AnkurSays.com | Blog
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London Dreams : Music Review
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LONDON DREAMS :
It took so much time to grow on me. Seriously. It has never happened to me for Shankar-Ehsan-Loy ‘s compositions. Though mad mad Mann ko Ati Bhavey became my favorite since the first promo. Other songs made me re-listen to it before I could believe that these are ‘actually’ SEL compositions. 
Some days back, Barson Yaaron was stuck in mind with its ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ bit. Also the bit ‘…duniya teri mehmaan hai’ is just so addictive.
Next addiction is Tapkey Masti - with fabulous lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, the track is so fun. And the current line stuck with me is ‘Aa zamaane aa….Aazmaane aa…‘ from Khaanabadosh. A sound similar to RDB’s Paathshala, still the track stands on its own. While Yaari Bina reminds me of ‘yaari hai imaan’ – I would love to see how it shapes up on screen. Shola Shola reminds of ‘disco’ beats.
As ‘SEL’ is giving so much inspirational tracks throughout this year, here comes another Khwab Jo this time around with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Shankar gets me goosebumps with his trademark classical raagas. Our college Movie Club [that is me! 
] showed it in Auditorium last weekend, but then the print sucked! So, I just can’t wait to see this one song on screen. Just because of last two minutes of the track. It sounds really awesome.
I was expecting something identical with Rock On soundtrack. Cause the storyline seems similar. But for this one, the desi fusion has worked quite in fun way. Making it enjoyable.
My Rating : 4 / 5 stars
My Picks : Khwab Jo, Mann Ko Ati Bhavey, Khanabadosh, Tapkey Masti, Barson Yaaron [oh, almost all 
]
How Web 2.0 Logos are drawn (Photoshop)
12 years ago
Ever wonder how these guys draw their Web 2.0 Logos? Sometimes its nice to learn from others, build up the basic skills and start your own creativity from there. In this Photoshop tutorial, I’m going to reveal you some of the nice Web 2.0 logos, how you can draw their logo exactly the same (well, not really 100% though) with Photoshop.
1. Download and Install style file
First of all, you will need to download a style I’ve created and load it into Photoshop.
- Download Photoshop style here. (Right-click -> Save as)
- For Photoshop CS2 users, put this style file into “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Styles”Photoshop of other versions, put the file inside Presets\Styles
2. Load styleCall up your Style Dialog box in Photoshop
Your result should look something similar to the image on the right. |
 |
3. The six Web 2.0 Logos
Here’s six Web 2.0 Logos - MyBlogLog, Imified, mixd, skype, Linked In and Go2Web20. The style you’ve just installed is going to reveal how to draw them. I’ll go through “mixd” logo, the rest are just reusing the same technique.
4. How to draw
The reason I use Style here is because once they are saved in to a .asl file (the file you downloaded) they are convenient to apply. Let’s go about drawing some of these logos.
Drawing mixd Logo
Initial observation, mixd logo consist of
- “mixd” text
- rounded rectangular
- small dot
- smaller dot
We will roughly draw them out in Photoshop, each elements in a different layer as illustrated in the image below.
5. Conclusion
If you look into the Blending Options of each style, you will noticed that most Web 2.0 logos are matter of playing with gradients, strokes with the combination of the right fonts. This may not the “exact” way how these guys had done their logo, but its at least a way to achieve it. I’m not encouraging you to fake their style and redraw your logo, but try understand it and hopefully you can come out with a nice sleek Web 2.0 logo. I love putting my designs in Style (.asl), I can reuse them whenever I want.
Music Review: Blue (2009)
1
4.0 stars out of 5
Music by AR Rahman
Lyrics by Abbas Tyrewala, Mayur Puri, Raqeeb Alam
So after Terabytes of reviews and thoughts about A R Rahman’s first post-Oscar soundtrack… [oops, did I forget to put TM in Oscar?? =P] I finally declare that I am liking the soundtrack of BLUE gradually. Yes it sounds little odd cause most of the reviews / thoughts I’ve read, are boasting about the music. But I was dizzy when the promos started to pour in. Music did not sound quite ‘Rahman’ish. But after getting the soundtrack on my Ipod, I am liking it with each listening.
