Call it force of habit or just inadequate sleep, I can't help but grab some shut eye when I commute by train/car to work. Of course being a passenger has it's own perks. But this habit of mine has made me the butt of jokes. Whenever we board a train and grab a seat my colleague tells me "Goodnight Ashith". Its very embarrassing but still the lure of a nap is too hard to resist :)


I try every time to hit the sack early but somehow that's not happening. Blame it on my PC and the cellphone, the modern day conveniences which has hobbled up most of our daily lives. I am not overstressed and overworked as the cartoon here suggests but I need to instill discipline at least when it comes to sleep.

Side effects of inadequate sleep has been well researched. You know it when you feel drowsy and are unable to concentrate on work. On the other hand, after a good night's sleep when you wake up in the morning you feel fresh both in mind and body.

The good part is that I am working on my sleep and I hope things will begin to improve.

This weekend I watched Iron Man 2. I was eagerly awaiting the release of the sequel. The first installment of Iron Man was impressive and I was curious to know whether the sequel fares better or exceeds expectations. The problem with most of the sequels is that they have to be better than the original or at least as good as the first part. However with experience one can safely suggest that most of the movies falter under the burden of expectations.

The film opens with the scene where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) confesses to being the IronMan. There have been a lot of superheroes based on the Marvel comic series however where Iron Man stands out is that the protagonist Tony Stark is shown as someone who is narcissist, isn't ashamed to flaunt his wealth, is pretty good at his job. The mini arc reactor which powers his suit and the toll it extracts on his body and his desire for pretty women are some of his weaknesses.

When there is an Iron Man how can there not be an opposing force which stands for something evil or destructive. The major weakness of the Iron Man(Part 1) was the villain Obadiah Stane. In the sequel, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) plays the role of disgruntled scientist and more than matches the might of Iron Man. Watch out for the whiplash scene where Ivan attacks Tony Stark on a race track. And there is the usual special effects. Scarlett Johansson, Samuel Jackson and Sam Rockwell are the new entrants. Pepper Potts played by Gywneth Paltrow is now elevated as the CEO of Stark Industries.

My verdict on this movie. It's a nice watch but it does lose some punch. Tony Stark once again is the soul of this movie. A major positive in this sequel is the space given to other characters. I missed Terence Howard who plays the character of Lt. Colonel James Rhodes in the first part. Don Cheadle as his replacement is okay but can't match the charm of Terence Howard. As of now, it's wait and watch for Iron Man 3 :)

(Image courtesy: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/sleep.asp)
(Image courtesy: http://www.fandango.com/ironman2_119853/moviephotosstills/241643)