Entertainment

Favorite New Shows

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As a follow up to this post, I thought I would share two of my favorite new shows from this TV season.

Once Upon a Time, Sundays on ABC at 8 PM

The premise: the small town of Storybrooke is occupied from characters of fairy tales, only they do not know their real identity due to a

curse casted by the Evil Queen. Snow White’s daughter, Emma Swan, is the only person who can put and end to the curse or so her biological son says. She does not believe him. The best thing about this show is how the fairy tale world and the real world are so thoughtfully woven together. It is so great to see Snow White in her castle in the fairy tale world and to see the reality Snow White as an elementary school teacher. The little details are what make this show so fun to watch.

Revenge, Wednesdays on ABC at 10 PM

This show is my guilty pleasure. It is soapy, but honestly so addicting. Amanda Clarke moves back to the Hamptons to seek revenge on all those that wrongfully accused her (late) father of being a terrorist. It is so entertaining to see her taking down her filthy rich neighbors, one by one, in such elaborate schemes. The best part is that no one knows she is Amanda Clarke or that she is the one reeking havoc. I fully cannot wait until both of those things are revealed, which according to sources should be this season. Although I have to wonder how the show will go on after the big reveal. I am looking forward to finding out!

What are your favorite shows from this year? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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My thoughts on books turned to movies are quite clear – but once in a while, a movie comes out that lives up to the book’s hype.

I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over the holidays. I had no real expectations of the movie; my sister-in-law and I wanted to see it because we both read the books. But once I began looking for showtimes and came across the ratings (4 stars average) I began to get excited. Maybe this movie won’t be awful!

We were not disappointed. A few scenes were quite graphic and disturbing (I could barely read those paragraphs in the book, so you can imagine my state in the theater). The movie itself was a bit long (2 hours and 40 minutes), as they tried their hardest to fit all the details of the book. Of course this meant a few things were changed in the movie, but that is to be expected.

The real star of the movie was the girl with the dragon tattoo- Rooney Mara. She played the role of Lisabeth Salander so incredibly well. From the make-up to the acting, she was the shining star. I think she is well on her way to becoming one of the best actresses in Hollywood.

Did you see the movie? What did you think?

The holidays in pictures

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The holidays are now officially over and starting today, it’s back to reality. I spent part of the break in the Bay Area and part of it in LA.

Here are some pictures of the past few days:

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Edible holiday decorations in the Fairmont Hotel

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My new Kate Spade iPhone case that I wanted

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Watching my ice cream being made in front of my eyes at Smitten

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The tree in Union Square, San Francisco.

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A pesto crepe, with salad and seasoned potatoes on the side from The Crepe House

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A Diddy Riese cookie sandwich in Westwood, LA

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Pretty decor at a Mexican restaurant in LA

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Currently on my nails: Essie’s Bangle Jangle

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My winter attire in LA: tights, a dress, and sandals. Can’t beat 80 degrees in December/January!

How did you spend your holidays?

Here’s hoping that 2012 is an amazing year for us all!

Book Review: The Hunger Games

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I finally finished the Hunger Games trilogy and it was amazing.

It’s hard to describe what the books are exactly about without giving away the story. The genre is dystopian literature. It reminded me of a mix of The Handmaid’s Tale and Harry Potter. The former because of the dystopian elements and the latter because of the story and the world created by the author, Suzanne Collins.

While the main character, Katniss, did get on my nerves at times it was nice to have a strong, capable female heroine unlike Bella Swan.

A fair warning: the trilogy is highly addictive. Immediately after finishing one book, I just had to buy the next and so on.

The movie based on the first book is releasing next year. I cannot wait, but I hope it doesn’t have the same fate as most books turned into movies do.

Here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fye5Nwe4qeI

Have you read The Hunger Games? What did you think?

May the odds be ever in your favor. 

My love for fusion

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I absolutely love anything that is a fusion of Indian and American styles. I can’t really explain why, other than that it is so quintessentially me.