Chiggy Wiggy : The song I was desperately waiting for. (I love Kylie Minogue hopelessly =P) So definitely this would be drooling experience to see her in a Hindi movie. First portion of track is obviously superb with silly silly words and singing of Kylie. But when I heard the Sonu part for the first time, I was annoyed! Maybe cause he disturbed me and distracted me from Kylie. And the typical words, Heeriye, Jaaniye, Soniye were let down. But after some more listening I actually loving the portion much more than Kylie’s portion. The way Sonu starts his ‘antara‘ is so so much fun. And the line ‘chiggy wiggy chiggy wiggy chig chig‘ got me stuck!!
Aaj Dil : What it reminds me of are two things : Daud and Baywatch! Baywatch just for the piano pieces mixed in compositions. And the singing is so much like ‘O bhaware‘ from Daud in First part of the song, which picks up immediately and whoa!! Shreya sprinkles her magical new voice. She overshadows Sukhvinder completely. Shreya here reminds me of Jism, when she stunned everyone who loved sweet singer of Devdas. In a same fashion of Jism, this song too ends up with giggles of Shreya. Love it!! Perfect for a beach outing.
Fiqrana: Rahman !! It has Rahman written all over it. Its a Yuva part 2 song. But a step ahead of it, just listen it LOUDER. Close your eyes and you can feel yourself standing at a cliff !! Or as @thebollywoodfan once tweeted, a perfect song to play in your car on a long ride at 2am !! The best part of the song is the techno portion – Hoon Junoon Sukooon Main Shararaaaa…. WOW!!! But still I want more from it. I wanted this song to be sung by A R Rahman himself. [and I think he will open up his next 'Jai Ho' concert with this song, Damn sure!!] [and thank God, Farhan Akhtar denied offer to sing this song] Also loved lyrics of the song.
Bhoola Tujhe [Mere Khuda] : My most favorite track !! A Guitar string track. And soothing voice of Rashid Ali. What else one need when Rahman composes a track for his beloved ‘Khuda‘!! Though the lyrics [by Rajat Arora] are tricky, I loved them. Such a soulful track.
Blue Theme : Punjabi??? Oh no not again….but hey its Rahman. So i must watch out for this. And man!! the song is Bombastic!! The sound ‘Ba–loooo‘ makes it simply unique.
Rehnuma : A let down track for me. It sound so so much identical to the Bond series songs. No doubt Shreya sings it like never before. And sound is so Mysterious [which I usually love, remember 'Aaj ki raat' from Don] But the song fails to hold my attention even after numerous listenings. Lets see how it comes up on screen [did anyone said 'Scorching Hotttt !! =P]
Yaar Mila Tha : Udit Narayan+Rahman. A combination which guarantee some refreshing and fun outing. This song features very limited sound of music. A funky tribal touch and Udit doing hip-hop’ish’ act with Madhushree… Fun.
Overall, its a highly commercialized Rahman this time. But even with that tag, he lives up to expectations. This album surely will not end up in his own league of Best soundtracks ever, but still BLUE is commercial at its best.
My Picks : Bhoola Tujhe, Chiggy Wiggy & Fiqrana .
3 Idiots – First Look
1It’s been a long wait and still it’s a long way ahead. Can’t wait to see Aamir’s ’3 Idiots’ based on Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”. Here are some of the first looks :
No worries though, Aamir’s movies always release in that month (atleast the blockbusters do!).
Did you ‘Wake Up Sid’?
2
Recall those years when partying hard was the only agenda on your list. Recall those years when staying awake at nights, chatting away with friends became a habit. Recall those years when bunking college and sneaking into movie halls was more exciting than books. Recall those years when you were completely clueless and aimless about the vocation you wanted to pursue once you graduated… That indecisive phase when you were hesitant to take that first big step in life can never be erased from your memory.
Wake Up Sid, directed by debutante Ayan Mukerji, is like revisiting those years that lay at some remote corner of your mind, after you moved on in life.
Actually, Wake Up Sid is a slice of life film. It’s not merely real in concept, but has also been told most realistically, so much so that you can’t help but draw parallels with your life or with someone you know. But what really makes Wake Up Sid most believable is Ranbir Kapoor, who’s mastered the craft at such a young age.
Verdict? Wake Up Sid mirrors those ears with flourish. This one’s a simple story that strikes a chord instantly. Strongly recommended!
Wake Up Sid tells the story of Siddharth aka Sid (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid’s world is breezy, carefree and without any true responsibilities.
