Sunday, May 17, 2009

birthday celebrations and a movie

i know, no long time no post... but fret and fume not, i'm still here! :)

this one is actually two posts in one!

i just got back from a fun-filled day... i had gone with my kids to attend a kid's birthday bash... and i thoroughly enjoyed myself...

now children's birthday parties are not exactly my cup of tea, those of my own kids included... and spending a full sunday attending a birthday bash is definitely not my idea of a sunday well spent... the lord had asked us to rest on this day and i prefer to take that word quite seriously... so what if i am not of the same religious leaning, or if i don't exactly follow most of the other commandments as seriously! :P

in this case the kid's parents had organised a day of adventure for the kids at an adventure camp at rivertrail (ecomantra) at kolad. its about a 2.5 hour drive from mumbai on the mumbai-goa route and is located next to the river kundalika. the kids had a whale of a time canoeing, kayaking, and playing in the river. and the parents too couldn't keep away for too long and we all joined in the fun. nothing like a dip in the cool river on a hot summer day!

the brochure of the camp tells us there are many more activities available at this place and it is ideally located for a group of families to spend a fun-filled adventure weekend.

i am sure i am going to wake up feeling sore all over tomorrow, but it was worth it!

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the second part of this post is about a movie a friend and i wanted to see for a long time which we finally managed a couple of days back...

we wanted to watch train-spotting long before slumdog millionaire was released but we finally managed to watch it only now... this was the movie which had accorded danny boyle with a cult status long before most of us heard about him after his latest offering...

train-spotting is definitely not for the weak-hearted... but if you like gritty edgy films, this one would get slotted right up there! it gives you a peep into the dark world of heroin addiction and the youth sub-culture in the early 1990s. (the film is set in edinburgh). the film is graphically violent, morbid in parts and dark in the true sense of the word. it follows a group of youngsters who choose to opt out of a regular career-based life that society expects everyone to follow for a messy drug-driven chaotic existence. and it then traces the steady deterioration of their lives.

in the end the main character played by ewan mcgregor decides to clean himself up, but you are left wondering whether he's just jumped from the frying pan into the fire!

if you are into films and especially the hard gritty ones, which don't necessarily end happily and giving you hope, then don't miss this. the others can give it a very wide berth!

4 comments:

Preeti Shenoy said...

Trainspotting is on my list. But i quickly skipped the part of your post where I presume you're giving spoilers!
Kolad sounds good.
Good to see u back:)
Cheers
preeti

Guruprasad said...

@ preeti : i never give out spoilers. but how would you know till you read what i write when i write about films? but then it means taking a risk, right? :)

aMus said...

birthday party at an adventure camp? that sounds fun...almost like a picnic ;)

trainspotting on my list too...

Guruprasad said...

@ suma - let me know if you liked the movie, ok?