710 pm EST, 28 October 2010. A little over an hour left before I touchdown at Newark's Liberty International Airport. I left the San Antonio International Airport at 330 CST, so you do the math on how long I have been on this flight or will be. I look out the window and it has just turned dark outside. The light from the wing of the aircraft has just started flickering. I remember the famous ending line from the movie Up in the Air starring the irresistible George Clooney. "The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places; and one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over."
I saw the movie a second time this week. The first time I saw it was when I was "up in the air" going from Philadelphia to Frankfurt on my way to India this summer. Nice coincidence, isn't it? I was instantly impressed by it. After all the movie won several oscars, did it not? I'm trying to think what it was about the movie that I liked. I guess there were several things. First of, Ryan Bingham, the protagonist (played by George Clooney), is on the road (or should I say up in the air!) all the time. He has a job firing people (that's the tough part of the movie) and he LOVES TRAVELLING. Ask my wife if that sounds like me.
Numbers mean a lot to him (just like me again, also see my 10/10/10 post). In fact his very GOAL in life is a number. His goal is to accumulate 10 million miles on American Airways and become only the 7th person in the world to do it on any airline. And like all good movies, he does achieve it at the end. The sweetest part is he even uses 1 million of the 10 to send his sister and brother in law on a world tour as it is something that they would have loved to do but don't have the money to. Now, my dear sister in Indiana, I know what you are thinking but as you always say, "pirkaalathula paakalam" (let's see later!).
George Clooney looks great and his acting is top notch. And there is this cute girl (there has to be a cute girl for me to like anything!!!) who plays not the heroine of the film, but Clooney's colleague and whom he mentors and this time for a change I liked the cute girl not because she is cute but there is a certain element of strength in her character. She is a confident career woman who has a failed relationship and a big work idea that blows right in her face but after just a brief emotional burst, she retains her composure and bounces right back into life. She moves on. It's a kind of strength I have grown to admire in people and this character in this movie just brought it home again for me.
And then there are several other things. The movie has all the right elements. Funny moments, sweet gestures, poignant points and outright emotional events. The perfect mix of tones a successful movie must have. But more so the elements I think I have always associated with in life, even some of the moments I have truly lived, so to say. Even as I watched this movie a first time, it brought back to me several memories and associations from my own life. When I watched it the second time this week, I was completely consumed by it and at the end I was awestruck. And now it is clear to me why I like this movie. Up in the Air is so much up my alley ,or should I say, in some ways, Ryan Bingham was so "ME".
The flight attendant just announced that all electronic devices must be shut off and I will do that now. But before I go, I have just one thing to share. I called Continental Airlines yesterday and they told me that this flight I am on today will be the 30th segment I have travelled on their airline this year. And when I land in Newark in a few minutes from now, I will qualify for the Silver Elite status of the their OnePass Miles program. I still have a few miles to go for 10 million. And I will start that journey with my connecting flight to Philadelphia an hour later. But rest assured, Ryan Bingham, here I come.
P.S. Up in the Air just joined my all time favorite English movies after Shall we Dance, Indecent Proposal and School of Rock!
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 30, 2009
Good Grief!
Q: To begin with, how can grief be good?
A: I don't know but let's not worry about that.
Q: So what should we worry about?
A: Nothing. Don't worry, Be Happy.
Q: Be Happy about what?
A: Happy that this is a kind of first.
Q: Why is it a kind of first?
A; Because I have never done this before.
Q: What have I never done before?
A: I have never written a post within 2 days of publishing my last one, so it's a first.
Q: What was my last post about?
A: What Women Want...
Q: What will people think when they first read that post?
A: They will think it was inspired by wife.
Q: So wasn't it inspired by my wife?
A: Inspired, YES. She is my BIGGEST inspiration.
Q: But was she the reason for Grief?
A: No, not at all, it was just a series of stuff I saw and heard that led to my professional perspective on What Women Want...
Q: So what did I see?
A: For starts, I saw the movie, What Women Want (for the umpteenth time). And if you still haven't seen it, I still recommend it.
Q: And what did I hear?
A: I heard a joke about how women think from a well-known stand up comedian.
Q: And who might he be?
A: I am not mentioning his name. This is not a free advertisement for him.
Q: So it was a "He", wasn't it?
A: Yes, that is kind of obvious from the post itself.
Q: OK, let the last post lie, why is this one called good grief?
A: That is because I have had a lot of grief this week.
Q: And what, may I ask, that was?
