Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs bum like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.

I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

                                        - Mark Strand  

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--
And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?


                     - Langston Hughes

so for the third year in a row the booker prize goes to a book that is excellent literature but not necessarily great entertainment. books that will be far more admired than they will be enjoyed. for a while, at the booker's commercial peak, from 1997 to 2003, the winners were all mega bestsellers. and pretty darn good books too.

should the prize expose millions to good literature or a few to great literature?

meanwhile, if you wonder, like i do, about the state of certain bookshops in the country, here's an anecdote. sadly all too true.

so, the head fiction buyer of a certain widely present bookstore chain, named after a popular puzzle, along with his colleagues go to visit a leading publisher of movie books. while the venerable publisher, a small legend in the trade, shows them various forthcoming books, his eye catches a certain book on her shelf. 'Ray: The Complete Illustrated Screenplay' it says. Our hero eagerly pulls the book out and flips it back and forth, the puzzlement on his face growing. "arre, this is about some charles ray (sic) banda. i thought ye satyajit ray ka book hai! that's why i thought how come i don't know this." tosses the book back on the shelf and sits back all smug and self satisfied.

who watches 'beauty & the geek'?

for those not in the know, it's this reality show where beautiful women are paired up with geeky men (in case you didnt figure it out from the title) to see who wins. i think.

i happened to see a bit of it earlier this weel. but i wonder, who is their target audience? geeks, no doubt fantasise about beautiful women, so they might want to watch it, but really, most geeks worth their salt are snobs (i should know), so they wouldn't watch it. the pretty women are shown as being super dumb. so they are unlikely to watch it, and im sure they will want to fantasise about handsome smart men. what is the insight behind this show. i have been trying to work it out for a few days now. damn.

--
and i have become a right tv freak. after heroes and lost, i have now moved on to 24. at 10-12 episodes a week, i should finish the 6 seasons in the next 3-4 months. neat. i am loving it.

--
meanwhile, i watched 'out of sight', that fascinating crime caper from soderbergh. and j lopez was quite smart in her role. and i got to wondering, why does fascinating have a c? won't another s would do just as well?

--
does anybody else love the new alpenliebe ad? i have new respect for kajol as an actress and the jingle is on repeat play in my head.

--
sania mirza looks very fit. lost a lot of weight and now actually moves around the court to chase down the balls. sabatini will always remain my favourite though, i still remember being devastated when she lost the 91 finals to graf. that match was also fodder for most of my earliest fantasies, i was a ball boy that gave sabatini a pep talk to help her win the match, and of course i was duly erm .. thanked for it after.

--
recently caught a pentagram video on vh1, i must admit i rather liked it. strange. very strange.

from his book:

Lolita:

Lecherous linguist –
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo

St. Augustine's Confessions:

This is just to say
I screwed around. Forgive me.
I enjoyed it so.

Lady Chatterley's Lover:

On the grounds, fresh game.
On the new gamekeeper, fresh
Lady Chatterley.


buy it. please do. save trees.

so venus played a near faultless two weeks and federer made history. but my favourite moments from wimbledon 2007 weren't always about the game:

1. nicole vaidisova struggling to hide a fit of the giggles as the referee couldn't figure who had to serve after mauresmo lost the first set tie-breaker.
2. bartoli's fevered service routines, getting more and more bizarre and drawn out as the matches got tenser.
3. tatiana golovin flashing her bright red underpants but still abiding by the strict all-england all-white dress code. don't you love loopholes in the law?
4. and the super-charming jelena jankovic smiling away in the mixed doubles finals, with the crowd sensing the apparently budding romance, the smiles got broader and the cheeks redder. this was sport as a microcosm of life. truly. and i don't think i've ever seen anyone laugh in the middle of a rally before.

kate battersby of the times does some sterling sports reporting: "Yesterday evening in unaccustomed Centre Court sunshine, they spent much of their 6-4 4-6 6-4 semi-final win over Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva giggling dewily at one another. Jankovic compounded the air of fluffy romance by wearing two purple Wimbledon petunias in her hair.

One syrupy theory among the crowd had it that Murray must have plucked the blooms from a hanging basket to give to her on their way to the court. And then there was their constant whispering and hand-holding throughout the match. Or possibly that could have been tactical consultation and perfectly ordinary team-tagging in much the same way as any other doubles pair. But don’t let’s allow the facts to get in the way of a good story."

am i the only one who thinks the whole mika brzezinski episode was a staged ham handed attempt at moral superiority?

i worked for close to a year in advertising and in the very first week an art director showed me a raw photograph of lisa ray and how she transformed into a picture of flawless beauty for a cosmetic ad. i was amazed at how a podgy skinned 'ugly' woman becomes the epitome of aspirational beauty in the hands of a talented artist.

i quit advertising because i found selling soap not very emotionally satisfying.

but this is the reason i joined advertising in the first place. here's this year's winner of the cannes grand prix for best ad:

today i play hooky. i feel so deliriously wicked. not going to work for no reason at all. well, except being overworked the last 3 weeks. good enough for me to send an early morning sms to my boss.
in fact i plan to do nothing all day, woke up late. will catch up on all the posts here i haven't read, be a couch potato for a while. and then read and do a little more nothing. maybe catch a movie and do a bit more of nothing.
this seems fun.