I have just as many garba/bhangra/Hindi film tracks on my iPhone as I do Britney, Maroon 5, and Nicki Minaj. I enjoy chaat just as much as I love In-N-Out. My Netflix queue consists of Hindi movies and Gossip Girl. Fusion is just who I am.

Here are my favorite fusions in dance, music, and food.

Dance

I discovered this video a few months ago via Facebook and have yet to tire from it. The classical song selection remixed and paired with hip hop is brilliant. It doesn’t hurt that the dancers are amazing. My favorite part is in the first song when the beat kicks in. So, so good!

Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THx6CECK1dU

This mash up of Nicki Minhaj’s Super Bass and Mission Kashmir’s Bumbro is my current jam. I first heard this song featured on the Curry Smugglers (who are awesome! Check them out.) and I was instantly hooked.

Food

Okay, I love food so after much debating I’ve decided that my favorite Indian-American fusion food is tandoori pizza. Pizza is amazing by itself, but tandoori pizza adds such a kick that it takes pizza up a few notches. Besides don’t pizzas called paneer tikka or mango chaat make your mouth water?

Some of my other fusion favorites:

I found this cake on Pinterest and immediately repinned it with the caption “My future wedding cake”. Jokes aside, I love the mehendi-like designs on these cakes. They look almost too pretty to eat.

There is no better Indian-American fusion book than The Namesake. This is the book that started the Desi lit genre. It’s one of my all-time favorite books and it’s what cemented Jhumpa Lahiri as one of my favorite authors.

Do you like fusion? Why or why not? What are some of your favorite things in fusion? (It doesn’t have to be only Indian American fusion.) I’d love to hear your thoughts!

PS – I thought it interesting to note that I was inspired to write this blog post during this morning’s work out. Don’t you love it when inspiration strikes at the unlikeliest of times? I sure do. 🙂

Who watches TV shows on the TV?

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I watch a lot of TV shows and this fall I’ve added a few new ones to my roster (Pan Am and Revenge, particularly). This article, posted on Adweek, discusses how the ratings for many TV shows have been dropping. It made me wonder: who actually watches TV on the TV anymore?

Personally, in the past three years, I’ve rarely watched a TV show live.

Most of the time I watch my shows on Hulu or the channel’s website. If I do feel like watching the show the day it airs I DVR it, wait 20 minutes, and then start so that I can fast forward all the commercials.

It has a lot of advantages such as being able to watch a TV show exactly when I feel like it and not having to wait for a specific time and day. With people busier than ever, it’s hard to wait for a specific time and day to watch a show.

I do feel bad, especially when some of my shows have low ratings and are relying heavily on viewers. But then I remember that I don’t have a Nielsen box anyways.

I believe that the Nielsen box is an outdated audience measurement system. With so many different avenues to watch TV shows now like computers, smart phones, and video game portals Nielsen no longer paints an accurate picture of a show’s audience size.

How do you watch your TV shows?

Advertisements

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While brands and companies are focusing on social media as it reaches a wide audience for virtually no cost, I don’t think print media should be dismissed as a valuable marketing strategy just yet.

I’ve always felt that the best ads are ones that are creative, funny, and/or useful and educational.

I came across this interesting article on Adweek that showcases 10 great magazine ads. My favorite was the ad for the advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders because it also includes a QR code and the use of an iPhone. It’s an ad that intertwines all the elements of marketing, both new and old,  into something simple and sleek, all while restating the non-profit’s brand.

What are some of your favorite ads? Why do you like them?

Book Review: The Lovely Bones

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I picked up The Lovely Bones at a Borders going out of business sale for $3 about a month ago. I was always a little hesitant to buy the book because I thought the subject matter was too depressing. For those that don’t know, The Lovely Bones is told from the point of view of a 13 year old girl who was brutally murdered. She looks down on her family and friends on Earth as they attempt to grieve and also find her killer.

