Thursday, January 29, 2004
Just got home last night to view the dying embers of a movie " Teen Deewarein" --on STAR GOLD from the Kukunoor stable. I dunno if this was a neo-realistic attempt gone berserk but I thought I witnessed three murders in about 45 seconds. I think we have taken our sanctimonious pretence to human life to an all-time low on screen. Juhi, NK, Jackie and a jaded Naseer--minimalist dialogue and music is a new way of film-making atleast. Still.... am sure will watch the flick again.
More grist for the mill--Ma Rand has gone on to raving and ranting at the "youthful idealists" who despite having inherited every bit of sanity and wisdom from the previous generations, for some recondite reason are deemed Iconoclasts and are seen as faithful to their ideals and scruples, when they do not have any. Emptiness is not a solution , and dictators get their just desserts in the form of their most honest and dedicated followers, who are the only ones who flailingly endeavour to toe the line.
A tragi-comic picture of a group of young Soviets arrested for staunchly voicing their protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia--no one lese knew of the commotion at the Red Square.
Hmm, it does get better !!!
As thought, the babes in thewoods--Schnyder & Zuluaga were drowned in the consistent ( and insipid) deluge proffered by the Belgian duo. Still, the men;s draw promises much.
After the condign farewell of Steve Rodger, I am languishing in the hope that I will soon have someone replace him as my favourite cricketer--must think along the lines of Robin Peterson, or Stuart Matsikenyeri, or even Ian Butler.
Listened to Abhimaan after a long time , and found to my chagrin that the lilting tunes did not appeal at all--found it befuddling. Maybe it was the careworn tape of the HMV fossil that caused the revulsion--dunno !!
Anyway off to attend to a (rare) shopfloor skirmish downstairs--( please do not labour under the mistaken notion that that's howI earn my bread )
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More grist for the mill--Ma Rand has gone on to raving and ranting at the "youthful idealists" who despite having inherited every bit of sanity and wisdom from the previous generations, for some recondite reason are deemed Iconoclasts and are seen as faithful to their ideals and scruples, when they do not have any. Emptiness is not a solution , and dictators get their just desserts in the form of their most honest and dedicated followers, who are the only ones who flailingly endeavour to toe the line.
A tragi-comic picture of a group of young Soviets arrested for staunchly voicing their protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia--no one lese knew of the commotion at the Red Square.
Hmm, it does get better !!!
As thought, the babes in thewoods--Schnyder & Zuluaga were drowned in the consistent ( and insipid) deluge proffered by the Belgian duo. Still, the men;s draw promises much.
After the condign farewell of Steve Rodger, I am languishing in the hope that I will soon have someone replace him as my favourite cricketer--must think along the lines of Robin Peterson, or Stuart Matsikenyeri, or even Ian Butler.
Listened to Abhimaan after a long time , and found to my chagrin that the lilting tunes did not appeal at all--found it befuddling. Maybe it was the careworn tape of the HMV fossil that caused the revulsion--dunno !!
Anyway off to attend to a (rare) shopfloor skirmish downstairs--( please do not labour under the mistaken notion that that's howI earn my bread )
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Well, you never quite know, do ya ?? Just when Ol' Ma Rand's book was meandering along, out of the blue comes a rivetting chapter titled " Apollo & Dionysius"--details the layers of differences between Apollo, strong, cultured, rational and predictable , and Dionysius, the emotional, feelings-oriented, unpredictable type who is given to orgiastic bouts and has dark shades. She says that although most of the advances in the world are by the Apollo-ites, since the majority of the intellectuals are on the other side, people prone to reason do not get the credit. Further, Communists who all along said that the establishment of a new social order was that was logical and rational have realised their public foiles and now say that they were really the voice of the individual all along.
A narration of Apollo 11 versus the Woodstock carnival makes good reading too--the pinnacle of scientific progress against a mass protest cum celebration. The barbed references to the niceness of people who lauded the astronauts after their ticker-tape parade was insidious, and the direct judgements on the assorted psychology of the miscreants/hippies at Woodstock was a frontal attack.
Listened to the strains of Ghulam Ali y'day--a new endeavour at fairly low decibel levels. Incidentally, I got the same CD ( whose cassette I have ) as a birthday gift too--coincidence or opportunity missed ??
A slugfest at the A Open with the mercurial Safin pulling through against Rod--I think Safin has the game , like Phillipousis , to beat anyone on his day , bar Federer.
