speaking in 'code'

there was a time when the 'big boss' and i spoke to each other by spelling at least one word in each sentence...

all parents go through this phase where they want to say something to each other and don't want their young ones to understand what they are saying... and we are not talking about the parents getting lovey-dovey or anything! we're talking about things like
- i need to G-O O-U-T for a while
- let's have some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M tonight
- please keep the C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E-S away from his (our son's) visual range
- etc. etc. (you get the drift, i assume :) )

well, like all other good things in life, this phase too comes to an end, when one fine day we have our son talking back to us and telling us firmly that 'i am not ready to S-L-E-E-P yet'!

we went through this phase once again. with our daughter this time. and this time our son too joined us speaking in code, feeling mighty proud of himself!

but history repeated itself again and we realised our 'speaking in code' phase has come to an end when our daughter (who hasn't started learning to spell yet) piped up the other day at the dinner table, when we were trying to reason with her older brother about when he could have his share of the C-H-O-C (a shorter code version of chocolate, of course) in the fridge, saying, 'oh, is the C-H-O-C in the fridge? can i have some too?'

oh well... it was good till it lasted! :P

mamma mia!

just got back from the movie 'mamma mia! the movie'....

you can't help but get the feeling that you've just watched a slickly made bollywood production... except that it was dubbed in english! :P
bollywood's arrived in hollywood!

there's drama & melodrama, romance, music, songs, dances and a wedding! no i am not talking about 'hum aapke hai kaun'! :P

the movie, mamma mia and not hahk, is a 'stage-to-movie' adaptation of the 1999 west-end musical by the same name. the plot revolves around a bride-to-be (amanda seyfried) who's living with her single mother (meryl streep) on a greek island. she wants her father to attend her wedding. she finds her mother's diary and finds out that there are 3 possible candidates who could be her father!

she invites all 3 of them for the wedding using her mother's name hoping to identify her real father immediately... but she can't... and then the rest of the movie is all about a lot of songs and dances and the story unfolding! the plot is weak and limps along between the songs...

most of the songs used are from the successful pop group 'abba'! these include the popular ones like mamma mia, dancing queen, i have a cream, money money money, chiquitita, etc.

the cast includes pierce brosnan (of james bond fame), colin firth, stellan skarsgard, amanda seyfried and others... all the actors have played their roles quite well and have even lip synched very realistically! :P
but the show-stealer is most definitely meryl streep! even at this age (she's close to 60!) she packs so much energy and life into the role... she runs around, prances about and dances with abandon like a 20s-something-year old! in once scene she actually jumps up on the bed and manages a split (i am talking about a leg-split as done by dancers)...
she carrys almost the entire film on her shoulders!

so go for the movie only if you are an abba fan! its a must-see for you...

for the rest of you, its not a bad movie... worth watching even if you are a bollywood movies fan... you will identify with it! :P
and its definitely better than most of the bollywood movies currently playing!

p.s. did anyone guess who's the real father? i don't think even the script writer knows! :P