I am not ready for films yet: Karisma Kapoor

Karisma Kapoor says that being a mother is her first priority and films will have to wait

Gorgeous actress Karisma Kapoor s taking a break from films, but plenty of endorsements are keeping her busy. “For me family comes first and I have made a conscious decision to give them more time. Work will come second, which is also why I have taken up more endorsements. That way, I get to spend more time with the kids as well,” she says. She adds that it will take quite some time for her to come back to the silver screen. “Films take up such a huge portion of your time and I don’t think I’m ready for such a commitment. I don’t want to leave my kids for such long periods, so maybe a year or two and then if something interesting comes up I will work on it,” she explains. Talking about her kids, the “Master Of Multitasking” (mom) as she calls herself, says that she gives them the freedom to choose whatever they want to do. “I never influence them. I want them to choose whatever they want.” Talking about the Kapoor khandaan, she says, “We were brought up with values that stressed on family coming first. Which is why despite our busy schedules, we (Kareena as well) take time out to meet each other. It can be lunch, dinner or something as small as watching TV together,” she says. About the latest addition to the family, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma’s brother-in-law, she says, “He isn’t just my brother-in-law. We go a long way beyond that. We are colleagues and friends first. We always have so much fun with each other, we can talk about anything under the sun and we share almost everything that happens in our lives.”Source: The Asian Age, Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/

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Sweet art of spying

Sweet Tooth, much as the misleading name suggests, is not a spy tale. Certainly not in the suave, guns and gadgets explosive loud action James Bond kind of way, nor the quiet, understated but surefooted spywork of George Smiley, and definitely not the modern-day, almost bizarre thriller setting for the 21st century Spooks of MI5. What we have here is a fresh-out-of-college mathematics graduate, Serena Frome, stumbling, in some ways comically, through the unglamorous, almost boring lacklustre world of British intelligence in the early 1970s. In a Britain trying to overcome economic downturn and combating industrial unrest and Irish dissident terrorism. And what may’ve seemed as an espionage job turns out to be, initially, and for the next few months, typing out memos, much like the female secretary milieu of 1960s Mad Men. The book has a girl’s romantic quest quality to it — it certainly gives that impression when you read of her escapades — but to leave it at that is to seriously underestimate McEwan. Stick with it and it grows on you. By her seemingly first person account, Ms Frome (rhymes with plume) is almost a directionless young girl, who has a great interest in literature, and had it not been for her obliquely feminist mother’s insistence that as a woman it was her duty to study maths at Cambridge (though she sucked at it, if one may venture), may have most likely pursued it in education too. Nevertheless, she’s a voracious reader and devours anything legible. Blonde and extremely gorgeous, we learn of Serena’s string of lovers in college and then another, Jeremy, a nerdish historian and somewhat sexually confused, who eventually introduces her to Tony Canning, his history tutor and the one who enlists her for MI5. Canning, who is an “old MI5 hand”, almost seems to take charge of Serena, instructing her on what to read — brushing up on history and everything political — all with the solitary purpose of grooming her for the intelligence service, to the extent of having her recruitment interview set up. They also have an affair alongside. Serena does make it to MI5, keeping her parents unaware of it who think that she works as a civil servant. After the initial dreary few months and the prospects of a dalliance with a male colleague, Max Greatorex, who, by virtue of inexplicable seniority and also a soft corner, recommends her name, Serena is presented with an espionage job. It is not so much spying a la Mata Hari as an almost innocuous honey-trapping of a writer, T.H. Haley, that the MI5 ostensibly wants to fund to counter Russian Communist propaganda. The mission itself is quite the opposite of the life-at-risk wartime spying that one may hope for in reading such a book. Propaganda funding, though, is not so much fiction, as the British foreign office did fund translations of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and as also the CIA funding Encounter magazine. Closer home, there has been the ISI funding Ghulam Nabi Fai’s Kashmiri American Council, spreading anti-India propaganda over Kashmir in the West. That, though, led to criminal conviction. What Serena is enlisted to do may not involve any serious spook job but the book does have its share of a Kim Philby-esque drama and the surrounding paraphernalia of people being followed and their houses searched and bugged. Ms Frome meets Tom Haley, a young academic and writer, and manages to successfully convince him to let the intelligence organisation she represents fund his writing. They also form a deep personal relationship, which seems blissful till it’s threatened by malicious spitefulness. Ian McEwan masterfully guides you through all the events so that one is either totally or thoroughly unprepared when one of his famous twists in the tale occur. He doesn’t disappoint his readers, even though he should be given credit for dropping enough hints, which, when seen in retrospect, should have set off the alarm bells. In fact, McEwan does to his reader exactly what he quotes as something his heroine doesn’t like being done to the audience (“I wanted to feel the ground beneath my feet”). If this is your first McEwan book, don’t approach it in the hope of it being like an Ian Fleming novel, it won’t fulfil your thriller thirst as this is not what this book is or was ever meant to be. For others who have read McEwan before, he will leave you on tenterhooks, but not like your life depended on it. He pleasantly strolls with you through the book, till you encounter what you least expect. Source: The Asian Age, Image: photobucket.com

