Top 10 Theme & Other Songs from the past.

A blast from the past, music is the soul of television shows and films. They have the power to make or break scenes. Almost all shows and films have their own Theme songs and some of these songs have earned their position on this list by being a perfect musical representation of their visual counterparts. They are often fun, sometimes gloomy, but almost always addictive. So let's look at the top 10 Theme Songs (Note: the position of the songs on list is noway a reflection of their rank.):

1) 'I don't wanna be' - One Tree Hill
This fantastic teen drama serial ended in 2012 but its theme song is still part of my playlist. The soulful rendition of Gavin Degraw is by far one of his best songs and is as relevant to us now as it was when it was released. In fact this song was the only single to break the UK Top 40.It also, topped the US Billboard of Top Pop Songs.

Listen to it: I don't wanna be - Gavin Degraw

Other good songs from this singer: Not Over You

2) 'Why Would You Walk When You Can Run' - Guys With Kids
Okay so 'Guys With Kids' did not turn out to be a popular show but that doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve kudos for its theme song. The song is fun and catchy, a reflection of the laid-back show and its slapstick comedy. I don't know about eslsewhere but in India it is currently airing on Comedy Central. It is sung by the co-creator of the show, Jimmy Fallon - no music maestro but I love the song anyway.

Listen to it: Why Would You Walk When You Can Run - Jimmy Fallon OR Why Would You Walk When You Can Run - Jimmy Fallon

3) Sherlock Theme Song - Sherlock
Even if Benedict's mordern representation of Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes, with Martin Freeman and a crazy Moriarty isn't appealing to you, the theme song should be. It is of course devoid of lyrics but it is a brilliant composition all the same. Infact the days, I watch Sherlock, I can't get the tune out of my head.

Listen to it : Sherlock Theme Song

4) Pirates of The Caribbean  
Arr matey! This pirate-y music almost convinces you to turn into a swashbuckling rogue, climb aboard a ship and drink a bottle o' rum. But Pirates are thieves of the sea, not a reputation you want, aye mate? So just enjoy this amazingly energetic music with your eyes closed. Technically this is not from the past because I think there's one more movie left but still, had to include it here.

Listen to it: Pirates of the Caribbean

5) Far Over The Misty Mountains - The Hobbit (part 1)
This gut wrenching and soul stirring composition of J.R.R Tolkien's poem 'Far Over The Misty Mountains' deserves an applaud for retainning equal amounts sense of loss and pride that the Dwarves felt for their home, the Lonely Mountain, claimed by the powerful dragon Smaug. The song adds to the marvelous acting and fantastic directing of the bestselling book by Tolkien.

Listen to it: Far Over The Misty Mountains

6) Hedwig's Theme - Harry Potter
This beautiful composition was created by none other than John Williams who is one of the finest Film Composers. He proved that with this theme song which stirs nostalgia for the series everytime I listen to it. There are not enough words to decribe how much I enjoyed this magical melody.

Listen to it : Hedwig's Theme

Other compositions: Star Wars - This needs its own few words because although I am not a big Star Wars fan, the theme song is a work of art!

7) Star Trek - Micheal Giacchino
I am, in fact, a major Star Trek fan and this theme gives me goosebumps. It is futuristic and dark and hopeful and everything Star Trek stands for. 'Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.'

8) Game Of thrones - Ramin Djawadi
Originally Stephen Warbeck (Celestia Warbeck, Harry Potter anyone? *snigger*) was supposed to compose the music but he left. Can I say that Warbeck lost something, and we gained something? More specifically he lost fans and we gained some kick-ass powerful, not-so medieval music for a certain badass medieval show...

Listen to it: Game of Thrones

Other compositions: Iron Man  - OMG OMG OMG! LOVE HIM! #FANGIRL

9) Mission Impossible - Lalo Schrifin
Who doesn't know this? The theme song of Mission Impossible is synonymous with spy and impossible-ness. It's a cult. And truly, who hasn't (atleast once) dowloaded this music on their phone and sneaked around the house pretending to be Ethan Hunt?

Listen to it: Mission Impossible

10) The Powerpuff Girls  
I still love this cartoon! What? Don't judge me! In all fairness I love both the theme song used in the beginning and the one used in the end. SUGAR.SPICE.&EVERYTHINGNICE.