Sid thrives around his two best friends, Rishi (Namit Das) and Laxmi (Shikha Talsania), very rarely communicates with his mother Sarita (Supriya Pathak) and takes his father Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher) and all his hard-earned wealth for granted. Despite all these traits, Sid is an honest boy; sweet, funny and above all, a good friend.
Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata, learns this soon enough when her path crosses with Sid’s on her first day in Mumbai. Ambitious, well-read and driven, Aisha has come to Mumbai to realize her dreams as a writer. Despite their contrasting personalities, Sid becomes Aisha’s first friend in the city.
As Aisha sets up her life in Mumbai, with the help of Sid and his gang, Sid allows for time to fly by over long drives, parties that stretch well into dawn, and endless hours doing absolutely nothing. But a series of circumstances and events compel him to take stock of his life and take a hard look at himself.
Let’s not compare Wake Up Sid with anything you’ve watched before. Not Dil Chahta Hai. Not Lakshya either. Debutante director Ayan Mukerji narrates a story that you can relate to instantly and treats it with utmost care. A few moments linger in your memory and evoke bitter-sweet memories.
The first hour, right till the intermission, sweeps you off your feet. You get drawn into Sid’s world instantaneously; you react to everything he does. But the post-interval portions slackens, courtesy the writing. The Rahul Khanna track, for instance, looks half-baked. Also, the story stagnates after a point and hence, the pacing gets very slow. It’s only towards the finale that things perk up. Ideally, the film could’ve done with some trimming in this hour.
Ayan Mukerji packs in a solid punch in most parts of the film. The emotional moments especially gets you all moist-eyed. The humour too is well integrated in the sequences. Even the confrontation between the father and son is superb. Prior to that Konkona’s birthday sequence is amongst the finest sequences of the film. Music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is melodious. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is top notch. Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues are just right.
There’s no denying that Ranbir Kapoor is a supremely talented actor, but in WWake Up Sid, he proves that he’s amongst the best in the business today. No one could’ve portrayed Sid as effectively as Ranbir has enacted, that’s for sure. This is an award-worthy performance.
Konkona is natural to the core and the best part is, she’s so effortless. Here’s another winning performance from this incredible performer. Anupam Kher is wonderful. Ditto for Supriya Pathak. Both shine in their respective parts. Namit Das and Shikha Talsania are perfect. Rahul Khanna doesn’t get any scope.
On the whole, Wake Up Sid is a well-made film that should strike a chord with the youth mainly. A metro-centric film, the film should attract its target audience and should also prove to be the first choice of the elite/urban audience this Friday. Its distributors (UTV) have very rightly released the film at plexes of metros and mini-metros [instead of flooding the market with physical and digital prints], which in turn should only make this small film talked-about in days to come. Thumbs Up!
Why.. why did it happen to me?!
152 years ago
Hiya again!
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I have reached home and it’s been a really really tough day as such. Really, I shouldn’t plan anything or in any case be excited about something. It never works! Like it didn’t work this time as well.
September 25th, 2009. The day I ordered my New Dell Studio 15. I was so so happy seeing the configuration I had customized for myself. Wanna have a look?!