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Deepika Padukone or Aishwarya Rai to choose India's Next Top Model

Many reality shows that are catching the attention of viewers are the mere imitation of western reality shows. In the same manner now desi version of America's Next Top Model will soon thrill audiences. The show will be called as India's Next Top Model. Insiders disclose either Deepika Padukone or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be scrutinizing the participants and select the top model of India. Supermodel-producer Tyra Banks in the American show. Big CBS Love, the channel with female-centric programming, will probably air the show by the end of this year. Network representative Tarun Katiyal confirms the news, telling, "It’s the right time to bring the show to India because the fashion and modelling industry here is huge. After going to so many countries in the world, India was the next obvious destination. If you check out the modelling auditions for the fashion weeks, you’ll know what I mean." He insists that the show will not follow the lines of existing TV competitions like Channel V’s Get Gorgeous and The Hunt for the Kingfisher Calendar Girl. "We’ve not had one big show like America’s Next Top Model in India so far. There are some that spot modelling talent, but this one will be the game changer. Hopefully, we’ll find a face that can become India’s answer to ‘the supermodel’ concept of the west."Source: GaramGossips

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Top 10 smartphones in 2012

Bisarbeat, By Hania: Today's top handsets are as much mobile computers as phones. As well as making calls, they allow us to access thousands of handy apps, play games, watch movies and listen to hours of music. But with so many models available, you might find it tricky to track down the one that's best for you. The high cost of pay- as - you - go  smartphone  handsets and the long contracts associated with the most desirable devices can make matters even more complicated. We've rounded up our top 10 handsets to help you decide on the best phone for you. In our humble opinion these are the latest and greatest smartphones currently available. 10. Orange San Francisco II The Orange San Francisco II is a budget

smartphone.  But in terms of bang for buck it's hard to beat. Its predecessor set a new benchmark for entry-level Android devices, and Orange has crafted a worthy follow-up, building on the features that made the original San Francisco such a hit. The screen is nice and bright and the chassis slimmer and sleeker than you might expect; a 5MP camera has also been squeezed into the handset. However, social networking features are few and far between. The touchscreen is a little unresponsive. Plastic also rules the day when it comes to the casing. 9 HTC Sensation XL Beats by Dre-branded

headphones have become the must -have cans for   fashion-conscious music fans. HTC are obviously hoping to repeat the trick for phones by slapping the Beats logo on their new super-sized handset, the Sensation XL. However, the tie-up with the Beats line is more than just a cosmetic one - the phone features some unique audio tuning features and a bundled set of specially designed urBeats earphones. Throw a 4.7-inch display, single-piece aluminium chassis and 8MP camera into the mix as well, and you've got a phone that's guaranteed to be a hit. 8. Sony Xperia S