Listen to it: (beginning) Powerpuff Girls & (end) Powerpuff Girls Song


And that's it. Got any of your own theme songs that you think should be on this list? Leave your comments below. :)

Why are Mondays so awful?

“It was Monday morning. Swaminathan was reluctant to open his eyes. he considered Monday specially unpleasant in the calendar. After the delicious freedom of Saturday and Sunday, it was difficult to get into the Monday mood of work and discipline..."

Ugh Mondays. I also found the perfect quote for it. How appropriate, it's from 'Swami and Friends' by R.K Narayan. It also seems self explanatory why someone...everyone would hate Monday. What is there to like. Everything about it makes me cringe. it announces the end of the holidays. The short weekend, my breathe of relief. It forces me to go back to work; to start thinking again; to approach my to do list. I can no longer sleep till the cows come home. No more spending time watching TV, curled up in bed. No more vegetating. Mondays are positively dreary.

As a child. Monday was even worse. It meant, that it was time for the ridiculous Monday Test. It was the sole reason we spent our weekends studying everything yet nothing. We studied long and hard (on an afterthought..maybe not hard), our prescribed syllabus but it took away from us the chance to study something we didn't know so well. In my case, math.
I am an adult now. Yes, I just turned 18 and there is absolutely nothing to look forward to except repetition and routine. The age-old words for boring and boring. Wake up early, eat cereal, work, eat dinner, sleep. Mondays are awful.

If Monday were a person, they would lack imagination. Monday would be that person who once laughed on your joke and will remind you that s/he did, every time they cross you. they are positively idiotic. They lack ambition and pride in the boring.

Why are Mondays so awful? Because they are the fairytale door to boring. An abomination.

Do’s and Don’ts of sending your Manuscript!

I recently got accepted as an Intern at this really badass publishing house. It’s my third day here and I am writing a blog post because in three days I’ve learnt things I’d like to share with budding writers and first time authors. My job here as an intern is to read manuscripts that have been sent to the Publishing House and then reject or accept them, depending how they are. I now know things that you absolutely need to know before you click on that send button. So, here they are the Do’s and Don’ts of sending your Manuscript!

Do’s

1)  Send a synopsis – Sometimes as authors you probably forget that you and only you have the story in your head. Editors have no idea what the story is about and if you don’t send them a synopsis, they will never know. Infact, they may reject your proposal simply based on the fact that they don’t understand where the story is going to end. So, don’t think that you’re going to impress the editor by keeping the story suspense. The truth is that there are no secrets with the Editor.

2)  Edit – Edit, edit and edit till you can’t and then edit some more. Make sure that your story starts with the story and is not a lengthy monologue about yourself or your character. Absolutely not. Since you are always required to send sample chapters, send chapters that tell a story. Editors have no interest in reading long character profiles that can easily be included later on.

3)  Check all spellings (especially in your email) – A lot of manuscripts arrive with long praises for the author only to spell the first word, even as simple as ‘Hello’ wrong.  Now, you can imagine that’s quite annoying considering that it is probably followed by a story of all your prowess and achievements.

4)  Correct all grammatical errors – It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a completely grammatical errors free document, because that is the Editors job. However, do make sure you have corrected all the basic errors like; making sure that your singular and plurals are all correct.

5) Be original – I once read a manuscript that had been copied word to word from a popular comedy film, including the title. Be original because even if editors enjoy reading, doesn’t mean that they don’t watch movies or listen to music; they are not generally unaware of the goings on in the world.

6) Have a story to tell – Probably the most important advice is that every story needs a beginning, middle and end so, make sure your story does too. It will not do to send your opinions or a sudden stroke of genius if it does not have a structure. You’re pinning false hope on nothing and moreover, wasting the editor’s time. So if you don’t know the

7) Have decent email ids – At school we’re told all the time to make proper email ids for college applications. It’s the same thing with your proposal! If you send a manuscript from the id ‘barneyrocks@email.com’, the editor will not be impressed. It will do you good to remember that editors are not your friends. They deserve every bit of respect and formality and it should be given.