no man quite sunders our bandaid nation like he does. 

to millions south of the vindiyas he is god himself, capable of rousing mass hysteria with one flick of his finger, one 'punch dialogue', one ruffle of his mane. the frenzied buildup to the release of his latest movie has only been matched by the exaltation at the theatres for what is proving to be an enormous commercial success, despite being the most expensive indian movie ever. when the release date was announced and the advance booking date fixed, fans were queueing up outside the halls from late the previous night waiting all night, camping outside the halls to buy tickets for the first show, or the first day's show or even the first week's show. in most halls the movie has been booked solid for 3 weeks. this despite being open in 600 halls in the country. 20 in chennai alone. a record of sorts in itself. not to mention 200 screens outside india. all on the basis of one man who does not give interviews, make statements for the media or do publicity/promotion events. distributors paid crazy figures based on nothing but his name, they were shown no rushes, the plot was not revealed. no information. nada. while the audience in andhra, karnataka and kerala don't share the same frenzy, they understand why he's so popular and he's largely liked and admired.

but just north, past the dravidian land the same icon turns into a caricature. he is someone to be laughed at, his crazy stunts, blindingly stupid plotholes something to be coffed at. they cannot understand how someone so dark and 'ugly' can be so popular. in comparisons with the stately big b and the reigning king khan, he comes a cropper. his fans are branded naive and unknowing of the bigger, better stars that bollywood produces. he is to mot what govinda was to the elite. a clumsy joker they laugh at. not with.

for only the second time, i saw one of his movies in the theatre. a confirmed movie-snob such as me, i stay away from most commercial cinema, but i wanted to catch this star even as it wanes. while this movie is nowhere near as good as some of his earlier films, even with his fading powers his screen presence is immense. the style is intact. the failings of the movie are that of its director. but even an average effort from them is enough to ensure that this will be blockbuster material. as a moment in pop culture, few have the impact that this had. i caught this movie at a special early morning screening at a multiplex here. 6 screens all showed the movie at 7 in the morning, and i was amazed to see there were a few thousand who had already assembled. the halls were a riot of whistles, claps, screams and confetti. the boss was back after 2 years. and his followers were there to welcome him with their unfettered love. and i basked in the moment.

in how many different ways can you call a rose a rose? consider the average american male in his 30s writing about being lost and moorless in today's fractured world. just coincidentally, the last three books i read were all on this theme.

chad kultgen's average american male is about the sexual obsessions of the eponymous group. the best thing that can be said about the book is that it is filthy and depraved and aims to offend. sadly the author has neither the creativity nor the gonzo journalistic spirit to even be offensive. the protagonist is sex crazy, as every member of the male species is, we are told. sadly the author has little else to tell. toby litt credits the author with way more intelligence than kultgen exhibits in this novel when he guesses that the book might be a 'brilliant send up of the way teh male point of view has been misrepresented by miliant feminists'. i would like to see litt execute that. now i suspect that would be worth a read. 

joshua ferris' then we came to the end is quite possibly the book that i have been wanting to write. ferris captures the absurdity of work life with extraordinary humour, warmth and credibility. with searingly honest and candid confessions of wilful self-deceit, the intrical elements of working in a corporate: the office politics, workplace romance, career fears and teamwork are all given the once around. the narrator is 'we' and 'us', seemingly intimate yet nameless, characterless and merely one among many. but this advertising agency is peopled with the most convincing characters. despite the sometimes meandering plot 'then we came to the end' announces the arrival of a special writing talent.

dave eggers' what is the what  is the huge surprise. despite his pretentious, clumsy and contrived 'a heartbreaking work of staggering genius' eggers has done enough to stay in my radar, notably the terrific work with mcsweeney's, and not to forget his wife, vendela vida's brilliant 'and now you can go'. what is the what is the one of the most affecting, touching humane novels i have ever read. a fictional biography of valentino achak deng and his arrival in america after escaping the horrors of sudan and it's communal war, the novel is tender, warm and emotionally fulfilling. there are no gimmicks here, no blank pages, no staccato verses, no varying fonts. this is simple, old fashioned story-telling with a heart. particularly resonant are eggers' wonderful depictions of deng's interactions with african-americans, that within every community and very sect there are differences, that there are communities within communities and alienation among aliens, that we keep segmenting till we are a group of one. but on the whole what is the what is enlightening and enriching. it is the sort of book that will reel you in and keep you thinking about it for days on end. and there's a good reason why this book is not titled 'a heartbreaking work of staggering genius'. it doesn't need to trumpet it. read it and hear yourself say it is so.

after having obsessively watched 'heroes', i am now on the verge of completing season 1. a whole 6 weeks ahead of the telecast on tv. due thanks to the wonderful world of torrents!
this might well be the most thrilling drama series i have ever seen. even better than lost, which seems plodding and needlessly obtuse in comparison. i know this is an about turn from my earlier stated claim that lost was the better series. but the last third of heroes season 1 has been something else, combined with the brilliant back-stories available as graphic novels in the nbc site this might well be the most clever too. maybe i will change my position again once i start watching lost season 3 again...