The Sony Xperia S features a distinctive design: a see-through plastic bar that slices across the bottom of the phone, giving it a futuristic look and feel. The spec sheet for Sony's new flagship device is also impressive, particularly the 12MP snapper and gorgeous high-res screen. However, there are a few niggles that stop this phone from achieving true greatness. It's rather thick and bulky, for one, and there's no microSD slot for upgrading the memory. 7. Motorola Razr The new Razr is absurdly thin at just 7.7mm, 

and a beautiful Kevlar fibre shell alongside a Corning Gorilla Glass screen help make it every inch the equal of its popular ancestor. The phone's dual-core 1.2Ghz processor blows away the original Razr's tech, however, and back in 2004 8MP cameras were dedicated snappers, rather than smartphone components. A hefty amount of memory and some excellent multimedia features are also on board, all of which should help to make the rebooted Razr a success. 6. BlackBerry Bold 9900 BlackBerry sold more 

smartphones in the UK last year than any other manufacturer, and the Bold 9900 will only cement their position. It's their thinnest phone yet at only 10.5mm and the superb BlackBerry keyboard has also been married with a responsive touchscreen, making the phone perfect for both business and pleasure. The design is pure class as well, featuring a brushed stainless steel frame. Built-in Near Field Communications (NFC) technology will also keep this handset cutting-edge for some time to come. 5. Nokia Lumia 800 Ever since Nokia and Microsoft joined forces we've been 

waiting for a phone that would show off the best of each company's expertise. Well, that phone is finally here - the Nokia Lumia 800. The design of the handset is the culmination of decades of Nokia development - unfussy and attractive, functional yet also fun (the 800 Lumia comes in several colours). As you'd expect, the Carl Zeiss camera is a great feature, and the 3.7-inch ClearBlack curved display has fantastic depth and contrast. All this hardware is coupled with the wonderfully intuitive Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) - the best version of Microsoft's smartphone OS yet. A recent firmware update also improved the Lumia 800's battery life dramatically. 4. Samsung Galaxy Nexus  The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is one hot 

handset. Although the screen is 4.65 inches, the resolution is 1280 x 720, meaning it's both massive and pin-sharp. But although the Nexus' hardware is certainly noteworthy, it's more remarkable for its software at the moment. The Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to feature Ice Cream Sandwich, otherwise known as Android 4.0. This, when coupled with an NFC chip, facial recognition unlock feature, and amazing synchronisation with Google services, makes the Nexus a very impressive package. 3. HTC Sensation XE

HTC has quickly established itself as one of the top players in the smartphone market, releasing a string of fantastic phones in quick succession. The HTC Sensation is currently their flagship 1.2Ghz dual-core device - the XE edition ups the processor speed, extends the battery life and adds Beats Audio software and stylings. Looks-wise it's certainly a head-turner: solid yet classy, slim but packing a massive 4.3-inch screen. The HTC Sense 3.0 interface is highly customisable too, and an 8MP camera on the rear can capture 1080p video too. 2. Apple iPhone 4S Some say the

iPhone 4S is merely a bridge phone, designed to prop up sales of Apple's handsets before the iPhone 5 is released next year. Even if that turns out to be true, the 4S is still a great handset in its own right. Although it's identical to a regular iPhone 4 on the outside, a number of tweaks and improvements have been made under the hood. The camera, for instance, has been bumped up from five to eight megapixels, the processor is faster and Siri, a virtual personal assistant, is now built-in. The easy-to-use iOS and the pin-sharp Retina Display still seem a cut above the competition.1. Samsung Galaxy S II The Samsung Galaxy was a stellar handset and its sequel, the

 Galaxy S II, is even more impressive. A dual-core 1.2GHz processor means apps and web browsers run at warp speed on the Android 2.3 OS. The bright and colourful 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen makes movies and games gorgeous to behold. Throw in an 8MP camera, 1080p video recording and a super sleek (8.49mm) and light (116g) design, and you've got one hell of a handset. Source: Bisarbeat

