Slum Dog Millionaire Entrenched Bollywood’s Challenge to
Hollywood?
By Chris Chew

Mumbai has always been the Hollywood of India with a thriving
film making industry primarily catering to cinema goers in
India. The movie, Slum Dog Millionaire shot this ancient Indian
city to worldwide attention and is now attracting more curious
tourists than ever.

Mumbai, perhaps more well known by its former name, Bombay, is
the capital city of India’s Maharashtra state is home to a
population of about 13 million people and is the largest
metropolis in India. It is also one of the most populated cities
in the world. Some people refer to Bombay as the tinsel town of
India akin to Hollywood because Bombay is the centre of the
Hindi movie industry.

Because of this association with Hollywood, Hindi movies are
referred to as Bollywood made movies. The recipe for success in
Bollywood is the usual poor boy meets rich girl theme
interspersed with plenty of singing, dancing and costume
changes. However this successful formula may have to be changed.
While this formula is still a staple Bollywood fare, an
increasing number of movies are experimenting with diverse story
lines, from gritty dramas to horror flicks.

Industry observers say is the changes are related to,
ironically, India’s booming economy, which has produced a better
educated middle class that demands more sophisticated and more
complex plots. This evolution is successfully proven in the
movie “Slum Dog Millionaire”.

In a strange twist of events, the transformation is happening
at a time when Bollywood’s visual focused style of filmmaking is
infiltrating into Hollywood, influencing movies like Moulin
Rouge. Indian filmmakers in the United States are infusing
Hollywood made movies with the colors and lavish aesthetics,
Bollywood style.

oulin Rouge was reportedly influenced by a trip the film’s
director Baz Luhrmann made to India and his fascination with
Bollywood style movies. The movie even featured a closing number
based on the Hindi song “Chamma Chamma”.

Because of the popularity of Bollywood made movies, Mumbai is
attracting tourists from all over the world and also domestic
tourists, just like its counterpart, Hollywood. To satisfy the
estimated 14 million or so Indians who troop to the cinema every
day, the Bollywood churns out more than a thousand movies a
year. This is at least twice as many movies as Hollywood produce
in a year.

The Bollywood actors and actresses will break out into songs
and dance routine anytime, something which often leaves Western
movie goers somewhat perplexed and puzzled. Earlier made movies
may even include up to 40 songs per movie. However, these days,
the song and dance segment has watered down to about seven or
eight per film. Location shoots in the movies often take place
in beautiful foreign locations, something industry sources
believe is made to appeal to the poor and to attract domestic
tourists.

“Most Indians go to the cinema purely for escape. When there
are characters singing and dancing in beautiful locations in
Europe, say, like Switzerland and that, for most Indians is the
only way they will ever get to see those places” said
Ramchandran.

However, with India’s booming economy, millions of people have
moved out of poverty trap into a the middle class and film
productions seem to be moving in tandem from pure escapism to
more sophisticated stories and plots.

How much changes are to be made to Bollywood style of film
making will be seen from the years to come. In the meantime,
Bollywood has certainly made Bombay famous as a holiday vacation
destination for tourists visiting India thanks largely to Slum
Dog Millionaire.

About the Author: Chris Chew writes for the travel website at

http://www.asiatravelbest.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Permanent Link:

http://www.isnare.com/?aid=370590&ca=Entertainment

Move To Costa Rica

Would you like to live in Costa Rica either part-time or full-time?

There are a number of things that need to be done to make that happen. It always
takes some time getting to know a new country and how to get everything set up.
I recently did rent a place in Costa Rica and get settled here so that I can
live here a majority of the year.

It took me two months. It occurred to me that if I had known the ropes, it could
have been set up in just a week and had much more time to just enjoy being here.
Costa Rica is an awesome place to live part-time or full-time, but the
annoyances of getting settled are never fun. This package will help you get
through all of those annoyances in just a week with a very minimal investment.

