February 8, 2010 at 10:48 pm (Aziz Ansari, Comix, Kanye West)
Aziz Ansari did a bunch of shows at Comix last week and Kanye West was one of the old friends who stopped by. For those who haven’t seen it yet, Ansari’s description of a night out with the rapper was one of the highlights of his recent Comedy Central special.
You can see more photos of Aziz and Kanye at Kirill Was Here.
February 8, 2010 at 5:48 pm (Agra, Pizza Hut)
A scene from a Pizza Hut in Agra circa 2007:
Update: Just stumbled on a recent blog post reviewing the Pizza Hut in Janakpuri. I wonder what’s in the Masala Lemonade?
February 7, 2010 at 1:52 am (Alain de Botton, India, Moon, Twitter, Yoko Ono)
I recently discovered Yoko Ono’s Twitter feed. I am now looking forward to gems like this every day:
(As an aside, I can’t decide whose feed I enjoy more, Yoko’s or Alain de Botton’s.)
February 6, 2010 at 6:45 pm (East Meets West Music, George Harrison, Nine Decades: Volume One, Raga, Ravi Shankar)
Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar just launched a new independent record label called East Meets West Music. From the the press release:
With the creation of EMWMusic, Ravi Shankar bridges any divide between his recorded music and his audience. With unique access to an astonishing archive featuring thousands of hours of live performance audio, film footage, interviews, and studio masters, the legendary sitarist and composer hopes to provide a glimpse into what has most inspired and shaped him in his 70-plus years on stage. And, in keeping with Ravi’s dedication to looking forward and not back, EMWMusic provides a vibrant platform for new artists, projects, and collaborations.
EMWMusic’s debut album will be Nine Decades: Volume One. It’s due to come out on April 9, 2010, the artist’s 90th birthday. The label will also release Raga, George Harrison’s 1971 documentary about Shankar.
I’m pretty sure that this is a scene from Raga:
February 6, 2010 at 6:04 pm (Questlove, Soul Train, Sukanya Krishnan, VH1, WPIX)
WPIX morning anchor Sukanya Krishnan interviewed ?uestlove earlier this week as he made the rounds promoting tonight’s VH1 documentary on the 40th anniversary of Soul Train.
Things were going great until Krishnan tried to dance in stilettos (at 0:18):
Kudos to Krishnan for being such a good sport about the whole thing.
February 5, 2010 at 3:49 pm (Indianapolis Colts, John Gill, Northwestern University, Super Bowl)
The Indianapolis Colts’ John Gill, whose father Ajit was born in India, believes he might be the first player of Indian descent to participate in the Super Bowl. (Via Ultrabrown’s invaluable Twitter feed.) The 23-year-old Gill is the team’s reserve defensive tackle.
When Gill was still playing for Northwestern, the Chicago Tribune called him a “Football rarity” because of his ethnicity and described this scene on the team bus after a game:
“Hey, that’s my grandpa!” defensive tackle John Gill shouted, pointing toward the sidewalk to an 86-year-old man wearing a powder-blue turban — and over it, a Northwestern visor.
The bus cracked up, and a surge of pride shot through Gill.
“Even though I have somewhat dark skin, a lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m half-Indian — probably because I’m so big,” he said. “But once they see my grandpa with a turban on, it’s hard to deny it.”
Ajit Gill first became interest in college football as a graduate student in Nebraska, where he studied electrical engineering. (Of course.)
Update: Sepia Mutiny has more on Gill.
February 5, 2010 at 1:41 am (Journalism, Mango Lassi, New York Times, Penne, Pranna, Steve Jobs)
Via Saba Imtiaz, a report that Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently had a secret meeting with top executives at The New York Times at the Madison Avenue restaurant Pranna.
Jobs supposedly gave a demonstration of the new iPad and discussed how the new tablet could “serve the future of media.”
Sounds like a fairly typical business meeting. The strangest line in the article? The description of Jobs’ dinner order:
Jobs, who is recovering from a liver transplant last year, requested a mango lassi and penne (neither of which are on the Southern Asian restaurant’s menu, but with a shiny new iPad maybe in it for him, it’s not like the chef was going to say no).
Surely I’m not the only one who thinks that a mango lassi alongside penne pasta sounds absolutely disgusting?
February 4, 2010 at 5:08 am (George Lopez, Indian Head Bobble, Jordan, King Abdullah, Lopez Tonight, Russell Peters)
Indo-Canadian comedian Russell Peters appeared on Lopez Tonight Tuesday, During his stand up routine, Peters described Indians as the “Latinos of the Middle East,” discussed linguistics, and gave a nod to the Indian head bobble, which, amazingly, has its own Wikipedia entry.
During the latter part of the program Peters described being punked by King Abdullah during a visit to Jordan, Watch it here.
February 4, 2010 at 1:11 am (8th Avenue, Incredible India, Midtown, New York City, Photography)
The moment I finished reading Phillygrrl’s excellent recent post on photography and memory, I resolved to start taking more pictures. She writes:
People forget. My mind is a sieve. If I didn’t take a photo, I would be unable to recollect that person or that place. Perhaps not for the first year or so, but five years later, I would be sure to forget the details. Do you remember what you did five years ago? How you looked? What you wore? Just take a photo. It lasts longer.
So, so true. Photographs not only capture what we once were personally, but also how far we’ve come historically. For example, fifteen years ago, do you think that anyone imagined that the scene below would be a common sight in New York City?
Midtown Manhattan, 4:47 pm yesterday
February 3, 2010 at 7:02 am (Aishwarya Rai, Anil Kapoor, Brad Pitt, My Name is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan)
Shah Rukh Khan spoke to S. Mitra Kalita of the Wall Street Journal on Monday to promote his new film My Name is Khan. He comes off as extremely self-aware throughout the interview.
My favorite part of the Q-&-A was when Kalita asked Khan about possibility of working in Hollywood:
So Anil Kapoor is in “24.” Aishwarya Rai was in “Pink Panther 2.” Why aren’t you in Hollywood movies?
I’ve never been asked. I’ve never been offered anything. I’m like the frog in the well. I like stories to come out of the well. I’m hopeful to make one Hindi film that’s seen by the whole world.
Maybe it’s because I’m nothing special. I’m 44. I’m brown. I don’t have Brad Pitt’s body. I have an accent. I don’t know kung fu. I don’t have an agent – I like that.
But I like that I’m the king of Bollywood.
You can read the entire interview over at WSJ.com.
NYT > Asia Pacific