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First look

Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif's upcoming romantic film, produced under the banner of Yash Raj Films, seems to have got its title. The talks doing rounds in tinsel town is that the movie will be titled as ‘London Ishq’, while the filmmakers are yet to make an official announcement. For the first time the king of romance Shahrukh will be seen sharing screen space with the gorgeous Katrina Kaif. The movie marks the coming together of the award winning duo of music maestro A. R. Rahman and poet-lyricist Gulzar yet again. The film is scheduled for a Diwali 2012 release, the festive time when Yash Chopra movies over the years have lit up homes worldwide. Meanwhile, take a look on the sets of the film as SRK shoots for a song in London. Source: The Hans India, ***

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Salma Hayek Reveals How She Stays Drop-Dead Gorgeous At 45

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Starpulse: The 45-year-old bombshell Salma Hayek, who voices the love interest in the animated feature Puss in Boots this month, opens up to Latina about how she found success in love and life on her own terms. On waiting patiently to become a mother & wife:"To be your own woman, you have to question who you really are and what it is you really want – and you have to have a level of acceptance of what you can do. The things I expected of myself when I was 20 did not happen, or did not happen the way I imagined they would, and it's okay. Let's just take this one day at a time and do the best that I can and be grateful for the things I do have." On her husband François-Henri Pinault: "I found a man better than any man I could ever in my life imagine existed. He found me, actually. I wasn't even looking." On having divine skin: "When I was 16, I looked 19. When I was 19, I looked 25. But I got stuck on 25 – thank God! – until I was 35. So that was good. But it's also important to take care of your skin because if you're not careful, one day you'll wake up and a spider will have taken over your face and you'll be full of lines." On cosmetic surgery:"I have no Botox. The thought of a needle coming to my forehead, it really gives me the heebie-jeebies. So I'd rather put on my creams. It's fun, it smells good, and it's relaxing. Am I opposed to doing it later? I don't know. I want to see how far I can go." On launching her new beauty line: "At the time I wanted to do the beauty line I didn't know how, but I never stopped trying to learn. It's not that I said, 'I've gotta do this no matter what.' It was like, 'I know how to act. I don't know how to do this other thing, but I think I could.' So I studied, I paid attention, I asked a lot of questions, I investigated each product. And then, in time, it came." On the busiest year of her career: "I'm 45, so it's a miracle I'm working in the first place – especially because I'm not even here [stateside] chasing it. Nowadays I only work with friends or somebody I admire, or on something that is really special. Somehow, just by doing that, it's the year that I worked the most in my life!  On what's next: "I'm in a very comfortable position because, [even] if I never worked again and am just a housewife and a mother, I'm happy. I really am. I was born to be a wife and a mother."" Source: Starpulse

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Butterflies are the new Pirates

Magpie&Whiskeyjack, By Minouette (scientist by vocation artist by avocation): Yes, indeed. There has been an undercurrent of butterflies fluttering through our culture for some time, and soon they will be as omnipresent as pirates. They appear in art, crafts, fashion. Tell me this installation by Japanese

artist  / designer / stylist  Kiroshi  Kuroda is not piratical? or that  the  graphic impact of this black and white will not catch on:

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Consider the hypnotic effect of French artist Phillipe Caillaud's spirals of butterflies;

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Aurores 1 and detail I love how he incorporates ephemera, including vintage photographs, playing cards and especially, maps. Some works are made of dragon or damsel flies, rather than butterflies. Full marks for elegance and simplicity of his web portfolio design! Flash-addicted artists, please take note.

Cramoisis

Vulcains

Mars (detail)

Piérides de la route (detail)

This reminds me of work of the previously-blogged Elsita (Elsa Moro). She had a show in 2007 which involved a lot of flying things. The work "One Hundred Butterflies" also involves a spiral of butterflies (& moths & dragonflies & damselflies). Each one represents a famous woman:

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Interesting that there is a sub-theme of spirals of multimedia butterflies. Speaking of multimedia butterflies, check out these knit papillons by Chevalier-Masson (Belgian duo Anne Masson & Eric Chevalier):

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"Les deux font la paire" , 2006 (Galerie Les Drapiers, Liège). {The title means 'the two make a pair'}

Of course, there is the gorgeous work of British printmaker, book and multimedia artist John Dilnot, many of which feature butterflies or moths. His work captures the magic of the microcosm and the Wunderkammer. 

