Artesia

This movie will go down in history as the moment where I finally bought into the whole Kareena Kapoor franchise. She looks fabulous in Manish Malhotra's colorful costumes and even more ravishing in the parts where she's dressed in white and apparently wearing no makeup at all! The story isn't something very original but parts of it are originally funny and heartwarming. There is a very charming theme to the whole personality shift saga from Kareena to Shahid and then back. Sadly it will probably be the last time we see them together on-screen.

Too many "tri-quels" coming out for movies this season. Spiderman we all can agree was an attempt to hop from a boyish image to becoming a man. Hence the darker suit, more action and possibly a darker tint to this otherwise geeky/friendly superhero. It didn't really work. I think the superhero's evil-turned-good-in-the-end best friend stole the limelight. He had better gear, better moves and even the scar wasn't able to take away his good looks.

These days everyone turns to GEO when it comes to current event and breaking news. It has indeed captured the nations attention and has no serious competitor on the air waves. The network has a vast army of reporters thanks mainly to their parallel newspaper setup who waste no time in reacting to major events in any and every corner of Pakistan. Its refreshing to see, at least in the news medium, a mouthpiece to project our point of view towards the world. And even astonishing, at times, to see the freehand with which they are able to report, something unprecedented in our nation's past.

But there are a few downsides to the reporting style in general and some of the programs in particular. This becomes even more important given the fact that GEO is arguably considered the most 'authentic' source of news in Pakistan.

Aqsa Shakil is someone I've been acquainted with very recently. She's a full time student at the University of Texas at Dallas. She also works at the university and still finds time to keep in touch :) What I have in common with her is photography. And for this reason I've been after her for some time to do a feature on her work for artesia. Finally its done and here it is!
Aqsa is a student of photography and in this feature she talks to artesia at length about her approach towards photography. The motivation behind her passion and her inspirations in this field. She also explains the idea behind some of her work. And more importantly tries to answer the ultimate question of what to shoot: still life versus live subjects. Which she prefers and why?
Here's the feature in her own words. Its followed by some of her photographs along with brief descriptions.

The 'hamster' from my all time fantastic TV show 'Top Gear' was hurt yesterday in an accident while attempting the world land speed record. This may seem a bit cliched after Steve Irwin's recent untimely demise while filming but there certainly is something that touches people, when media people getting in danger while working. Richard is credited with bringing color and humor into Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear. I have almost ALL of the shows from the recent three seasons and hearing about the accident just put a knot in my stomach. After fanatically following all of the famous trio's escapades with motor-vehicles, the fans of the show have certainly developed a bond with these men.

Born on 30th March 1964, in Cleveland Ohio, Tracy Chapman was destined for a great impact on the music scene. She graduated from high school in Danbury and went to Tufts University in 1982 for a major in anthropology and African studies. At the university, Tracy joined an African drums ensemble but soon developed her own folk guitar playing skills and started to perform at the Boston folk circuit where she played the acoustic guitar and wrote her own songs. Through a college friend, she was introduced to David Kershenbaum who later produced her first album in 1987 when several other producers turned her down. Along with him she was also introduced to Elekra Records where she linked up with manager Elliot Roberts.