A Colombian in the semis, Fabiano Zuluaga, seeded 32--so there's more to that beleagured nation than Medellin & Marquez. Saw Clijsters recover in time to beat a very un-Russian spitfore Myskina on the QF in the morning.
Am off to the Badminton Court.
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A narration of Apollo 11 versus the Woodstock carnival makes good reading too--the pinnacle of scientific progress against a mass protest cum celebration. The barbed references to the niceness of people who lauded the astronauts after their ticker-tape parade was insidious, and the direct judgements on the assorted psychology of the miscreants/hippies at Woodstock was a frontal attack.
Listened to the strains of Ghulam Ali y'day--a new endeavour at fairly low decibel levels. Incidentally, I got the same CD ( whose cassette I have ) as a birthday gift too--coincidence or opportunity missed ??
A slugfest at the A Open with the mercurial Safin pulling through against Rod--I think Safin has the game , like Phillipousis , to beat anyone on his day , bar Federer.
A Colombian in the semis, Fabiano Zuluaga, seeded 32--so there's more to that beleagured nation than Medellin & Marquez. Saw Clijsters recover in time to beat a very un-Russian spitfore Myskina on the QF in the morning.
Am off to the Badminton Court.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
An extended weekend which was marred by some events that I'd not care to go to here.
Completed (the Hilary route ) of THE EVE-R-EST HOTEL. A story well told. Not really cut out for a bestseller and I doubt that it was too. ( I was nonplussed by the perceived similarity to a serial called DOOSRA KEWAL. )The changing months metaphor was well-etched and acrried through well and the back-to-the-origin kinda ending made it a wistful and poignant book.
Picked up AYN RAND's " the Anti-Industrial Revolution"--one of a cornucopic series of tomes that are merrily perched in the confines of the library here--waxes eloquent on the solecisms of the Free Speech Movement--the whys and the wherefores, even stuff like who was attracted to it, right now it seems like a Varsity saga with no clear rationales emerging.
The Sunday papers were full of the usual banalities and platitudes--a couple of good articles asking some basic ( and hence unanswered) questions like Why are we a Republic ??What is there to celebrate etc
Caught a couple of movies on the telly--Hungama --a Priyadarshin film, and The Legend of Bhagat Singh, by the underrated Rajkumar Santoshi ( TOI's phrase, not mine ! )
Hungama was not a rip-roaring comedy but some inspired characters, in the one played by Rajpal Singh ( some classic Wodehousian touches there ) . On the whole , too many characters and not enough situational comedy. The Dhoots got a raw deal though--why does the system have som many problems so soon.
TLOBS was enacted in the present and hence missed out on the Schindler's List-ian sweeping saga. Parts played eminently real and fleshy. Still, the usual one-dimensional Britisher ( who is this bloody Bug-at Singh ? ) and a very enervated and inept Gandhi. Not a megalomaniacal movie, and I guess that was the saving grace. Thought Sushant Singh ( who plays the dreaded dacoit in Jungle ) was very good --and the Court scenes looked idealistic and far-fetched--the director has something for court scenes ( r'ber Damini ).
The Russians have flooded the ladies draw and Spain seems to have taken over the men's --Federer destroyed Hewitt, and maybe there is a lesson from the Hingis episode ( without power, you just cannot win ) . My favourite girls--the stupendous doubles team of Virginia Ruano Pascal & Paulo Suarez) are out of the singles and I've not watched their doubles match as yet. Clijsters not playing dubs and hence Ai Sugiyama stuck with a poor pardner ( a la Paes ). Could well be an all-Belgian affair again and Fed Vs Rod in the men's --mouth-watering prospect.
Verrrrrrrry cold here ( about 5 C ) and not. the most conducive for anything other than the Heater & the Quilt
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Completed (the Hilary route ) of THE EVE-R-EST HOTEL. A story well told. Not really cut out for a bestseller and I doubt that it was too. ( I was nonplussed by the perceived similarity to a serial called DOOSRA KEWAL. )The changing months metaphor was well-etched and acrried through well and the back-to-the-origin kinda ending made it a wistful and poignant book.
Picked up AYN RAND's " the Anti-Industrial Revolution"--one of a cornucopic series of tomes that are merrily perched in the confines of the library here--waxes eloquent on the solecisms of the Free Speech Movement--the whys and the wherefores, even stuff like who was attracted to it, right now it seems like a Varsity saga with no clear rationales emerging.