Moths Collection (26 x 19x 7cm)

U.S. sculptor "Michelle Stitzlein creates found object art / sculpture from recycled materials, including piano keys, broken china, license plates, rusty tin cans, electrical wire, bottlecaps, and other miscellaneous items." These include enormous (check the dimensions!), amazing butterflies and moths.

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I could go on.... {Though familiar with many of these artists, the archives at dear ada were a great resource for finding many of these butterflies in contemporary art.} Courtesy: Magpie & whiskeyjack

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Kate Middleton Stuns In A Strapless Black Velvet Dress At Sun Military Awards

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Star Pulse: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William were among the stars who turned out in London on Monday night to salute the bravery of British soldiers at The Military Awards. Catherine, commonly known as Kate Middleton, looked gorgeous in a black velvet dress and a jeweled necklace. During the ceremony William honored Sergeant Ryan McCready, the recipient of the the Most Outstanding Soldier award. He said, "You exemplify the unique qualities that make the British soldier second to none." The royals were joined by other celebrities, including David Beckham, who took his sons Brooklyn and Romeo to the event. Source: Star Pulse

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Rose McGowan Is Glittering Gorgeous At The 'Conan The Barbarian' Premiere (Pics)

Rose McGowan sizzled on the red carpet outside Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium at the Los Angeles premiere of Conan the Barbarian Thursday night. The sexy star wore a shimmering blue and green sequined Blumarine gown and a pair of Brian Atwood shoes that you can't even see under her flowing dress. In the update of the Arnold Schwarzenegger 80s classic Rose plays Marique, a powerful witch (see pic below) who looks an awful lot like a Klingon from Star Trek. The star recently called herself "a gay man in a woman's body" (much to the chagrin of her boyfriend) because she likes to watch Zac Efron movies. Read Full : Rose McGowan Is Glittering Gorgeous At The 'Conan The Barbarian' Premiere (Pics) - Starpulse.com

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‘Deepika is the sexiest Indian woman’

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Hindustan Times, Mumbai : Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh is one of the first celebrity bachelors to shoot for the show, India’s Sexiest Bachelor that will soon air on the BIG CBS channels. According to the actor, who is currently filming Players, his colleague Deepika Padukone is the sexiest single Indian woman alive. Among the international celebrities, he finds Kim Kardashian stunning and thinks she is bestowed with a perfect combination of brains and beauty. “I think Deepika is the sexiest Indian woman alive. She carries herself beautifully, is gorgeous and independent. She’s grace
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personified and has everything that a man desires in a woman,” Neil says, shyly, after much prodding. “I’ve worked with her in Lafangey Parindey (2010). She’s a brilliant colleague to have. And lucky is the man who gets her.” Wouldn’t he like to be the man in her life then? Single-man Neil laughs and says, “She’s a buddy and I wish her well. This thought has never run through my mind. If she reads this, I hope she doesn’t get me wrong.” The 29-year-old actor, once reportedly engaged, believes that his sex appeal lies in the mystery that surrounds him. “I like the fact that no one knows my next move. In my case, even if they start guessing they won’t know what is on my
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mind and in my heart,” Neil says with a grin. “That is what sex appeal means to me.” When was the first time that a girl found him sexy? Neil recalls it was at age 16. “Till then, I didn’t interact much with girls. There was a girl right behind me in the queue to submit admission forms at college,” he reminisces. “After the submission, she met me at the college gate and said, ‘You’re so sexy’. She left before I could react. I haven’t met her ever again. But her compliment keeps coming back to me.‘Source: Hindustan Times

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