Included in the pre-paid package price is:

1. Hotel stay for a week until you can find and secure a rental or purchase a
home (I recommend renting at first).

2. A driver to all of the other services listed below for that week. Driving in
Costa Rica is not for the faint of heart. I recommend using a driver. This
package includes all costs for a driver including gasoline, guide and
translations services for the week it will take to get settled. This is all
included in this package price.

3. A one hour appointment with an attorney to brief you on your immigration
options. Plan your first trip for 90 days or less… everything else will be
explained at this appointment. There is no additional charge for the attorney
fees for this appointment. It is part of the package.

4. Assistance in finding a rental or purchasing a home (I recommend you start by
renting a home… you can do that with a month-to-month rental agreement with no
obligation to continue after the first month). Before you arrive, we will ask
you for your requirements (ie: location, bedrooms, bathrooms, budget, etc.) and
have a list of potential rentals or homes available for sale for you to look at.
We can handle all budgets. I pay only $320/month for a large 3 bedroom 2 1/2
bath. Assistance in finding your rental or home purchase is included in the
package price. Of course the actual rent or purchase price of the home is not
included nor are any deposits. Those are between you and the landlord or owner.
We will assist you to find a house in your budget that meets your requirements
though. We will drive you to each location to inspect the potential home and
provide translation services between you and the landlord or owner.

5. We will also provide three hours of attorney time to prepare rental or
purchase agreements for the home you choose to rent or purchase. This is
included in the package price.

6. We will provide assistance with electricity, telephone and Internet setup.
You will need to pay for the services, but we will give you bilingual help to
get them set up and show you how to pay them on the Internet or in a grocery
store.

7. We will provide assistance with purchasing furniture for your new residence.
The cost of the furniture is not included, but a driver to the furniture store
and delivery and setup at your new residence is included. I paid $1600 to
completely furnish my residence. You can declare your budget to the driver and
he will take you to the appropriate store.

8. Help in hiring domestic help. I suggest that you hire Spanish speaking
domestic help for two reasons. One is that the cost is less. The other is that
it will help you to learn Spanish faster. Your guide will speak both Spanish and
English though and will assist you in the interview process. Your guide will
also show you how to use online services to translate with your new domestic
help. We keep a laptop computer on the kitchen counter at all times for that
purpose. You will have to pay for the domestic help, but we will help you hire a
good person if you wish. This is important because your domestic help really
becomes a part of your family during your stays in Costa Rica. The going rate
for domestic help is about $300-$500/month. Lower rates are also possible. Just
tell your guide your budget and they will set up interviews with domestic help
in your budget range.

9. We will provide help in getting your drivers license. Your guide will drive
you to the MOPT (equivalent of the DMV here in Costa Rica). Your guide will show
you all of the steps to get your driver’s license. The cost will be about $20
and it will take 1 to 3 hours.

10. We will help you get two references and documentation (utility bills)
required to open a bank account. Your guide will tell you the steps and explain
the differences between the Costa Rican national banks and the international
banks. Most Costa Rican banks require the above to open an account. It can take
some time to meet two people willing to be references and to get your utility
bill documentation so your guide will help you with both of those tasks.

All of this will take approximately one week. You will have three days to select
a house during that week.

At the end of that week, you should be settled and able to live in Costa Rica
for the rest of your 90 day stay. You should be familiar with all of the
resources you need to do that. You can then live comfortably in the tropical
paradise called Costa Rica until the end of your 90 day stay. You can then leave
for 72 hours and then return to Costa Rica for another 90 days.

Many people repeat that for the rest of their lives. Others travel half of the
year or spend summers in their original country. Still others start the
immigration process. You will have been briefed on the immigration options by a
qualified attorney during your week of orientation so you can make an educated
decision.

I spent two months getting the above done when I decided I wanted to live
part-time in Costa Rica. The goal of this package is to allow you to do all of
the same for one low cost in only one week.

The cost for this package will be $3,000. During this 24 hour special though,
you can get it for $2,100 if you agree to write a one page letter giving
feedback on your experience once you are settled. We want to use your feedback
to either improve our program (if you have any negative feedback). We want to
use your positive feedback as testimonials for those wishing to take advantage
of this program in the future.

