walk through phoenix mall and babulnath temple (buildings still evolving)

so, we were in phoenix again today and what can i say that i haven't said earlier- except that it seems to me to be the least vile of all the developments in the mill lands- even though it is by far the most ramshackle- or actually - because of that. none of the glisten and sheen of what's directly across the road- the enormous towers rising from their enormous basements. grown over time, finding, searching and negotiating for space in between older buildings that it once was illegal to tear down- the mall has grown inwards and outwards out of the industrial sheds. the older kernel of the transformation still lies at the heart of the development. the 'courtyard- once faced by the most swishy of the discos 'fire and ice' that made the most out of its industrial patina and double height interior. now it is a 'spaghetti kitchen' -white and shiny right near a mcdonalds. other restaurants in older buildings lead from this courtyard to 'skyzone' the first mall-like shopping zone to emerge within the complex. to get here you have to walk under a bridge- it had no chance of being pleasant, this "street". the landscape plan seems like it learnt from back-streets and parking lots- how to make asphalt feel worse than it is.

'skyzone' is mall squeezed into an old office building. aluminium panels slapped onto the lower two floors, an interior of one double height lobby with a 'subway' and a corridor with shops on both sides. this 'mall' has recently been dwarfed many times over by the latest entrant into the space- the gigantic 'palladium' on the other side of the 'courtyard'. This hulk of a building can never really be seen from anywhere but from within its tacky marble floored, piss yellow lighted atrium- its extremities are submerged under terraces and parking lots at multiple levels.

this gargantuan parking lot is tucked away at the back of the complex and is entered through an incredible labyrinth of ramps that rise and fall and then rise again only to twist down again. one of the strange (happy?) accidents of the slow agglomeration of awful buildings in phoenix is that the clear separation of the service from the served; or the old from the new; or the tacky from the swank; or the garbage from the precious is never really clear. they are completely intertwined within one another. the two worlds seem to pass each other constantly pretending that the other does not exist. sudden juxtapositions offer no surprise- not even elicit an ironical smile- like that sequence of three spaces - from the parking lot- down a service stair- onto a raised terrace from where you enter the multiplex burning in the summer sun into the air conditioned atrium from where you descend into a shopping center- only to be thrust out again into the hot 'street' covered by construction material- and thats just for starters.

meanwhile the place keeps getting bigger and bigger. construction is still on. i am way beyond horror at this. i am at the point of numb amusement.

the glazed atrium between the parking lot and the 'street'

the street

courtyard

above the 'street'

along the route

'skyzone'

the play area outside 'skyzone'

palladium

and earlier today, i was at another landmark that has grown over time- babulnath temple at the base of malabar hill. you enter the gate and follow the steep street lined with chawls and come upon the horrific but rather fascinating as a tower from a possible fascist science fiction film that serves as a life-shaft. under the turn of the stairs a sadhu and his assistant peddle their religious paraphernalia. you rise following the gridded latticework of the covered corridors from the lift shaft up the stairs and underneath more bridges to the temple at the top of the hill.

the walk up

the walk down

movie wrap up

paro's new film 'partners in crime' dwells on love and theft. the love of art and people. the love of collecting, knowing, understanding, dissecting, organising art and then distributing freely to who you love or want to be loved by. piracy as a part of that mix-tape culture that i remember from my teens. recording static filled top 40 songs from voice of america and then making copies for shyam and babu; choosing pieces specifically for that one person who you know it was meant for. i loved most of the characters but felt a little sorry for the one dimensional experts' (though they did do their best to be caricatures themselves). they seemed to lie outside the arc of the film. i really enjoyed the film- i only wish that the love story would have stayed uninterrupted.

unlike 'rip- a remix manifesto' who spoke instead of the love of music itself- its form and evolution. the 'creative process' that steals, shuffles, remixes and makes new. 'girl talk's mad collage like mashups that make khichdi out of everything from britney spears and kanye west to nirvana and the beatles form the spine of the film. the music is great.

the sappy wooden and, quite frankly, awful, douglas sirk film of a William faulkner novel 'the tarnished angels'. lovingly shot in cinemascope black and white and set in new orleans during mardi gras. much is made of the parallels between the grotesque masks and the grotesque emotional games played by the characters with each other. rock hudson plays a journalist besotted by a family of flying racers- the husband and the wife.

'le prophete' is a prison drama set in a french prison that centres around a young arab man as he rises from a lackey to the prison mob to being an all powerful ringleader. an action drama film that works. 'the wedding banquet'- ang lee's sweet romantic comedy about gay men and a pretend marriage.

and then hollywood on tv- the 'toy story' trilogy back to back: to infinity and beyond- i had strange nightmares that didnt allow me to sleep. not all blue skies and brightness - are they? sad lonely toys always running after owners who leave them in dangerous circumstances and then forget about them. 'the generals daughter' - it is so comforting to know that the man you suspect in the first five munites of a supposed murder mystery turns out to be the killer. john travolta hams his way through what are supposed to be the dark mysterious sexual undercurrents within a co-ed military camp. some homosexuality, sado masochism and rape while he romances the very straight madeline stowe. 'the battle of shaker heights' in which shia lebouf is virtual battle mad until he connives with a richer smart friend to take revenge on a bully. darker than usual for an american teen film. another might have been plugged dark teen film was 'the last song'- miley cyrus is ranty dad hating teen (she blames him for the divorce- ah... ) until his untimely sickness and eventual death makes her appreciate him. ugh. and more and more....

day trip the vasai virar sub region: image post 3: nirmal

in nirmal on the other hill (the first being the church seen in a previous post) is the shankaracharya mandir from surrounded by the talavs. the inside is original while the fort like outer wall new.