Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Vampire Diaries(2009-2010****)





Vampires... you just can’t have enough of them, whether its the classic Bram Stoker stories or the contemporary Stephanie Meyer mania , vampire literature, movies and series seem to be everywhere these days.


Adapted from the L.J. Smith's book series and starring Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Steven R. McQueen, Kayla Ewell, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig, Candice Accola, and Sara Canning, among others.
The plot revolves around two Vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore who battle for the heart of a mortal teenaged girl named Elena Gilbert.
The story begins when Elena and her brother Jeremy come to live with their aunt in the town of Mystic Falls, after the death of their parents in a car crash. While visiting her parents graves in the cemetery, she meets the new guy in school Stefan Salvatore. There is mutual attraction and after a couple of episode Elena and Stefan are a couple. Also it turns out that Elena is the reincarnation/or look alike of a 19th Century Vampire Katherine, who was the one who turned both of the Salvatore brothers into Vampires. Katherine along with the 27 other vampires of Mystic Falls were entombed by Elena and Jeremy’s great-great grandfather somewhere in the 19th century.
And while Stefan resents Katherine for turning him into a blood sucking abomination Damon is still in love with the evil Vamp who had had both the brothers enchanted with her beauty and charm.

The 1st season revolves around Damon’s resolve to bring Katherine back and Stefan’s struggle to stop Damon , since he knows the vampires will want revenge from the descendants of Mystic Falls elders.
Other main character in the series is Elena’s best friend Bonnie, who is a witch and has the power to lift the magic spell that has entombed the old Vampires. Another interesting character introduced later in the series is Alaric Salzmann a history teacher by profession but is also a vampire hunter of sorts. He moves to Mystic Falls in search of his wife, who was obsessed with vampires before her disapearence.

Like every other vampire series we have the mandatory good vampire and bad vampires here.
Paul Wesley as Stefan is our goody-two-shoes guy, the vampire with a conscience, who refuses to hunt humans. While evil brother Damon(played by Lost’s Ian Somerhalder) is the quintessential Bad vampire or rather the “actual” vampire with a lots of murderous charm and the disregard for human life’s worth.
Being vampires, Stefan and Damon of course have some special powers. For starters, turning into crows and being able to conjure up a creepy ground-covering fog. As for that pesky daylight thing, it's no problem as long as they wear a magic ring. Other than that the usual super strength and super speed. Oh and the power of persuasion-mind control that is.



One great thing about The Vampire Diaries is the pacing. The storyline moves at breakneck speed; a conflict is introduced one week, it is resolved the next and a new conflict crops up. Each storyline is suitably addressed in the hour, and as usual, new problems present themselves by the end.
Also new characters keep turning up throughout the series, and dying at the drop of a hat too. Which is a somewhat frustrating thing , since they ended up killing most of the good vampires and likable characters by the time season finale came. But it’s the fast paced-ever changing story line which kept me hooked to the season.

And the Stefan/Elena/Damon love triangle is entertaining as it is impossible to pick a favorite brother. Both brothers are completely likable and charming in their own ways. But the best part of the show is Somerhalder. He is just ridiculously entertaining as Damon, the sometime evil Salvatore brother. Damon has a bit of an advantage on poor Stefan, and it is so much fun to watch the snarky, obnoxious behavior Damon dishes out to everyone.

The Season 1 has finished airing so now is the time to catch up on all episodes of season 1 before The Vampire Diaries Return for a second season starting September 9.

to watch the show online click HERE
to download the show click HERE

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A bit of House

House music is one of the genres of music that i enjoy listening to and often recommend to people who seem to enjoy my company. Personally, it makes certain activities more enjoyable for me, such as jogging, doing squats, dancing, relaxing(with the help of a certain herb) or just hanging out with friends. This track is a perfect example of what i believe to be a good track packed full with great songs, awesome beats and countless head nodding opportunities. Enjoy the track and leave your suggestions for what you think good music is.

Brooklyn Mood by slickmilk

Monday, August 16, 2010

Call For Donations

Flood Relief Fund




We are raising funds and keeping the donors updated with the latest developments. Assessment and identification has been done, the required items will be delivered and distributed among the flood victims by ourselves.



The first convoy leaves Lahore on THURSDAY, 19 AUGUST. The trucks are to be loaded by WEDNESDAY night.



In these testing times we as a nation should rise to the challenge and help our brothers and sisters in need.