To reserve your week, please send $2,100 to paypal@costaricahq.com before noon
tomorrow (Costa Rican time which is GMT-6). This offer closes at noon and the
price will be $3,000 for this package after that time.

I would have personally jumped at this offer when I made the decision to move
here part-time. Instead, I fumbled around for two months trying to figure out
how everything worked. I also spent far more than $3,000 to get settled… more
like $7,000-$8,000 because I didn’t know the ropes.

Don’t make that mistake. Get a quality Costa Rican bilingual guide who is an
expert at all of the above and just get it done in a week… then relax and start
enjoying the paradise called Costa Rica as a resident instead of a tourist. It’s
a great life. I know. I live it myself.

The author lives and plays in Costa Rica when he isn’t helping others learn how
to live and play in Costa Rica. You can contact him personally here:
http://www.CostaRicaHQ.com/contact/
He will be happy to personally answer any questions about living a playing in
Costa Rica quickly, courteously and free of charge.

520 C North Main Street, Heber City, Utah 84032

AlterNet
More Evidence That Marijuana Prevents Cancer

By Bruce Mirken, Marijuana Policy Project
Posted on August 21, 2009, Printed on August 23, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/142121/

Among the more interesting pieces of news that came out while I was on vacation the first half of August was a new study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, which found that marijuana smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers than people who don’t smoke marijuana. Alas, this important research has been largely ignored by the news media.

While this type of study cannot conclusively prove cause and effect, the combination of this new study and existing research — which for decades has shown that cannabinoids are fairly potent anticancer drugs — raises a significant possibility that marijuana use is in fact protective against certain types of cancer.

A team of researchers from several major universities conducted what is known as a “case-control” study, comparing patients who had squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, larynx, and pharynx with control patients matched for age, gender, and residence location who did not have cancer. By looking at matched groups with and without cancer, researchers hope to find patterns indicating risk or protective factors. In this case they focused on marijuana use, but also took into account known risk factors for this type of cancer, including tobacco and alcohol use.

After adjusting for those confounding factors, current marijuana users had a 48% reduced risk of head and neck cancer, and the reduction was statistically significant. Former users also had a lower risk, though it fell short of being significant. The investigators crunched the numbers several different ways — for example, by amount of marijuana used or the frequency of use — and the findings stayed the same nearly across the board, with moderate users showing the strongest and most consistent reduction in cancer risk.

The scientists write, “We found that moderate marijuana use was significantly associated with reduced risk HNSCC [head and neck squamous cell carcinoma]. The association was consistent across different measures of marijuana use (marijuana use status, duration, and frequency of use).”

Strikingly, among drinkers and cigarette smokers, those who also used marijuana reduced their cancer risk compared to those who only drank and smoked cigarettes. So marijuana may actually have been countering the known bad effects of booze and cigarettes.

Bruce Mirken is communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project.
© 2009 Marijuana Policy Project All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/142121/

The Hollywood lounge has a laid-back, Moulin Rouge feel about it. Just don’t call it a club.
By Scott T. Sterling
“We’re not a nightclub, but a lounge,” insists Ian Shepp, one of the principal owners of Madame Royale, about the latest arrival on Hollywood’s relentlessly competitive nightlife scene. “A nightclub is a place with moving lights, LED and all of that. There are lounges that try to be a club, and we’re definitely not that.”

CONTACT US
Madame Royale – 6423 Yucca Street Hollywood, California 90028
Ian Shepp 310.936.9541
Gianni Capaldi 323.309.2166
Bradley Hoss Boehlefeld 323.898.6997

http://www.madameroyalehollywood.com/

A video featuring some stills from Alpha Dog (2006) and photos of the actors who starred in the film directed by Nick Cassavetes.