The Sunday papers were full of the usual banalities and platitudes--a couple of good articles asking some basic ( and hence unanswered) questions like Why are we a Republic ??What is there to celebrate etc
Caught a couple of movies on the telly--Hungama --a Priyadarshin film, and The Legend of Bhagat Singh, by the underrated Rajkumar Santoshi ( TOI's phrase, not mine ! )
Hungama was not a rip-roaring comedy but some inspired characters, in the one played by Rajpal Singh ( some classic Wodehousian touches there ) . On the whole , too many characters and not enough situational comedy. The Dhoots got a raw deal though--why does the system have som many problems so soon.
TLOBS was enacted in the present and hence missed out on the Schindler's List-ian sweeping saga. Parts played eminently real and fleshy. Still, the usual one-dimensional Britisher ( who is this bloody Bug-at Singh ? ) and a very enervated and inept Gandhi. Not a megalomaniacal movie, and I guess that was the saving grace. Thought Sushant Singh ( who plays the dreaded dacoit in Jungle ) was very good --and the Court scenes looked idealistic and far-fetched--the director has something for court scenes ( r'ber Damini ).
The Russians have flooded the ladies draw and Spain seems to have taken over the men's --Federer destroyed Hewitt, and maybe there is a lesson from the Hingis episode ( without power, you just cannot win ) . My favourite girls--the stupendous doubles team of Virginia Ruano Pascal & Paulo Suarez) are out of the singles and I've not watched their doubles match as yet. Clijsters not playing dubs and hence Ai Sugiyama stuck with a poor pardner ( a la Paes ). Could well be an all-Belgian affair again and Fed Vs Rod in the men's --mouth-watering prospect.
Verrrrrrrry cold here ( about 5 C ) and not. the most conducive for anything other than the Heater & the Quilt
Friday, January 23, 2004
Well, the Indians lost today--somehow contrived to lose--got a lot of flak from the parochial ITC-ites for being Simbly South--as if I can help it !! ( Apparently L Balaji went for 11 in 5 balls ).
Methinks VVSL glugs some magic potion before he plays the Aussies--never mind that I think the knock in the last ODI was a pedestrian one.
And "the Wall" guilty of ball tampering--was there ever a more punctilious or prissy cricketer ?? All the pundits crowing from the roof tops that everyone does it has me seething with indignation--only yesterday , AAJ TAK ( easily one of the most underrated news channels) did an elaborate expose on the machinations of Pakistani speedsters--how to swing it etc etc. Today the Waz character let loose on how to use chewing gum, jelly, mint --probably the Wrigleys marketing head who have done a retake on India plans.
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Methinks VVSL glugs some magic potion before he plays the Aussies--never mind that I think the knock in the last ODI was a pedestrian one.
And "the Wall" guilty of ball tampering--was there ever a more punctilious or prissy cricketer ?? All the pundits crowing from the roof tops that everyone does it has me seething with indignation--only yesterday , AAJ TAK ( easily one of the most underrated news channels) did an elaborate expose on the machinations of Pakistani speedsters--how to swing it etc etc. Today the Waz character let loose on how to use chewing gum, jelly, mint --probably the Wrigleys marketing head who have done a retake on India plans.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Have a headache from the vagaries of the weather ( the plant is AC'ed at 25 C & outside the wind draws gasps at about 10 C )--still adore winters more than summers any day.
About halfway through ' THE EVEREST HOTEL" --a quaint tale--reminds me a shade too much of OLD FRIENDS ( Simon & Garfunkel )dunno why. A decent read though. Sealy talks through the changing months ( a la Ritusamhara ). A motley bunch of characters unite in a hamlet called Drummondganj--interspersed with the innuendos at Uttaranchal, Chipko and even changing nun habits ( pun intended). Lotsa nature, lotsa outdoors--so far so good.
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About halfway through ' THE EVEREST HOTEL" --a quaint tale--reminds me a shade too much of OLD FRIENDS ( Simon & Garfunkel )dunno why. A decent read though. Sealy talks through the changing months ( a la Ritusamhara ). A motley bunch of characters unite in a hamlet called Drummondganj--interspersed with the innuendos at Uttaranchal, Chipko and even changing nun habits ( pun intended). Lotsa nature, lotsa outdoors--so far so good.
Hi All,
Looking for the Cyber equivalent of a terse Hello Hello Mike Testing 123
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Looking for the Cyber equivalent of a terse Hello Hello Mike Testing 123
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Testing
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