Account Details:

Adnan liaqat

MCB Shadrah Branch Lahore

A/C# 0186199601000666



The following list of items will be purchased by your donation; you can also donate any of the following items. We have a storage site at 82-B GARDEN BLOCK GARDEN TOWN LAHORE.



A complete summary would be provided to donors at the end of the relief efforts. IF anyone wants to accompany us in the field they are welcome. For further details



According to our field workers these are some of the essential items required:

1. Tents

2. Bedspreads

3. Floor mattresses

4. Mosquito repellents

5. Candles and match boxes

6. Flashlights

7. Boats

8. Generators (REHABILITATION PHASE)

9. Water filtration plants (REHABILITATION PHASE)

10. Dewatering pumps

11. Blankets

12. Medicines

13. Medical equipment

14. Hygiene kits

15. food items





If you would like to contribute please contact:
Umar Adnan:
03218888877

Ibrahim Hasan Murad:
0300-8433364

Hussain Ali Durrani:
03314110280

Umar Syed:
03234910853

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Catch a Chain (7th -8th August 2010) ***

B Production Presentation in Collaboration with Elysium Entertainment


Written by: Omair Farooq Nazir & Syed Ijlal Naqvi

Directed by: Waleed Zaidi & Sanwal Tariq

It’s not very often that you get to see an original script being staged (and I am excluding the Punjabi plays) in Lahore. For some reason the creative expression on stage is restricted to existing either Broadway hits or classic literature. Recently Lahore has seen its youth taking bolder steps, first with a recent Urdu play and now ‘Catch a Chain’.

A two act play written and directed entirely by these boys gets my points for effort. The story revolves around three inmates who are later joined by a fourth. Throughout the play the story of these inmates gradually unravels. While at the same time the abusive jailers (who by the way were female jailers in a male prison?) manhandle the prisoners, subjecting them to both verbal and physical abuse.

The aim of the play was portray “how different people react to change while in confinement, and how the system controlling them (prison/prisoners), chooses to deal with the influx of new criminals into already over flowing jails”. (Quoted from the brochure) Now here is my problem with the story line, the story of the prisoners unraveled smoothly but the purpose and the ending of the play wasn’t clear.

I am all for alternate theatre and creative expression, but in my opinion if the story was based on local prisons it would have held more weightage and would not of come off as a version of Green Mile/Shaw Shank Redemption/Prison Break. Especially in these trying times, if you are taking up social issues then they should be local rather than foreign bred, so that the majority of the audience can connect and understand what you are trying to say and leave with a message.

the set of catch a chain

Other than that the performance of the actors was very good. Waleed Akhtar Zaidi (also one of the directors) as William Conrad gave a brilliant performance. The set and lightings were exceptional. For first time play writers the performance and script deserves respect. So, way to go guys… keep up the good work.



P.S:

This seems to be my mantra of the late: focus on your own culture, we have a very rich cultural heritage, and some brilliant literature and plays which fit perfectly in our modern society, they can be used as an inspiration. And if you want to focus on social issues, trust me we have plenty of those too.

By the way it takes guts to stage originality and you guys have plenty of those. :)

Theatre in Lahore: Noises Off (5th- 9th August 2010) ****

A Production Illusions Presentation


Directed by Omair Rana

Here’s the thing with going to see a play with big names on the board, you can be sure of quality. A star cast with impeccable acting skills, add to that a dedicated production team Noises Off gave its audience a taste of quality theatre.

Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is considered to be the king of farce and has seen numerous re-enactments all over the world (face book noises off and you will see what I mean); in fact this is the second time it is being done in Lahore.

It’s a three act play with a play within a play, showing what goes on pre, post and during production on stage and back stage. I am not going to go into the details of the plot; it’s a well known script, if you are interested in reading the synopsis click: Noises Off (this link will give you a word by word synopsis given in the brochure of the play).

The cast included Ayesha Alam, who was absolutely brilliant, Ian Eldred known for his spontaneous performances on stage in numerous plays before this, was equally good in this one, then we have the one and only Omair Rana who is also the director of the play, he does a brilliant job as both director of the play and playing a director in the play. Salman Naseer and Mina Malik deserve a special mention, both of them were amazing! Mina as the reliable Belinda in the play is an equally reliable actor, her performance was so original that for a while you forget that its theatre and not real lives. Saad Masood as Selsdon kept the mood light. Other then the star cast what made the play unique was the set, for the first time in Pakistan we got to see an actually revolving set that does the whole 360 degrees! The front is the on stage and swishhh… it revolves and viola you have the backstage.

