Man on the Tree

Usher

More of Usher

Canvasing

Canvasing from Mahesh Haridevan on Vimeo.

The beautiful batch of 2008 winter morning. There was a time when we had 11 of them.

Mahalaxmi to Goregaon

Mahalaxmi to Goregaon from Mahesh Haridevan on Vimeo.

The plight of many settlers from Rajasthan who migrate to Mumbai for a daily bread. This kid (protagonist i) earns his coins by playing the Rawanhathha, a traditional musical instrument, entertaining tourists and locals at the Gateway of India.

It was past 1 in the morning and he was almost asleep, but he kept playing. On one instance he sits and tries to take a rest when he dozes off onto the Gujarati man. The man asks the kid not to lean on him and get off. Thats when a blind man (protagonist ii) comes across the compartment begging for money. And as he closes in the kid, my camera battery gets over.

My idea of a chance video and building a story around it.

It is certainly New India, and very assuring.

Found(yr.2008) this near the gate of a Muncipal Industrial Estate in Worli. A very decent service offered by the insurance company. Neat.

The Hindi one below is very well written if you know how to read it. Adds to the polite sarcasm/irony/cold effort by the service providers.

And above all, a nice piece of copy writing. Benefits.

In Hindi


In English

Daimond Emporium

For the love of type, again. This shot I took in Worli, during my stint at &Then, Mumbai. Amazing type, and an amzing signage. Certainly its diamond.

 

The lost Usher

Since the past four odd months, 6 in the morning I get a nature call. Not mine but a street dog's, who almost owns the apartment I stay in. After the last guy in the apartment enters, the building gate is usually latched. And since I am the only one who stays in the ground floor, I have no option but to adhere to the growling wake up calls from the dog, whom I would name, 'Usher'. He sure has lots of stories to tell us.

But for now, I need to get back to work.

Kes, Bird of Prey

Continuing one of my childhood past times - bird watching (more or less the kites/eagles/hawks/vultures). Feel nostalgic. Back then, a heavy Russian binoculars borrowed from my cousin was all that I had. Now it is a Canon 350D.

The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur Indus) is a familiar bird of prey and is often mistaken to American national bird - Bald Eagle. In India it is considered as the contemporary representation of the mythical Garuda.

Vital statistics :
Medium (43-51cm), wings long broad rounded; tail short and rounded when fanned. Head, neck, breast white; rest of body bright chestnut; primaries tipped black; feet yellow.

Call : Described as a thin mewing scream kweeaa or kyeeer usually while soaring.

In flight : Long but broadly angled wings. Slow deep flapping.

World distribution : India through China to the Philippines and Australia.

Breeding : During mating season (November-December), Brahminy Kites perform aerial acrobatics. They mate on or near the nest. Keep an eye on the sky towards the end of the year.

They are very tolerant of humans. For more images, click here.

The Flop which was a Hit.

The 1968 Mexico City Olympics marked the international debut of Dick Fosbury and his celebrated "Fosbury flop," which would soon revolutionize high-jumping.

My 7th grade P.T (physical training) theory book had the description and the whole deal of how the flop has to be done and perfected, which I never did. I preferred the must safer scissors. Even in 1996, my school had no landing mat, it was sand. I did try it at home on my parent's king size bed few times. Which after a few unsuccessful flops developed some cracks. The bed I mean, I was lucky. Though Fosbury was considered the revolutionary, it was possible only because, by the time Dick Fosbury had come, the landing mat had just got there, with time it got thicker. I won't take off the credit from him none the less. He is a legend. He was the only one who was doing it then.

Forgot to tell.. my book also had illustrations, grabbing my eyes whenever I used to glance through. Will post them whenever I fish that book out.

phaaan tom limbs

one of the best ted talks i have ever come across.. and the most viewed by me self.

Evolution of Batman Symbol over the Years

I remember myself doing so many of them when I was a kid. I used to be crazy about Batman and his world, not jut his accessories. All my books used to have the symbol somewhere or the other. Atleast on the rear. I am not sure who made this video, but a nice example of branding, which has always evolved so much. I dont think any other superhero's symbol is as great as Batman's and which have kept on changing.

James Jarvis runs

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

"I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.
Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand."
James Jarvis

iron&wine

The Days Run Away

The Days Run Away, originally uploaded by Dill Pixels.

They are almost the last thing that you see on the screen. Check out for 200+ END titles on this flickr. Some of the best ones. My pick is Kubrick's 'Killer's Kiss', 'Dr. Strangelove' etc etc.. there are many... almost all are interesting.
Peace :)

'Night owls cleverer, richer than early birds' :P

Researchers have carried out the study and found that late risers tire less quickly than those who make a point of getting up at the crack of dawn, British newspaper the Daily Mail reported. :P

For the latest study, the researchers pitted morning larks against night owls in a task designed to measure their reaction and attention times.

During the experiment, the subjects got up and went to bed at their usual times, with the larks tending to turn in four hours earlier than the owls. Both did similarly well at the task shortly after getting up. But 10 later, it was the night owls that shone, being both quicker and alert at task.

Despite being awake for the same length of time, the larks felt sleepier, with scans showing that the parts of their brains linked to attention were less active.

“During the evening session, evening types were less sleepy and tended to perform faster than morning types,” Philippe Peigneux of the University of Liege in Belgium was quoted as saying.

Famous night owls include Charles Darwin, Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, who regularly went to bed at 4am and rose late. Due to his sleeping patterns, he often hosted War Cabinet meetings in his bath.

It is thought that the division into larks and owls has its roots in evolution, with early risers in the Stone Age taking the initiative in food gathering, while owls stood guard late into the night.

The study has been published in the latest edition of the Science journal.

melody day

Recently came across the latest beautiful release from ~~~Caribou~~~. Rainbow full of melody. Always been a fan. And, right now I am also listening to Animal Collectives, Andrew Bird (latest discovery), Architecture in Helsinki and Cat Power. Cheers.

michael robinson: girl by firelight + candela latitudes

“Girl By Firelight” is a beautiful little glimpse into colour and motion by animator and filmmaker Michael Robinson, who says the piece is a “color study made entirely with light, entirely in camera. All motion of color elements were created solely with hand movements.”


candela latitudes from Michael Robinson on Vimeo.

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