By Orin
From letting us find out whether the next banana we planned on eating is ripe enough to cooking egg like popping a grenade, gadgets let our imaginations stay wild. Here's an RS list of some whacky new gadgets that we love.
Fruit-o-meter: Ever bit into an apple to be welcomed by a worm? Or started eating a scrumptious looking mango only to realise it is sour beyond your imagination? If you are human, the answer is yes. To rescue us from camouflaged rotten fruits, German scientists have worked up a device with tiny near infrared spectrometers, which will tell us about the fruit's sugar, fat, protein and starch levels. In case of our country it will not work though; there aren't many natural elements in there anyway.
Gogol Mogol - the grenade egg cooker: Scientists have come up with an innovative way of cooking eggs for breakfast. You throw the individual egg cartons around (after pulling an exterior grenade-like tag) and the egg reacts with materials inside the carton to boil itself. Guess which country they were from? Russia.
Aeroshot: If you are feeling sleepy in the middle of the day, longing for a cup of coffee, Aeroshot is maybe what you are waiting for. It is just like your run-of-the-mill inhaler, except it is filled with fine powdered caffeine that falls out of the air and dissolves instantly in your mouth. Along with the Gogol Mogol, this makes for a mighty breakfast.
Foldboat: If you are sailing to an island, now you can forget your castaway nightmares and just pack your own boat in your suitcase. At just $1250, you'll get the foldboat which, with a bit of tugging and inserting a few clips will keep one person afloat. At least it is supposed to. We haven't tried it out yet.
HONDA UNI-CUB: Because moving around the house can be so taxing at times, Honda has launched their new indoor transportation vehicle, which is all-electric and self-balancing. Finally! No reason to walk around and no excuse to order someone else to get your food from the kitchen. We don't know whether Honda is making us work less or more.
EUPHORI-LOCK: How many times have you hopefully opened the fridge for a bit of ice-cream only to realise that your brother had raided it before you? The heartbreak of losing promised ice-cream builds character, but it sure hurts to realise you are not going to have any melted chocolaty goodness in your mouth. Ben and Jerry's ice-cream have come up with a nifty device that works as a lock for your frozen delicacy. Get it at $6.64 and hope the thieves do not come hunting your food with a saw.
By Neshmeen Faatimah
Ten years. It's been ten years since the last movie of the Men in Black series was out and fifteen since the first original one back in '97. Will Smith now has grey in his hair and beard, but it doesn't show in the movie. If you remember anything about the original series, it would be memory wipes, cute pug, foul mouthed aliens and, as always, a sequel that sucked. Expectations for MIB III is obviously not on the high tree.
Interesting Facts:
Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga have uncredited appearances as aliens; which, when we think about it, explains a hell of a lot.
No Frank the Pug or Jack Jeebs (shady alien armsdealer with regenerating heads) in this instalment, which is kind of sad. |
We have our classic alien problem. Boris the Animal, a notorious alien, has escaped LunarMax, the alien prison on Earth's moon. As with most convict villains, he plans on taking revenge on Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) by going back to the past to 1969, when K had shot off Boris' arm and captured him. But things aren't just about one man, not in the MiB series. The killing of Agent K would also mean that Boglodites (the alien race Boris belongs to) would be able to go on with their full scale invasion of Earth. Agent J (Will Smith) sees that Agent K has disappeared and Boris has been successful in his plan of altering the past to change the present. To save Earth and his partner, he time-jumps to the past as well, going to the day before Boris kills K. The plot becomes slightly weird from there thanks to time travel. But hey, people sang along to Terminator, why not MiB?
The movie is very well cast. Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) comes in as a younger Agent K and we have Michael Stuhlberg as an unintentionally funny and pleasant Arcadian able to see all possible futures.
MiB III is not a wholly serious movie and true to the genre, it is a fun, action film. It beats its immediate predecessor with ease. The plot has a few holes here and there, but you can gloss over them easily with suspension of disbelief. The casting, acting and screenplay are great and the movie makes you laugh and is a delight to watch. You also have your old actors, director, producers and others in the cast, giving it the original touch. Good movie to watch this summer.