The fact that art director Ayesha Shuja and her team were able to create this baby and pull it off without it falling apart in my opinion deserves great respect.

The Revolving Stage

What is a review without criticism? So here’s the thing, the acting was amazing, the set was a creative masterpiece and the costumes by Aasia Sail fit the characters perfectly but the time it took to set the stage between acts was painstakingly long… what’s the point of having a revolving stage if you are going to take a good ten minutes to switch sides and set it up? An English farce of this caliber is hard for the audience to grasp in the first place, and if you have long breaks between acts people will lose concentration and interest. And that’s just what happened! The Tom & Jerry background music that played while the sets were being changed did not help the situation at all.

Other then that I recommend that all you theatre enthusiasts go see the play there are still three performances left, it’s not every day that we have good quality theatre being performed by individuals who actually love the art form and pour their heart and soul into the performance.

P.S:

I completely forgot to mention Madiha Saail and Group, Madeha’s soft melodious voice kept the audience entertained before the play began. The group is worth mentioning, for I loved their original song, the lyrics proved that the youth of this nation ‘does’ care. Keep up the good work guys.

We look forward to seeing more quality theatre from Production Illusions’ team, and hope that the next play will be more culturally in sync with our traditions. I loved Ian’s interview in Tribune on the subject, way to go!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Coke Studio-The Final Show down





August 1st saw the airing of Coke studio’s Final Episode : “Realisation
Since the day also marks the countdown to Independence Day, it was no wonder that episode 5 followed the theme of patriotism and started with a cover of Madam Noor Jahan’s classic 60’s war song “AAe Wattan Kay Sajeelay Jawanon


Amanat Ali Khan gave a very lackluster performance of Ae Wattan Kay Sajeelay Jawanon.
But no matter who sings it,the lyrics are so moving you cant help but feel good about your countrymen.Plus it is 1st august, when 14th is looming above your heads, you start liking the song even if it sounds like the ones you sang on the Defence Day Functions at school, with the school band providing the marching drum beats.
No credit for Amanat Ali here, he basically wasted two opportunities with a mediocrity that was Aisha and now this.



Next came the amazing Tina Sani with her rendition of Nawai Ne.
It was a blend of powerful vocals and various instruments.The very Folk inspired violin tune added to the song and the Flute provided the perfect buildup at the end of the song, merging well with Gumby’s drumming.


Sanam Marvi sang Manzil-e-Sufi.
A new find of Coke Studio, Sanam sings exceptionally well, even though her earlier rendition of Pritam wasn’t that great.She did show her talents in Huq-mujood and in Episode 5, does a pretty good job too.Although her voice came off hoarse in the beginning, overall the performance wasn’t bad.




Abida Parveen gave her third performance of this season with Soz-e-Ishq
She is the clear winner of this season. The true “living legend”.No matter how loud or horrible the house band plays, she does her job , holds her own ground and delivers!!
Simply Brilliant.



Rizwan and Muazzam performed Jana Jogi Dey Naal.
They sounded great and made you remember the great Ustad Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan.The song was full of energy ,and the different variations of vocals and sur they put in gelled well with the contemporary drums and guitar sound, fusion at its best!


Other than the performances,every singer of this season also gave their messages about their performances.Mostly they were about how they were showcasing unity through music and promoting Pakistan's Culture.


Even though Season three failed plenty of expectations, with too much hype and some very mediocre performances, it had its moments too.
Arif Lohar and Meesha’s collaboration of Alif Allah,Abida Parveen’s three amazing performances and Rizwan and Muazams qawalis provided magic for the ears this season.
And Tina Sani,Noori and Zeb and Haniya showed us what true composers can do. Noori's Hor ve Neevan ho and Zeb and Haniya's Bibi Sanam Janam was awesomely awwsome, best 'tunes' of the season.
While Amanat Ali, Karavan and E.P pretty much wasted their opportunity to showcase their songs.Meesha Shafi became a overnight sensation and ADP-Aunty Disco Project, (they have a very very loyal fan following in khi and lahore) have gained new fans too. Their Performance of Sultanat was fantastic!


PS:
Coke Studio over time has established it self as a platform of class and quality as far as contemporary and folk/cultural music goes. I think instead of just picking artists with illustrious backgrounds (mostly foreign desi returns), they should have a nation wide talent hunt not just from the major metropolis's of the country but at grass root level, to promote artist who would otherwise never get a chance and might end up being better then many being showcased on the show as 'young and upcoming talent'.

Coke Studio's Official Website.