A: It began on Monday, with a client, who gave me grief.
Q: Why did he give me grief?
A: Because he kept saying, "Hi so-and-so, How come you haven't given me any grief today".
Q: So that gave me grief?
A: Really, not that, but the fact that we were performing miserably on a project for this client.
Q: Oh come on! Wasn't the client being nice with his sense of humor?
A: He was being nice no doubt, but that did not take away the fact that we were performing miserably.
Q: So what did that mean?
A: That meant a few more sleepless nights for me.
Q: Really? How sleepless?
A: 2 hours of sleep is all I got on Monday night.
Q: Isn't 2 hours plenty?
A: Yes, it's plenty of grief.
Q: Oh, come on! Was it that bad?
A: Yes, given that, I had 2 flights to the same client's location on Tuesday and a 4 hour meeting that afternoon.
Q: So did I sleep right through the meeting?
A: I tried, but it was too hot to sleep.
Q: How hot was it?
A: Despite our temporary miserable performance, the client is giving us more work, that's how hot it was.
Q: So did I go party after the meeting?
A: Yes I did. Dinner on the riverside and then watching basketball and babes in a British bar till midnight.
Q: Quite a party, eh?
A: Yes, but that meant I didn't sleep on time that night either.
Q: 2 nights in a row is not that bad, is it?
A: It's bad if you have 2 more flights to ride on the next day.
Q: And exactly where was I off to?
A: Rochester, New York
Q: Wow, quite a traveller, aren't I?
A: I do what I must do.
Q: And what did I do in Rochester?
A: I spent a sleepless Wednesday night.
Q: And how did that come about?
A: The Phillies beat the Yankees in the first World Series baseball game and then there was this movie on TBS.
Q: Not again! What movie?
A: I am Sam.
Q: Amn't I Lakshmi?
A: I am Lakshmi, but the movie was "I am Sam".
Q: What about Sam?
A: He made stay up until 4 AM.
Q: Wasn't I planning to show up for work Thursday morning?
A: I was, at our corporate headquarters.
Q: So what's the story?
A: I was up at 7 AM and worked until 7 PM.
Q: Then what?
A: That was the best part of the week, I had a south Indian meal.
Q: So didn't that put me to sleep?
A: Not at all. I ended up watching an Indian movie.
Q: How would I watch an Indian movie at a hotel in Rochester?
A: Slumdog Millionaire.
Q: How is that an Indian movie?
A: Made in India, Indian movie.
Q: Didn't it get some Oscar Awards?
A: Yes, and I got another sleepless night.
Q: Didn't I Thank God, the next day was Friday.
A: Yes I did thank god. But for him I wouldn't
have made my meeting at 9 AM.
Q: And how did that go?
A: It went well, but that meant more work.
Q: So is it all work and no play?
A: No. It's all work and no sleep.
Q: Won't you get some sleep on Friday night?
A: Only if I get home on time.
Q: What's up with that?
A: My flight was delayed and I am now sitting on this plane, writing this piece.
Q: When will I stop writing this piece?
A: Looks like I won't stop writing this piece, because, my plane is landing in Philadelphia and the hostess didn't even notice I am still chugging away on my laptop...
Q: Now, will I break the rules and keep my laptop on through the landing?
A: No I won't. If I did that, I probably wouldn't sleep tonight!
Q: So did I shut off the laptop?
A: Yes, but only to open it again when I was on the shuttle back home.
Q: How is it working in the shuttle?
A: Quite a bumpy ride, but at least I will sleep tonight.
Q. How will that be? Won't I be up trying to upload this to the internet?
A. I will, but that will make me feel happy.
Q: Will this be the end of my grief?
A: No. But this is definitely the end of my piece.
Good Night. No grief...
This is an original post published on Oct 30, 2009 by Lakshminarayan Balasubramaniam.
A: I don't know but let's not worry about that.
Q: So what should we worry about?
A: Nothing. Don't worry, Be Happy.
Q: Be Happy about what?
A: Happy that this is a kind of first.
Q: Why is it a kind of first?
A; Because I have never done this before.
Q: What have I never done before?
A: I have never written a post within 2 days of publishing my last one, so it's a first.
Q: What was my last post about?
A: What Women Want...
Q: What will people think when they first read that post?
A: They will think it was inspired by wife.
Q: So wasn't it inspired by my wife?
A: Inspired, YES. She is my BIGGEST inspiration.
Q: But was she the reason for Grief?
