fry!!! I find his QI series hilarious and watch it every week as well as following him on Twitter and regularly reading his blog. I realise this makes me sound like a stalker but I really do love listening to him and watching him on screen. He’s funny, intelligent, articulate and is a genuinely compassionate person. The BBC series; ‘The secret life of a manic depressive’ in 2006 was an amazing show to watch in which he shared his experiences of the illness he has suffered from for so long. It sounds a bit weird but I think it made us like him even more, the fact he was willing to share the bad as well as the good bits of his life. Additionally he helped raise awareness for sufferers of mental health disorders and in turn he received a wealth of supporters who admired him for it.

‘Stephen Fry in America’ was a fun series to watch as well as his movies such as Gosford Park and also the various wildlife documentaries. He’s a wonderful writer as evidenced by his blog, autobiography and various novels and has a fantastic sense of humour. I even went back and watched some of his earlier work with Hugh Laurie. I love the fact that he is willing to fight for what he believes in and if he ever does slip up in any way or thinks he is in the wrong, he will never back away from an apology.

One of the images I have of Stephen Fry is when he advertised Twinnings tea as that is how I see him, relaxing with a cup of tea – very quaint and very English, lol. Also rather randomly one of his other adverts; Direct line (with Paul Merton) also seems to stick in my mind, although I’m not entirely sure why! So a British actor, comedian, television presenter, writer, film director; err, have I missed anything? I mean seriously is there anything this man cannot do? But why am I telling you all this- because I have turned into something of a stalker and wanted to share it with the world? Partly, yes but more so because I’m currently watching the NTA’s on ITV when I should be doing my uni work (major procrastination!). I’ve just watched Stephen Fry received the ‘Special recognition award’ and it brought a huge smile to my face. Thoroughly deserved and I can’t think of a better recipient  :)

With regards to the NTA’s, other winners that I was pleased about were David Tennant for best drama performance (Woo!) and the Dr Who series for the best drama – again totally spot on, although it has to be said I may be somewhat biased :P

One of the Tweets on the night that made me giggle :)

An Indian Winter

I am absolutely loving Channel 4's Indian winter theme this year. Whether it is enjoying the movie Slumdog Millionaire, watching Gordon Ramsey cook proper Indian cuisine in Indian’s top restaurants and mahals to the dhaba wala’s at the roadside or watching Kevin McCloud explore the fantastic architecture of India, right down to the slums that a significant proportion of the population live in. It has made the cold winter nights a little bit more colourful and staying in (while I get on with my uni work) a little bit more fun. Channel 4 is definitely worth a watch this winter :)