8) Read all the requirements – Most publishing houses have their own websites where they post rules and advice to help you. They too post things that you should and should not do. Do read them and keep them in mind. If it says, do not send us enquiries then do not send them enquiries.

9) Make your manuscript presentable – If your story looks like the picture below, please don’t send it. Read rules Q to 8 and then start again. Include all the details and put it in a proper format. Don’t overuse exclamation marks (!) or ellipses (.)

Don’ts

1. Write an email – Do not send an empty email because it’s rude. Even if it’s just four words, write them!

2. Label the attached documents properly – There are hundreds of manuscript submissions so if I open your attachment, I should be able to find it later without a hitch. It doesn’t help if the document is labelled ‘Synopsis’. Be more specific – ‘Synopsis for Paradise (xyz)’

3. Do not send multiple emails – Just because the ‘To’ row is first doesn’t mean you have to fill it in, in the beginning. Infact, leave it for the end so that you do not end up accidently sending an incomplete proposal. Sending multiple emails reduces the chance of your email being accepted simply because the editor may not realize that you have sent him a complete email. They may assume that you’re one of those people who keep pestering them about replies.

4. DO NOT ASSUME the gender of the person reading your proposal – Unless you’re completely sure who is reading your mail, in which case address the email with their name – ‘Mr SoandSo’, in other cases do not address the email to ‘Dear SIR’. It is very irritating to receive emails from people who assume that I am a guy. Get your mind out of you’re a$$ and please notice that women work too.

5. Do not be a ‘smarta$$’ – By this I mean, don’t do thigs that can earn you labels like ‘prat’, ‘smarta$$’, ‘prick’ etc. This means, don’t send 600 pages of references. Do not send praise for yourself. If you are not part of the story, then STAY OUT OF IT (focus on your characters) etc etc.

6. Do not send the novel in the email itself – Just don’t.

And that’s it! The Do’s and Don’ts of sending your Manuscript. I do hope this helped you in determining what you need to do. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below, I’ll try to help you to the best of my capabilities.

Cheers!

The Aarushi Talwar Case

I double checked my doors tonight before slipping into bed. I was scared of the slightest noise, even of my own shadow because today we revisited the horrors of the Aarushi Talwar case. It isn't over; it hasn't been over for years but today it came back as breaking news. The CBI declared the parents guilty and tomorrow might be the conclusion to this woeful tale of a 14-year old girl. If the CBI is right then, what have we become? Unsafe within our homes.

Aarushi was fourteen about to celebrate her fifteenth birthday soon. She was just a child. She was messaging her friends, reading books, taking 'selfies' and being the girl she was only to meet such a painful and horrifying death. It does make you wonder things. Her death wasn't the only tragic thing that happened to her, while some say she was sexually assaulted before her being killed; others malign her name by making her a willing accomplice in a sexual encounter with a 45 year old man. I'm not saying it cannot happen, I'm saying that she was a child. Children make mistakes. It might've been a grave one but it was what it was...a mistake.

The Inspector on the case, General Gurdarshan Singh, said, “He killed her in a fit of rage even though his character was just as poor as his daughter’s (for her relationship with Hemraj).” How dare he comment on her character without knowing her even a bit. How dare he accuse a child of having a morally unacceptable character! She was a child. Children don't have character, they have lessons. How can he comment upon such a sensitive matter with such insensitivity? How on earth can he blame his incapability on the innocence of childhood.

How many of our days are numbered? When we are young, we feel invincible. We feel like nothing can touch us, least of all death but death and misfortune don't care about age nor they do about your plans. They just ambush you; catch you in your unawares and in a blink of an eye all your planning is lost.

Imagine giving birth and nourishing a child for almost fifteen years. Loving her, feeding her, bathing her, teaching her, giving her life and then being blamed for her death. I have no sides. I do not know who committed the crime and I offer no arguments. However for one moment can we pause and think to the predicament of two parents who lost their life to a couple of hours. The human in me appeals to the gods above, if they exist, let it not be the parents. Let it not be the parents because then I might as well leave the doors to my house open; let it not be the parents because then no one can stop us from losing fate in humanity; let it not be the parents because it is the worst possible thing to happen to a child.

