THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 48 min )

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I went to see this on Saturday, May 21st, 2016, in Pleasant Hill, CA, at the CENTURY 16 DOWNTOWN PLEASANT HILL & X-D, for the 10:10 p.m. show in auditorium 16, 3rd row from the front, 4th column from the right. The price of admission was $12.00. And I bought a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast and a $3.00 Box of M & M Candies ( $2.00-Off Promotional Offer on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) at the concessions counter.

I found this on the Internet. I chose the red "box" of candies. Don't ask me why they call this container a box 'cause I simply am at a lost for an explanation. A canister or a tub would have been a better description for this kind of candy holder. They're tying-in this candy with the upcoming X-Men movie.

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Quickie Review: A young Hindu ( Dev Patel ), with no college degree, astounds professors with his prodigious command of complex mathematics. Based on a true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan.

The audience liked this movie. I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you like movies about real life legends.

Based on what I read on-line on Srinivasa Ramanujan, Mathematics was his one all-consuming passion. He failed in college twice because he couldn't--or wouldn't--study for  his other classes. And a doctor who reviewed his old medical records suggested that he most likely died of liver disease, not tuberculosis.

The movie says that he was a devote Brahmin who communicated with the goddess, Namagiri Thayar, who helped him become immensely proficient in Math.

Interestingly, Hindu students who want to do well in Math also offer up a ( stotra ) chant to Goddess Namagiri Thayar. This is the chant:

Namagiri Thayar Stotram for proficiency in Mathematics

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

(This prayer is addressed to Goddess Namagiri,  The goddess  in the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple  in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu.   The mathematiocal genius  Dr.Srinivasa Ramanujam belonged to this place and considered  that his knowledge of Mathematics  was due to the grace of this goddess. He was fond of chanting the following stotra. Devotees believe that  chanting this stotra would make you strong in Mathematics. The original stotra in Tamil is available in

http://www.harshan.in/Tamilnadu%20Temples/vharshan_temple_NamakkalNarasimharTemple.htm  . The audio can be heard in

http://kingofjungles.blogspot.in/2012/12/namagiri-stotra-video-srinivasa.html )

Namagiri Thayar Stotram:

Sri Vidya Mantra Ratna Prakatidha Vibhavaa

Sri Subalaapoorna Kaama, sarveshaprathidhaa

Sakala suranoothaa Sarvasaamraajyathaathri

Lakshmi Sri Veda Garba Vidhurathu Mathisaa Vishwa Kalyaanabhooma

Vishwa Kshemaatham Yoga Vimala Gunavathi Vishnu Vakshathalastha

(- Courtesy - Krishna Kumar,)

English translation:

Salutations  to the  goddess  who  is blessed  as one who proclaims  the gem like  Sri Vidhya Manthra,

Who fulfils the desire of power, Who is considered as all the Gods,

Who is praised  by all devas, who  is the queen of all  empires,

Who is Lakshmi , Who has within her all Vedas, who is learned and intelligent ,

Who wishes for the good  of the universe, Who  is the pure one who wishes for welfare  of  the world,

Who is one who has all the good in her and Who stays on the chest of Vishnu.

( source ) http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/03/namagiri-thayar-stotram-for-proficiency.html?m=1

I found this on the Internet.

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Since I was initiated into Kriya Yoga in the presence of the Hindu god Shiva's Avatar, I believe that qualifies me to use this chant. I already do 8 mantras a day, everyday. I can add this on to my daily routine if I want to do better in Math.

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Saturday, May 21st, 2016, was a special day for a niece of mine, Mai-Mai. She had just turned 18 and my brother and his wife helped her celebrate by giving her a cotillion party at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord, CA. It was a formal affair so I had to wear a suit and tie.

I literally had to pull myself out of bed just to attend this party. On my way to Concord, I had to make a couple of stops in Benicia, CA, first. Since I had to get 3 gallons of gas at the Chevron Gas Station and since I had to buy a $25.00 Macy's gift card at the nearby Safeway Supermarket. I don't really know why I didn't take care of these 2 things the night before.

I arrived at the venue around 7:10 p.m. The party was scheduled from 6:00 p.m. through 11:00 p.m. When my brother saw me, he said, "You're late! You missed Mai-Mai's speech."

Since most of the guests were Pilipinos, I responded, I thought that we were on "Pilipino Time".

We laughed.

I arrived just in time for dinner, though---Woo Hoo---Yes! I had a plateful of food. I forgot to have some salad. And I ate a little piece of New York Cheesecake and a little piece of Chocolate Cake. Once I ran out of water I helped myself to some herbal tea and a cup of decaffeinated coffee with half-and-half. And I improvised a bit with the half-and-half, watering it down with water and adding some sugar to it so that I could use it to wash down the cake pieces.

This is the table where I was seated at with my brother, my sister and their respective families. And that's my food plate, front and center!

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I met and greeted with some cousins and nephews and nieces whom I haven't seen in quite a while.

While we ate, we got to watch pictures of Mai-Mai through the years and we also saw video clips of well-wishers who couldn't attend the party. There were about 6 or 7 sets of pictures and videos shown on the screen. In a couple of them, I caught a glimpse of my late brother-in-law posing for a group shot. And that brought back memories. My brother-in-law, Richard, died of a heart attack at this particular hotel 14 1/4th months ago, if you recall what I posted in March of 2015. I still miss him. His death was the main reason why I didn't want to attend the party at this venue in the first place. But I showed up for my brother's sake.

After dinner was over, Mai-Mai's little brother, Isaac, who's 5-years old, treated us to a videoke song. Everyone had a good laugh at his precociousness.

Then, it was Mai-Mai's turn to do a waltz with her date ... who kept stepping on her red dress.

My niece and her clumsy date.

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After that, 18 chosen males had to present her with a flower and dance with her. I had declined this honor beforehand because of my bad left knee.

With my nephew, Alvin

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With her step-brother, Joshua, a US Marine

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With her step-brother, Patrick

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With her half-brother, Isaac

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With her step-dad, my younger brother

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And posing with all of her dance partners.

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( At this point, my digital camera's batteries were both drained of power; and I didn't bring an extra set of AA batteries with me. )

And, then, it was the 18 chosen females' turn to each give her a speech.

Finally, the dance floor was opened to everyone else who wanted to dance. While some people were dancing, I stepped out to take 3 photo booth shots of myself and to sign the guestbook.

I couldn't find my brother when I got back inside the hall. So, I just told my sister that I was leaving ( since I had about 20 minutes left before the start of the movie ).

And This Is The First Time That I Went To See A Movie Dressed In A ( pinstripe ) Suite And Tie! The funny thing about this is that "back in the good ol' days" people actually dressed formally just to go see a movie! I felt special as I was the only one dressed dapperly.

But when I exited the auditorium, I saw another man in the hallway dressed in a suit and tie, too! Humph, copycat ....



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