क्या हुआ??

This movie was incredible! Though I will say, the music was ridiculously overdramatic, and the acting was overdramatic, and…well geez, it was just one dramatic movie. However, I have come to expect this, and yes…even love this common occurance from Bollywood films. The leading lady in the movie was the one, the only, Aishwarya Rai. For a while I didn't really like her, though that could be because my first exposure to her was the absolute nightmare called Bride and Prejudice. However, I thought she did a wonderful job in this movie.

Hum Dil.. was also an absolutely BEAUTIFUL movie. The sets and costumes were gorgeous. The music was very traditional, without the poppy remixes and flashy dancing. It was all very classy, I thought. And  the plot…oh my goodness. I'm not going to give anything away, but though the ending wasn't a complete surprise to me, I thought it was very appropriate. Oh and the romance, it turned out to be not very conventional…but it was romantic just the same. 

I love Bollywood films, they don't make things as easy as American movies. Not everything is as clean cut, and not everything works out perfectly for everyone. But I really feel like I gain something at the end. Maybe I'm just a sap, but dammit…I love Bollywood so much I could puke.

Being an asshole does not mean you're sticking it to society or the man or your mom. Being an asshole does not make a statement, except for "I am an asshole." 

And you're right, skateboarding is not a crime, but I'm pretty sure that blocking traffic is.  

Well, I'm getting this whole school transferring thing underway. I have my new email address (Which is bowere18 AT uwosh.edu, send me love!) and I've been trying to figure out what classes I still need to take to graduate. I'm estimating that it'll be a good two years before I'm out, depending on if I add on a minor as well. The biggest thing I need to figure out right now is if I'm going to be staying in Oshkosh for the summer or living at home and working butt off to get some dollahs. It's possible that I could take three classes that I need over the summer, which would be incredibly helpful, but expensive and very very time consuming. Which means I will not only be paying rent, but I won't have much time to work either as two of the classes are 6-9 pm and one is around noon. I'd probably have to work nights or something. 

Anyway, wish me luck with the upcoming stressors. 

My dad and I went to Guitar Center today and they had a really good deal on this pretty good acoustic guitar. He bought it for me and he taught me how to play three chords already. I think this is going to be a really great outlet for my creative energies. If I write any amazing songs, I'll post them for you guys. 

My acceptance letter to the University of Wisconsin: Oshkosh!!!!! I'm gonna take Spanish and Arabic and other classes and visit Chicago and hang out with my relatives and YAY. 

A skeleton walks into a doctor's office

The doctor says, "You're a little late."

1) Some guy getting pulled around on a skateboard by his EXTREMELY excited dog.

2) Some amish guys in the middle of town working on a house.

3) 80% of the people living in this house/apartment complex have red cars (including myself)

Apparently the University of Wisconsin: Oshkosh made a decision yesterday about whether or not to admit me. Unfortunately, they have a policy that they can't tell me over the phone what that decision is. So now I get to waaaaait until my acceptance…or rejection…letter arrives at my house. This is going to be reeeeally important because I currently have no clue what I'm going to do in the fall. I'm not going back to Stout, that's for sure, and odds are that I have not gotten into the U of M (though I won't for sure until June or July). So this is kind of my last hope aaaand if I get into Oshkosh I'll be within a reasonable distance of CHICAGO! Woo! Also, it'll be nice to be able to visit the family I still have in the Oshkosh area. Oshkosh is such a funny word

oooooooooooooooshkooooooooooooooooooooosh

I hope that letter gets here soon 

That's right, tonight I'm going to be putting on a radio show. I haven't done one in about a month, so bear with me. You can find the IP for my station at www.chasmis.com. Now, just know that it's not always up and running, because my internet is not that amazing. Right now I'm planning for an 8 pm CST starting time and I'll go until I'm exhausted or nobody wants to listen to me anymore. If you have requests, send the file to onthelabel@gmail.com BEFORE 8 pm. After I start broadcasting I literally cannot open any other programs on my mac. I'll be on AIM on my laptop if you want me to do any shoutouts or if you just want me to say crazy shit on the air. 

So! 8 pm CST, open http://216.222.166.54:8000 in whatever music program you so desire and enjoy the insanity. 

If you have talked to me for more than 10 minutes, you probably know that I'm an indiophile. Indian music, Indian food, Indian movies, indian men *cough* I, however, have never been to India, and I won't even pretend to know everything or even a 10th of everything about the culture or the country.

I do like to learn, though, so when I saw this show on the travel channel where this guy was traveling all through India, I thought "Well this will be very enjoyable and educational to watch." Though there was some beautiful footage, it was more of the bumbling escapades of an irreverant hollywood actor who thought he had some spiritual connection with India because he's done yoga and drinks chai.

My first clue that this guy was full of crap was after he went through some ritual in a shrine and started talking about how important India was to him, and the spirituality and blah blah blah. The very next scene had him in a taxi asking the driver how to say "Hello" in Hindi. Personally, I would have at least found out that kind of basic stuff before actually going to the country. Well, to be honest, I would have tried to be as fluent as possible, but I'm a language addict…so I may not be the norm. 

By this time, Mr. Washed-Up Actor has learned how to say "namaste" but unfortunately he's learned to say it wrong and he makes a point of saying it to every startled person and baffled little kid he can find…furthering the stereotype that Americans are idiots..or at least that actors are idiots, though I think that one has a little more truth to it. Then he decides to have his fortune read and of all things asks about his acting career, all while subtly mocking the fortune teller. And then he says "shukriya" wrong, oh god painful.

Then he goes to Kerala and visits Jewtown because I guess he's Jewish and wants to connect with his heritage. Basically there are 14 Jewish people left in this town…and of course he has to point out the Swastikas on the synagogue HOLY CRAP NAZIS…Yeah, the nazis kind of stole that, way to do your research, dude. Obviously someone had to inform him of this, because he announced it like he was the first person to ever know that fact. Then he says something like "There's this huge Jewish population that has gathered here." right after a scene where this old women tells him that there are only 14 left. Huuuuuuge.

A lot of these things are just kind of minor little annoying things, but what really pissed me off was when he started openly mocking people. He rented this boat/hotel room thing and when he arrived, the guy who drives the boat (boater? I can't think of the word) says "welcome welcome" in a very heavy Indian accent, because you know, he's from India! Wow! So what's the obvious reply? Well according to our idiot host, saying "welcome welcome" back while making fun of the accent! Very classy. I almost punched my tv screen. And then I counted at least two instances where he was making fun of the fact that some people didn't speak English, basically having fake conversations with them about football teams.

All this irreverence and disrespectful behavior was interspersed with his painful monologues about how connected he felt with these kind and loving people and all the love and warmth he felt everywhere he went. I have no problem with him saying these things, but it's his cocky and pretentious attitude that made everything he said seem very insincere. 

So take it from this guy, when you go to another country, don't learn the language, don't learn the culture, and make fun of the citizens as much as possible.