A: No, not at all, it was just a series of stuff I saw and heard that led to my professional perspective on What Women Want...
Q: So what did I see?
A: For starts, I saw the movie, What Women Want (for the umpteenth time). And if you still haven't seen it, I still recommend it.
Q: And what did I hear?
A: I heard a joke about how women think from a well-known stand up comedian.
Q: And who might he be?
A: I am not mentioning his name. This is not a free advertisement for him.
Q: So it was a "He", wasn't it?
A: Yes, that is kind of obvious from the post itself.
Q: OK, let the last post lie, why is this one called good grief?
A: That is because I have had a lot of grief this week.
Q: And what, may I ask, that was?
A: It began on Monday, with a client, who gave me grief.
Q: Why did he give me grief?
A: Because he kept saying, "Hi so-and-so, How come you haven't given me any grief today".
Q: So that gave me grief?
A: Really, not that, but the fact that we were performing miserably on a project for this client.
Q: Oh come on! Wasn't the client being nice with his sense of humor?
A: He was being nice no doubt, but that did not take away the fact that we were performing miserably.
Q: So what did that mean?
A: That meant a few more sleepless nights for me.
Q: Really? How sleepless?
A: 2 hours of sleep is all I got on Monday night.
Q: Isn't 2 hours plenty?
A: Yes, it's plenty of grief.
Q: Oh, come on! Was it that bad?
A: Yes, given that, I had 2 flights to the same client's location on Tuesday and a 4 hour meeting that afternoon.
Q: So did I sleep right through the meeting?
A: I tried, but it was too hot to sleep.
Q: How hot was it?
A: Despite our temporary miserable performance, the client is giving us more work, that's how hot it was.
Q: So did I go party after the meeting?
A: Yes I did. Dinner on the riverside and then watching basketball and babes in a British bar till midnight.
Q: Quite a party, eh?
A: Yes, but that meant I didn't sleep on time that night either.
Q: 2 nights in a row is not that bad, is it?
A: It's bad if you have 2 more flights to ride on the next day.
Q: And exactly where was I off to?
A: Rochester, New York
Q: Wow, quite a traveller, aren't I?
A: I do what I must do.
Q: And what did I do in Rochester?
A: I spent a sleepless Wednesday night.
Q: And how did that come about?
A: The Phillies beat the Yankees in the first World Series baseball game and then there was this movie on TBS.
Q: Not again! What movie?
A: I am Sam.
Q: Amn't I Lakshmi?
A: I am Lakshmi, but the movie was "I am Sam".
Q: What about Sam?
A: He made stay up until 4 AM.
Q: Wasn't I planning to show up for work Thursday morning?
A: I was, at our corporate headquarters.
Q: So what's the story?
A: I was up at 7 AM and worked until 7 PM.
Q: Then what?
A: That was the best part of the week, I had a south Indian meal.
Q: So didn't that put me to sleep?
A: Not at all. I ended up watching an Indian movie.
Q: How would I watch an Indian movie at a hotel in Rochester?
A: Slumdog Millionaire.
Q: How is that an Indian movie?
A: Made in India, Indian movie.
Q: Didn't it get some Oscar Awards?
A: Yes, and I got another sleepless night.
Q: Didn't I Thank God, the next day was Friday.
A: Yes I did thank god. But for him I wouldn't
have made my meeting at 9 AM.
Q: And how did that go?
A: It went well, but that meant more work.
Q: So is it all work and no play?
A: No. It's all work and no sleep.
Q: Won't you get some sleep on Friday night?
A: Only if I get home on time.
Q: What's up with that?
A: My flight was delayed and I am now sitting on this plane, writing this piece.
Q: When will I stop writing this piece?
A: Looks like I won't stop writing this piece, because, my plane is landing in Philadelphia and the hostess didn't even notice I am still chugging away on my laptop...
Q: Now, will I break the rules and keep my laptop on through the landing?
A: No I won't. If I did that, I probably wouldn't sleep tonight!
Q: So did I shut off the laptop?
A: Yes, but only to open it again when I was on the shuttle back home.
Q: How is it working in the shuttle?
A: Quite a bumpy ride, but at least I will sleep tonight.
Q. How will that be? Won't I be up trying to upload this to the internet?
A. I will, but that will make me feel happy.
Q: Will this be the end of my grief?
A: No. But this is definitely the end of my piece.
Good Night. No grief...
This is an original post published on Oct 30, 2009 by Lakshminarayan Balasubramaniam.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)