The National
By Sarah Nafisa Shahid
Shooting to mass popularity with their soundtrack 'The Rains of Castamere' for the TV show Game of Thrones, The National is a Brooklyn-based Indie rock band which formed back in 1999. The band consists of vocalist Matt Berninger, twins Aron and Bryce Dessner and brothers Scott and Bryan Devendorf, yes that's two pairs of brothers right there.
Although the band has released four albums already, their mainstream success is of recent times. While their earlier albums didn't make much noise, the band still had brilliantly made music to their credit. Their fourth album, The Boxer, however made it to Pitchfork Media's albums of the decade list and was critically acclaimed.
Their latest album, High Violet, was released in May 2010 and provided a more refined sound than its predecessors thanks to their new home studio in Berninger's garage. Most tracks are quite solemn like 'Sorrow' and 'Runaway' with heavy bass and smooth guitar plucking. But the band still manages to pull off variety with tracks like 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' which is a taste of an energetic rock song.
The most distinct feature of the band is Matt Berninger's voice which has a heavy tone to it and leaves a weighty impression on your heart with lyrics such as “Let's not try to figure out everything at once, it's hard to keep track of you falling through the sky”. The two pairs of brothers in the band are equally talented and contribute with an arena of instruments which gives a heightening turn to their sound.
The National can sound a little brooding and their lyrics look misplaced often but that is what attracts many. If you're up for a band with a lot of emotion in their songs, The National is a must try for you.
MUST HEAR TRACKS:
About Today
Fake Empire
Runaway
The Rains of Castamere
Conversation 16
Finding Nemo (2003)
Like all defiant, teenage kids, Nemo, swims away. Smothered his whole life by his neurotically over-protective dad, Nemo basks in his new found freedom. That is until he gets caught by divers. Now the father must then go on an epic journey to rescue the son. The story follows a tale of dad's coming to terms with his child growing up and it's epic. And by epic, it is truly epic.
Back to the Future (1985)
Marty McFly, played by Michael J Fox, travels back in time to the 1950s, where he comes face to face with his nerdy dad and manages to screw things up to the point where Marty is about to get erased from existence because his parents never meet. Now he has to engineer his wimpy father's successful wooing of his mum. Bollywood copied this into their own version called Action Replayy. Songs, Aishwariya Ray and it's a hit.
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Based on a true story, Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman and single dad, on the very brink of homelessness and poverty. He battles to get a job and at the same time be a real dad to his little boy. They sleep in public toilets. Thank goodness their toilets are clean unlike the ones we have here.
Father of the Bride (1991)
George and Nina Banks are the parents of young Annie, whose journey from girlhood is something George (Steve Martin) cannot get to terms with. She's just about ready to head down the aisle, which has George shaking in his sneakers.
Mrs Doubtfire (1993)
Robbin Williams plays a divorced father who is miserable without his three children. So he dresses up as an elderly female caretaker and hilarity ensues. This one will have you laughing throughout the movie.
Three Men and a Baby (1987)
Three bachelors find themselves forced to take care of a baby girl left at their door by one of the guy's girlfriends. They do everything from change diapers to protect the baby from drug dealers hot on their trail. Ah, good times. Spawned yet another Bollywood copy called Heyy Babyy. What's with their excessive use of 'y'?
Lion King (1994).
This animated story takes place in Africa in a place called the Pride Lands. The powerful King Mufasa is a lion trying to teach his young cub, Simba, the secrets to being a good leader so that one day he may inherit the throne. However, Simba's jealous uncle has other plans and soon Simba's whole life is turned upside down. This is a classic tale of the lasting bond between a father and son. Mufasa is a source of inspiration for Simba, even after things go terribly wrong.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis. Indie's father is Sean Connery or as we better know, James Bond. How cool is that, he gets James Bond as his dad!
Daddy Day Care (2003)
Two men played by Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin get laid off and have to become stay-at-home dads when they can't find jobs. This inspires them to open their own day-care centre. This follows two noob dads and their attempts at taking care of kids. A lot of kids.