Item Description Quantity 001 Dell NEW Studio 15 Laptop 1 1 1 Year Complete Cover Accidental Damage Protection 1 2 # Year 1 Standard POW 1 3 1 Year Telephone Technical Support (9am To 6pm, Monday – Friday) 1 4 Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Laptops 1 5 1 Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis 1 6 # Yr 1 Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis 1 7 Microsoft(R) Works Include Microsoft(R) Office Home & Student 60 Days Trial Pre- 1 8 Microsoft(R) Works CD Kit 1 9 McAfee(R) Security Center(TM) (24 Months) 1 10 McAfee(R) Security Center(TM) – CD Kit 1 11 Dell(TM) PC-Restore 1 12 Integrated Fast Ethernet 10/100/1000 1 13 34mm ExpressCard Slot, (DOES NOT SUPPORT PC CARDS) 1 14 BASE,NBK,STUDIO,1555 1 15 Country Info Mod (INDIA) 1 16 Dell(TM) Chat 1 17 Dell(TM) Dock Software 1 18 Power Cord (India) 1 19 Microsoft(R) Windows Live TM 1 20 Noise Isolation Ear Buds 1 21 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 1 22 90W Primary AC Adapter 1 23 Intel(R) WiFi Link 5300 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card 1 24 Intel Centrino 2 Core Duo Processor Label 1 25 Dell’s Terms and Conditions apply 1 26 Laptop Batteries Carry 1 Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date 1 27 Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium 32 bit SP1 Edition (English) 1 28 Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium 32 bit SP1(English/Hindi) DVD Media 1 29 System Driver DVD Kit 1 30 Added performance for entertainment and movie making. Features the new 3D Aero 1 31 graphics interface. Includes Windows Media Centre functionality, 1 32 Movie Maker, advanced photo features and DVD authoring. 2GB+ RAM recommended. 1 33 PC Restore will occupy some HDD capacity. 1 34 The capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment. 1 35 Vista QFE OS (Home Premium SP1) 1 36 Microsoft(R) Windows Vista(R) Premium Experience Label 1 37 System Driver Mod 1 38 User Guide (English) 1 39 Dell(TM) Connect Software 1 40 Dell(TM) Support Center 1 41 Slot Load 8X DVD + /-RW Drive with DVD + R double layer write capability 1 42 Cyberlink PowerDVD Software media kit 1 43 Roxio Creator 10 1 44 PowerDVD Software 1 45 IMR Chain Link Palm rest 1 46 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery 1 47 Discount is only valid if the corresponding upgraded item is selected above. 1 48 Limited time promotional offer only. No further discounts apply. 1 49 Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 3MB Cache) 1 50 Studio-NB Handling & Insurance Charges /Express Premium 1 51 Express Delivery 1 52 Studio-NB Handling & Insurance Charges 1 53 Inspiron/Studio Laptop Delivery Charges(India) 1 54 Integrated Stereo Sound with Subwoofer 1 55 Dell(TM) Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module 1 56 Belkin Simple Backpack 15.6′ Pitch Black / Soft Gray (Jetset Red) 1 57 Shipment Box without Carrying Case 1 58 Chainlink Black with Black U-Trim 1 59 15.6 ” 720p WLED (1366×768) Display with TrueLife(TM) and Built-in 2.0MP Web Cam 1 60 Sensible Vision FastAccess Facial Recognition Software 1 61 Facial Recognition 1 62 Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web Cam 1 63 Camera Software 1 64 500GB SATA Hard Drive 1 65 Dell(TM) Laser Mouse 1 66 Dell(TM) Keyboard with Touchpad (English) 1 67 4GB Dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM 1 68 Dell Online Backup 2GB 1 69 #MOD,SW,DTSV,OL,1.1 1 70 #MOD, SW, DTSV, OL, 2GB-free 1 71 To activate your online backup account, go to Start, Programs, Datasafe Online 1 72 # NFO, RYLTY, DTSV, OL 1 73 Dell Remote Access, free basic service 1 74 MOD,SW,DRMTA,1.0? 1
Exciting na?! Well, I couldn’t sleep for the next 5 days. If I did, I dreamt of me sitting before my lappy, playing with it.. or having it on my lap while lying on bed, and what not! Finally October 3rd, 2009 it showed my Laptop had been dispatched by the local courier (they call BlueDart their local courier! O_o). I wanted to come home then, as I had three day holidays, but my parents made me stay back and asked me to come no before Diwali holidays. The next day they called up to inform that ‘my’ laptop had reached home and that it’s working fine! Sigh, days appeared to pass like ages plus the exam stress (kind of that you get when you come to know you got mid-sems the next day!). Alas, somehow managed a decent performance and hurried back home the same day (see previous post).
Then I did something that I will regret for the next one month – asked them for the laptop. Alright, here is, how it looked :
Aww, felt like hugging it, hiding it in my arms and kissing it.. er, no not the last part. It might spoil it’s polish ^_^
So I carefully kept the laptop at one side and enthusiastically studied the rest of the kit – CDs & DVDs, Laser Mouse, Noise isolation earbuds and my 15.6′ Backpack. The Backpack is quite smooth and gives a velvet touch. CDs/DVDs include – Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium 32 bit SP1 DVD, Dell Webcam Central Software, McAfee SecurityCenter, Cyberlink PowerDVD Dx 8.2 Software for Windows XP and Windows Vista and Cyberlink PowerDVD DX 8.3 Software for Windows 7, FastAccess Facial Recognition Software and Microsoft Works 9.
And at last when I opened my Laptop, this is what I see:
P.S. For those who didn’t notice, it’s LCD is b0rked. =(
