His Master's Toys

lomographicsociety: Vintage Russian Movie Posters In...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:00:12 +0530

Vintage Russian Movie Posters

In celebration of our huge discount on the Lomo LC-A+ Russia Day camera, join us in taking a look at some beautifully designed vintage film posters from Russia! Head over the jump for a supreme taste of Soviet aesthetic taste.

Superb! (via The small picture - Views - livemint.com)

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:07:24 +0530

Superb! (via The small picture - Views - livemint.com)

Quick guide to getting unlimited mobile internet plan in Philippines

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:00:16 +0530

In all my recent trips around Asia, I have managed to figure out ways to get unlimited 3G / GPRS working with prepaid sim right from the first day.

Philippines was a bit tricky, mostly because the operator’s don’t publicize their data plans that much. However, once I got it working, its been seamless and fast.

Here’s how.

Get a SMART buddy prepaid SIM card (apparently Global works as well, but SMART has wider coverage). You can get one at the malls or the airport.
It auto-activates, so you should be able to use it right away.
Get a recharge card (see below).
Dial *888 to get your account information
Text ‘GPRS ON’ to 333 (and 211)
To download the settings, you would have to know the exact phone model abbreviation - weird. Instead, just set your APN to ‘internet’
Reboot your phone once if it doesn’t work right-away.

Now, here’s the catch - the surfing rates are extremely high with a normal plan. You may end up paying PHP 10,000 before you know it. I spent PHP 560 in a day with couple of hours of surfing.

The way around this is activating an unlimited data plan. Here’s how you do it -

Text ‘SURF’ to 211.

You would get a message back with details on unlimited surfing plans. Currently they are:

Unli Surf Daily P50/day
Unli Surf Weekly P300/week
Unli Surf Monthly P1200/month

You would need the amount in your account before you can use one - so make sure you load up a bit of credit (you can buy at any seven-11 you see around).

Rejection letter to Kurt Vonnegut by Atlantic Monthly The...

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:06:51 +0530

Rejection letter to Kurt Vonnegut by Atlantic Monthly

The Atlantic Monthly

August 29, 1949

Dear Mr. Vonnegut:

We have been carrying out our usual summer house-cleaning of the manuscripts on our anxious bench and in the file, and among them I find the three papers which you have shown me as samples of your work. I am sincerely sorry that no one of them seems to us well adapted to for our purpose. Both the account of the bombing of Dresden and your article, “What’s a Fair Price for Golden Eggs?” have drawn commendation although neither one is quite compelling enough for final acceptance.

Our staff continues fully manned so I cannot hold out the hope of an editorial assignment, but I shall be glad to know that you have found a promising opening elsewhere.

Faithfully yours,

(Signed, ‘Edward Weeks’)

stories in my pocket - robert vijay gupta

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:26:53 +0530

sporeboyindelhi:

@ INK Conference 2011 | inktalks.com

I close my eyes

And open my heart.

The music floats through the space

Between his inside

And mine.

His music brings me

Back to memories,

To childhood,

To the flowers I touched,

To the sunsets I kissed,

To the faces I’ve held.

The music brought me home.

In that space,

I connect with a man

I did not know but

Have come to know.

I go to strange places

I know.

Music speaks with the soul

If played from the soul.

His music is.

are2: Satellite Just had to reblog this.

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:40:41 +0530

are2:

Satellite

Just *had* to reblog this.

are2: Landing Lights Oh my!

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:31:27 +0530

are2:

Landing Lights

Oh my!

I need to get more lomos.

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:30:54 +0530

I need to get more lomos.

Aisha Chaudhary at INK.

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:28:44 +0530

Aisha Chaudhary at INK.

Canon camera advertisements from ‘78 to 91! Absolutely...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:47:39 +0530

Canon camera advertisements from ‘78 to 91! Absolutely fabulous.

"His concern was always what it is to be a human being - that is, how to be an actual person, someone..."

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:46:14 +0530

“His concern was always what it is to be a human being - that is, how to be an actual person, someone whose life is informed by values and principles, instead of just an especially shrewd kind of self-preserving animal.”

- David Foster Wallace on Dostoevsky (via maxistentialist)

mudwerks: Old Paint: Thomas Hart Benton, Romance, 1931-1932

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:44:56 +0530

mudwerks:

Old Paint: Thomas Hart Benton, Romance, 1931-1932

Hans Rosling and the magical washing machine. Superb!

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:31:20 +0530

Hans Rosling and the magical washing machine. Superb!

Tablet Newspaper (1994) (by paleofuture)

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:27:33 +0530

Tablet Newspaper (1994) (by paleofuture)

Indian cinema, last ten years - Part 1

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:41:00 +0530

Its been raining incessantly for the last five days, which essentially implies house arrest. Apart from trudging with the dog to the ‘movie empire’, I have generally just spent hours on work, taxes, color correcting my film, sipping red wine and watching as much ‘Indian’ (and foreign) cinema as I possibly can.

Indian cinema is going through a new era of transformation, led by the highly stylized works of contemporary directors like Anurag Kashyap, or the superb productions by Aamir Khan’s production house, and recent works of well known directors like Hrituporno Ghosh.

Over the next few posts, I am going to list some of the Indian films of this decade that, I believe, are subtly transforming the industry into a space where creative films like Shaitaan can now get nationwide showings.

Dev D (2009)

Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dev D is his contemporary take on the famous Devdas novella originally written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, and probably the most innovative adaption of the original tale. Superb.

Delhi Belly

Produced by Aamir Khan Productions, and directed by newcomer Abhinay Deo, this film reminds of the all-too-familiar ‘toilet explosion’ incident caused by the bellies too unaccustomed to Indian food. It might be just me, but its hard to comedy scripts this right.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

Directed by Sudhir Mishra, the movie is set against the politically charged backdrop of 1970s India, during the time of the national emergency, and tells the story of three youngsters whose aspirations are intricately intertwined with the social upheavels of the time. Probably one of best depictions of the Naxalite movement I have seen on film.

(More in the next batch)…

Bangalore after four years

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:12:07 +0530

Quite a lot of stunning changes. The buses are great to sit and read in. The roads are drastically better. However, bars closing at eleven makes it a no go for survival.

xkcd Google+ (via xkcd: Google)

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:56:35 +0530

xkcd Google+ (via xkcd: Google)

Bill: How old are you, Amsterdam?Amsterdam: I’m not...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:01:00 +0530

Bill: How old are you, Amsterdam?

Amsterdam: I’m not sure, sir. I never did quite figure it.

Bill: I’m forty-seven. Forty-seven years old. You know how come I stayed alive this long? Fear. A spectacle of fearsome acts. A man steals from me, I cut off his hands. If he offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises up against me, I cut off his head, stick it on a pike. Raise it up high so all on the streets can see. That’s what preserves the order of things. Fear.

- Gangs of New York.

Bill the Butcher, draped in the american flag - personifying the nation? Only Scorcese would know.

Love watching films the second time.

Oh brilliant! mattermedia: The Kodak Girl

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:31:16 +0530

Oh brilliant!

mattermedia:

The Kodak Girl

filmisgod: (by Isadora Bellotti) Damn, can’t believe I...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:49:01 +0530

filmisgod:

(by Isadora Bellotti)

Damn, can’t believe I was there less than year ago!