Umm.. can we say, overreaction?

Shilpa Shetty can't seem to stay out controversy, poor thing. And not usually by her doing.

But seriously, I was apalled and embarrassed to see this ridiculous story splashed all over international media. I caught this latest development on Access Hollywood of all places. And then saw that it had made headlines on pretty much every entertainment news service -- print, broadcast and online.

An arrest warrant? Seriously!?

Okay, so Richard Gere should probably have stopped and thought before he acted. He visits the country (doing good, as people seem to have forgotten) often enough that he should have known better. But he made a mistake -- and I cannot even believe the overreaction. What frustrates me is how "modest" and prudish we like to believe we are as a country when, in reality, that's such bullshit. Everybody's doing it; they're just not talking about it.

Not to mention, I watched the footage and he hardly "smooched" her as was being reported. He kissed her on the cheek a few times, albeit while dipping her in a somewhat suggestive way -- but, please, we see that in the movies (yes, the Bollywood ones) all the time. And nobody's raring to throw SRK in jail. Big screen PDA is a whole lot more publicly "indecent," if that's what we're calling it.

And, of course, what gets convenietly left out is that all this happened at an important event to spread awareness about an important issue. An issue a whole lot more pressing than whether two actors behaved with adequate propriety or not. Where are people's priorities? And don't even get me started on the media. As usual, they missed the bus on what's important and what isn't.

Grindhouse kicks ass

And Quentin Tarantino rocks my world. Again. And again. What I think is exciting about him is you don't know exactly what you're in for when you sit down at the beginning, but the one thing you do know is that it won't be disappointing.

One thing, though -- he could be less narcissistic -- I mean, seriously, does he have to have a cameo in every movie??

I definitely preferred his film over that of Robert Rodriguez -- though Rose McGowan with her machine gun leg was one of the best parts of both features! (It made me want one.) Still, Planet Terror was a little overdone. Death Proof (Tarantino's), on the other hand, was soooo slick. I loved the random conversations that flowed so beautifully between the characters -- the women all did an amazing job. And the last 15 minutes -- omigod. The ending's a little abrubt. But, somehow, it works.

There was a lot of blood and gore and violence and thrills -- expected. But what I didn't expect was to be clutching my side laughing out loud through much of it. Both Rodriguez and Tarantino played with humor really well. And the trailers! Comic genius.

Grindhouse was totally worth the 3 hours and 15 mins. And I realize it surprises a lot of people that I would even watch it -- the general reaction when I suggested it was "really??" But deep down, I've always wanted to kick some ass with an ammo-loaded limb and a pass to cuss as much as I want.

"Really??"

Fuck, yeah!

Not BBQ weather yet, but...

It's not quite warm out, but indoor burgers were easier to make than I thought. These are spiced with cumin and paprika and several other spices, so they're almost kebab-like. Which is really great because they can be served as burgers or with pita bread or even with Persian rice and salad. And the garlic curry sauce is just yum (to make it healthier, I substituted most of the mayo with yogurt).

Yes, I am that person who tears pages out of Gourmet and Bon Appetit and files them. And who thinks it's super when one dish can be served in various ways. And who often makes twice the amount and freezes half because it saves time and you never know when you need rainy day food!

It's all about domestic goddessness.