We differentiate ourselves from animals but if it the parents, then we are nothing but animals. I know this post is all  over the place but I have written in a flow of emotion because it could have been me. I can only pray now that there exists a god and he is willing to listen to the plight of humanity. Let it not be the parents.

5 TV Actors You Need To Know

1. Sophia Bush

She is the ultimate 'beauty with brains'. Apart from being absolutely stunning, she is a keen activist and a fantastic actor. What makes her lovable is how genuine she is.

2. Richard Madden

More popularly know as Robb Stark of Game of Thrones, Richard Madden rose to popularity owing to his good looks, his fabulous acting skills and his impeccable sense of style, so much so that millions of female fans wept over his characters death in the popular fantasy drama series. He looks like he has a bright future ahead!

3. Sophia Vergara

The Spanish actress known for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in Modern Family earned kudos for her acting even though she is not fluent in English. I love how they incorporated her mispronunciations as part of Gloria's character. She is beautiful, smart and known for dressing well too!

4. Neil Patrick Harris

He's absolutely my favourite actor for being humourous, sexy and such a brilliant actor. His portrayal of Barney Stinson means that I lament for hours every week on why he doesn't exist in real. Oh lord!

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5. Peter Dinklage

What's not to love? He's talented, smart and confident about himself. One of the most talented actors I have come across.

Bad show : The Big Bang Theory?

I was reading an article entitled '8 TV Shows We Can’t Believe Get Such High Ratings' and guess which show was on it?! Yes, The Big Bang Theory.

{Read more: 8 TV Shows We Can’t Believe Get Such High Ratings}

The author wrote - "I’ve watched it. Multiple episodes. I don’t get the appeal. It’s pleasant enough to have on in the background while you’re occupied with something else, but do people really schedule this show into their lives and pay attention to it? The characters are grating, the storylines are the opposite of inventive, and the jokes are blah. Plus, it takes a really good show these days to convince me to sit through a laugh track. This doesn’t do it."

 I obviously do not agree with the views of Miss Jill O’Rourke because frankly speaking TBBT is one of the better shows playing on television today. I absolutely tired of shows that have innumerable heart stopping moments, countless over the top gadgets and a truck load of action scenes. Plus, aren't you tired of crime-fighting shows?

TBBT is one of the those shows you can sit on a lazy Sunday and laugh your way through. So the story line might not be 'inventive' but that's the appeal of the show plus, those nerdy jokes? They take skill and research. They're fantastic. Stephen Hawking thought so!

The characters are grating? Don't you find it absurd how absurd Sheldon is and how much more absurd he makes you feel? I still don't understand why sometimes I feel so tenderly towards Sheldon when it was just in the episode before that, that I wanted to throw him off the roof! He embodies those real life people who annoy us to the extent that we want to wring their necks but their behaviour isn't their fault at all. Leonard, Raj and Howard, Bernadette, Penny and Amy all contain a little bit of reality and really that has been amplified and made into characters. Are the characters 'grating' because they're true?

TBBT is what it is. It's fun, nerdy, intelligent, annoying, slightly provocative and absolute genius. Plus, Sheldon is totally the Spock of today...HOW COOL IS THAT? I suppose you have to be slightly nerdy yourself to watch the show but well...

Do you agree? What do you thinks? Comment below and share your views.

Thanks for reading :)

Viral Video - The Epic Split

This advertisement by Volvo has had over 8.6 million views on Youtube. It has gone absolutely viral! It shows Jean Claude Van Damme, the 56-year-old action hero, balancing himself between two trucks cruising backwards down a highway. The ad demonstrates the effectiveness of Volvo's Dynamic Steering in which the distance between the trucks gradually increases till Van Damme is in position of a perfect split.

Apparently, there has been no use of special effects in the making of this video..what do you think? I've started noticing special effects even in things that don't need them so the claim that apart from airbrushing the safety lines for Van Damme no effects were used is hard to believe but not impossible.

Don't you think there's an awful amount of special effects being used especially to dupe the audience? For exampleL Miranda Kerr Photoshop Confusion.

Anyway, it's a nice video...I think...what do you think?

Thanks for reading!

P.s And here's the video -