I started it the night I got it and I’ve yet to finish. Normally, I am a fast reader and usually have to pace myself to not finish the book in a matter of days. I’ve never not finished a book, even if I really disliked it.

The plot of the book is definitely bold and innovative. I think the main reason I don’t like The Lovely Bones is because of the author, Alice Sebold’s writing style. Something about it doesn’t mesh well with me. There are so many characters; the book jumps from one to the other so abruptly I have a hard time keeping track.

I am really disappointed as I’ve heard great things about this book. There was even a movie based off of it.

I will give it my best try to finish reading it, but I can’t give any guarantees.

I also picked up Passages: 24 Modern Indian Stories at the Borders sale. It contains work by Jhumpa Lahiri (my favorite author), Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, and so on..I am always interested in reading works by Indian authors, so I can’t wait to start it.

Has there ever been a book that you just couldn’t finish? What book was it and why?

Matchbook Magazine

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Magazines have been a way of life for me. From Seventeen and Teen Vogue and now to Us Weekly and People, I always love reading them. But lately, I’ve noticed that while it does give me my fill of celebrity gossip, I am left unsatisfied.

That all has changed when I discovered Matchbook Magazine. Matchbook Magazine is a monthly online magazine that features recipes, home decor, book reviews, fashion spreads, as well as interviews with inspiring women. Each issue comes out on the first of the month.  It has something for every young adult.

While I do love ogling at fashion spreads, I also equally enjoy reading book reviews and memoirs from amazing women worldwide. It’s great to have a magazine that caters to my varied interests.

Their tagline From lipstick to letterpress, gelato to grossain, and Paris to Peru consider us your field guide to a charmed life really hits the nail on the head.

Now to find a way to own everything that has ever been featured on Matchbook…that’s a whole other story!

Summer TV Shows

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It’s no secret that I am a TV addict. Since I was little, my family used to call me the walking TV guide. Every Sunday, I would devour the TV Guide (remember those?!) that came with our paper, reading it from cover cover. For the following week, I would be able to recite verbatim what time and channel any given show comes on. Now you understand why I got that nickname!

Of course, there was a hiatus of this during the summer. However, now many TV channels are coming out with shows to keep us occupied during the long, hot days of summer.

Alongside White Collar and Royal Pains, here are my favorite summer TV shows.

Suits, airs on Thursday 10 PM USA Network

Suits is a new show on the USA Network that adds a twist to the usual lawyer shows. The characters are great (especially the
bromance between the two main characters) and the dialogue is fast and witty. 

 

 

 

The Lying Game, airs on Monday 9 PM on ABC Family

The Lying Game is only two episodes in on ABC Family, but I was hooked after the pilot. The show is about two twin sisters who were 
separated at birth, now reunited, and searching for their birth parents. (Fun fact: both twins are played by the same actress, Alexandra Chando, who looks like  she is Nina Dobrev, of the Vampire Diaries’ doppleganger.)  One twin lives in a rich neighborhood, while the other has been bouncing around from foster home to foster home. It features great clothing, ridiculously rich people, and a good-looking cast..basically my kryptonite.  The plot is still slowly developing, but I am intrigued to find out what it is.

 

Pretty Little Liars, airs on Tuesday 8 PM on ABC Family. 

This show has been my guilty pleasure since it premiered last summer. The premise is simple: the leader in a group of friends is  suddenly murdered. The four friends begin receiving text messages from an anonymous ‘A’ who knows everything the dead friend knew. The girls are determined to find out who ‘A’ is, as s/he keeps blackmailing them and putting their life in danger.

The show is great replacement for when Gossip Girl is off the air in the summer. However, we are now two seasons in (the summer finale airs tomorrow) and nowhere near finding out who ‘A’ is. I’m getting a little impatient here! Sidenote: for those of you have that read the books or skimmed their summary on Wikipeda like me, don’t worry..the ‘A’ on the show is completely different than the books!

What are some of your favorite summer shows?