Songs “If you see her, say hello” by Bob Dylan and “Before Hollywood” by The Go-Betweens.
“Charged with murder in 2000, pot dealer Jesse James Hollywood fled to Brazil, where he was captured in 2005. Alpha Dog is based on Hollywood’s life. In his recent trial, Hollywood claimed innocence to the charge that he ordered the death of a rival’s 15-year-old brother, who he and friends abducted.
When asked if she was relieved it was over, Susan Markowitz — who has remained stoic throughout the trial — responded, “It’ll never be over.” She added, “I’m ready to carry Nick’s memory into the world,” telling reporters she intended to come out with a book in the coming months.

Ben Markowitz, who has shouldered much of the guilt for his actions leading to his brother’s murder, was content. “It’s just a big relief. The last thing I want is for [Hollywood] to be free”, he said just before walking up to his father, Jeff, and stepmother Susan to hug them, the group filled with smiles”.
Source: www.independent.com

*I want to dedicate this post to Susan Markowitz and his son Nicholas Markowitz’s memory, in the hopes that J.J. Hollywood’s trial and verdict can bring some peace to all the involved people’s lives.

“Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice”
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

“Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin”
-Dwight David Eisenhower.

posted by Kendra at 7:33 AM

http://jake-weird.blogspot.com/2009/07/alpha-dog-before-hollywood-video.html

Pet Stars: The Rising Fame of Hollywood
Dog has always been man’s best friend. Perhaps pets are now becoming everybody’s best friends as they are hitting magazine ads, commercials, movies, and television shows everywhere.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/335300/pet_stars_the_rising_fame_of_hollywood.html

Celebrity Pets — Privileges and More!
You’d be amazed at the types of privileges are afforded to celebrity pets. Read all about it.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/287063/celebrity_pets_privileges_and_more.html

Leave Your Dogs In A Dog Boarding Kennel While You Are Out Of Town

You deserve to have a break from a very tiring and busy world of business and office work. To lessen your worries about your dogs, you may want to ask your relatives or close friends to take care of your dogs for a while. But if this is not possible, you may also want to consider bringing your dog to a dog boarding kennel.

A boarding kennel for dogs are usually supervised and operated by a professional veterinarian. This fact will help you ensure that your dogs will be taken care of properly while you are on vacation. Just be prepared for the costs. Aside from the boarding fees, there are also some additional costs if you will prefer to avail some dog-pampering services while on the kennel. Some of the possible dog-pampering services are aromatherapy, special snacks, exercises and trainings, vaccination, and grooming.

Although most of the kennels are safe and clean, it is always advised that you take your time to check it for yourself so that your dog will not get contaminated with germs and viruses. Check whether the surroundings, including the walls, the flooring, and the ceilings, are clean and odorless to avoid your dogs from being irritated. The place should be properly ventilated with adequate room temperature, not too cold during the warm day and too warm during the cool night. You should check the room or the cabin, including the bed and the beddings they have for dogs, where the dog will rest. Remember that your dog will stay here for more than 24 hours so it should better be comfortable and cozy, or else your dog would become uncomfortable and misbehave while in the kennel. Also, check the outside part or the play yards of the kennel where dogs can run and play once in a while. The outer side should be safe for dogs and secured to avoid your dog from running away. Check also if the kennel has safety measures and fire exits in case of fire.

Some dogs have their own special set of dish plate and they might not eat dog foods if served on other plates. Some dogs also want the kind of dog foods they usually eat at home. If this is the case, always ask the boarding kennel staff if they can accommodate your dogs’ own foods and treats to avoid stomach upset, just include the feeding instructions so they would not go wrong. If your dog is in medication or taking daily dose of vitamins, bring your dogs’ own medicines with clear instructions.

You can enjoy your vacation or your trip if you know that your dog is comfortable, safe, secured, and enjoying too, like you, in the dog boarding kennel. Choosing the right dog boarding kennel for your dearest dogs would mean peace of mind to you even if you are in far places.

Andrew is a writer for various websites across different themes and enjoys writing as a freelancer. For more information on
dog boarding kennels sydney please go here.

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