Compassion (less)

While at a cafe with a friend I came across my yearly predictions according to chinese astrological signs and it specifically tells me 'not to be too compassionate to others - take care of yourself first'. Maybe I should start following the saying or maybe I am already doing it. You can test your luck by asking me something that would involve me having to show compassion.

Later,
Amit

Scream

I am just sitting here wondering if I should just scream out loud or just scream quietly. Nothing much to report really except the fact that love life sucks and otherwise work has been uber busy.

'Would you like to buy this adult?'

Reworking of 'Rejected' has started and hope to have a good working draft in a couple of month's time. Music video is almost coming to an end - will get to know tomorrow where it is at.

Like a lonely shoe on the side of the road

That's me for now.
Amit

Vitals

Well - another busy week and don't really have the energy to expand my thoughts very much. I'll leave this post with 2 things - results of my fitness test and cooking.

I got my first fitness test done at the gym to see where I am really at with my overall health. Results were a mixed bag. My weight is 66.8 KG ; Fat percentage is 20.8% and my cardio levels are below average @ 34.5 on the scale and my resting heart rate is 71bpm. What it essentially means is that I am healthy but my cardio health isn't exactly upto scratch completely. According the trainer a month at the gym will make a big difference in my cardio health if I keep at it and that is what I intend to do.

I cooked my second thai dish, Fried Chicken with Holy Basil {Krapow Gai}, that I learnt during my time in Thailand. I couldn't find minced chicken so I just replaced it with boneless/skinless chicken strips. I took this:


and converted it into this -


The results might not look that great but it tasted bloody marvelous. A huge improvement over the first dish I cooked.

That's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

P.S - I have a new cellphone number - it is 021381914. I am still holding onto my old number for a while, so I can be contacted on any of the 2 numbers.

Man Wired

It's been a week since I last wrote and it feels like it's been a month already or something. Lots has transpired between then and now. First up was the house warming party which was great as Nic {the male part of the new couple in the flat} had a couple of bands come and play live music for us since he played in both those bands and it turned out to be a chill party. It got messy towards the end though as people do stupid things like throw blueberry cakes at each other - which we had to clean up the next morning anyway. I was the last one to go to bed at the party at about 4.30 AM in the morning when the last people left. Thankfully no one threw up in the house and no one created a nuisance either and it was good catching up with some old friends and meeting new people. The next morning was hard work cleaning up the mess but luckily Lydia - my other flatmate chipped in and we got through most of the cleaning in a couple of hours.

The band playing at our house warming party in our lounge

Trumpet player

People enjoying the music

Dancing on the floor

Magic

Dance floor converted into a table tennis room

People mingling and chilling

Acting classes are coming to an end - another 6 weeks and we are finished with them. It will be a strange feeling but it is good that they will come to an end - which would free up some time for me to pursue my film projects. Alex Samuel - a film school friend, has come on board as producer for the couple of projects that I am developing and we will be going to Mumbai, India in October for a business trip. I've gotten my leave approved from work and booked my flights straight away as there were some good deals going and my current tickets are approximately half the price of the tickets I paid for on the last trip. I am excited about the whole thing and the script reworking starts in earnest from next week.

Benji and me finished shooting the rest of the music video and it was a good experience as we went up the Sky Tower - which is the highest building in Auckland and shot a time lapse and also some other cool stuff. I have a good feeling about this music video. Benji finishes the rough cut next week and will take it further from there based on what's needed. Here are some of the pics of Auckland I took while I was up there on Sky Tower.

Auckland Downtown

City of Sails

Crossroads

Benji getting some shots

Louis Vuitton Cup overlooking Auckland

Rangitoto [adormant volcano] in the distance and you can see ferries going across to Devonport

Through the viewing glass

CBD Apartments

More apartments

A man enjoying the sunset

Illusions & Reality

Auckland CBD at night

Auckland by night

Benji after an exhausting shoot

Me - happy after the shoot

I've now tried 2 gyms and I have decided on the one I like and my fitness regime kind of starts later this month. Time to get fit and improve my stamina as well as get my aerobic capacity up. Lance and me found a few new tennis courts which are astro-turf and playing on them is awesome. We've had a few games and will probably have more I've sold off my Nintendo Wii and paid off my credit card bill that was overdue because of all the extra shopping that I did in India. I watched 2 movies in the meantime - 'Man on Wire' & 'Valkyrie'. 'MoW' was an awesome doco and really pulls you into it's dream and it enforces the power of dreaming the impossible and then going about achieving it. 'Valkyrie' was a good thriller and surprisingly well made and well acted but it misses a couple of emotional beats because it doesn't explore some key motivations and philosophy. I is still an important historical document of sorts. Well worth a watch.

Louis Vuitton Cup is taking place in Auckland and I walked down to the viaduct to catch up with Lance's family who were enjoying the afternoon there. It was a fun way to end what has been a hectic week and I am tired and glad to have a couple of days off now.

Me - searching for Lance's family

Brothers & Sister: Lance, Tania & Max
Explaining something

Louis Vuitton Pacific Series - NZ'ers love their sailing

That's what a long day can do to you

A live mannequin

Sharing a joke and cracking up

Yeah - it was a pretty funny joke.

Till later,
Amit