in more brilliant telly news, i now get bbc entertainment!! i get to watch the totally insane jennifer saunders/joanna lumley comedy 'absolutely fabulous', the classic john cleese caper 'fawlty towers' and most importantly ricky gervais' brilliant 'extras'.. i love brit comedy, their tongue in cheek wicked humour. extras features gervais as a struggling actor getting miniscule roles as an extra and getting to meet the big superstars, in a recent episode, we meet kate winslet.. some gems from that episode

----------
Andy: Well, no, it's all just stuff like "ohhh, I'm playing with myself".
Kate Winslet (in a nun costume; overhearing): Sounds interesting.
Andy: Hi. Not me. Her.
Kate: Go on.
Andy: Her boyfriend likes to talk dirty on the phone and she doesn't know what to say to him.
Kate Winslet: Oh yeah, that can be the awkward. Oh, why don't you start with something light, like, erm, "I'd love it if you stuck your willy wonka between my oompa loompas." You know something a bit fun, a bit jokey, and then you can get more hardcore, rattle off the old classics like "I'm playing with my dirty pillows", "I'm aching for your big purple-headed womb ferret", and then go straight in hard like "Get round here 'cause I'm fudding myself stupid and I'm bloody loving it." Alright?
Andy: Yeah.
Ashley: Yeah.
Kate Winslet: Anyway, back on.
Andy: Kate Winslet, just talking dirty to Anne Frank and Joseph Goebbels. Just another normal day.

----------
Andy: I'm an actor as well. If there's a line going in this film, I'd love to be part of this also, because I'd just like to say you doing this is so commendable. You know, using your profile to keep the message alive about the Holocaust.
Kate Winslet: My God I'm not doing it for that. I mean, I don't think we need another film about the Holocaust, do we? It's like, how many have there been? No, we get it, it was grim, move on. No, I'm doing this because I've noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust, guaranteed an Oscar. I've been nominated four times. Never won. The whole world is going, "why hasn't Winslet won one?"
Andy: Def—yeah.
Kate Winslet: That's it. That's why I'm doing it. Schindler's bloody List. The Pianist. Oscars coming out of their arse.
----------
Maggie's Boyfriend: So all that stuff about your husband "polishing his Oscar," was that supposed to mean wanking?
Kate Winslet: Yep.
Maggie's Boyfriend: And your basement meant?
Kate Winslet: My fanny.
----------

catch any of america's sweethearts doing that... im giddy as a teen now.

telly days are here again ... ahhan...

what surprised me most about lucknow was the courteousness and graciousness of its people, perhaps my exposure to delhi made me set my expectations lower, from a culture of 'me first' at any cost to 'pehle aap' was a pleasant surprise. the high point of a trip to lucknow has to be the cuisine, the finest kebabs i've tasted. finally paid a visit to 'ram advani's' the bookseller i had heard so much about, it is interesting how legend sometimes makes the quirky bookshop seem so much bigger than it actually is. still meeting the eccentric old bookseller of lucknow was interesting. picked up some random books on lucknow, some old editions of biblio and one strange sounding indian novel, picked it up merely for the title 'beethoven among the cows', as i proceed to get it billed, mr.advani points to the last book and says, "that's my son's book" ... rukun advani. right. i nodded sagely, pretending fore-knowledge and set off to discover the bustle of the lucknowi market, the women haggling over inexpensive but well crafted 'chikan' suits and the men leisurely strolling by, waiting.

public transport in lucknow is truly proletarian. cabs are virtually non-existent, buses are rickety and overcrowded, but the fare of choice for most middle-class locals is the auto. and all autos are by default share-autos. you get in with a few others and you get dropped off at the nearest point of your destination en route. get the auto drivers talking and they are a treasure trove of local wisdom. from the politics of the gandhi family to why autos are cheap, from the state of u.p cricket to the vagaries of weather, there's little they don't have an opinion on.

one enterprising driver offered to take me around the city and show me the delights of bada imambara and the bhul bhulaiya that i was desperate to see but could not. bhul bhulaiya is this labyrynth inside the bada imambara built by asaf ud-dowla the paranoid ruler then. well, next time.

meanwhile in lucknow, i also managed to see a movie, bheja fry. now i am a movie snob and will very rarely go see a hindi movie unless it comes with rave recommendations. i was dragged along to this film and enjoyed it thoroughly, laughing out loud through out. vinay pathak was brilliant as the idiot and was a complete scene stealer. having enjoyed the movie, i was discussing it with a friend later who told me it was copied practically frame-by-frame from a french movie called the dinner game. now i feel abused and violated. damn.

a group of mechanic horses ponder over identity, truth, love, peace and existentialism in the aftermath of a devastating war between humans and angels.
this is the conceit behind rock plaza central's album 'are we not horses?', despite the outlandish and bizarre concept the music is rooted in heartwrenching melody and lyrics. can't get enough of this adorable album.

song - my children, be joyful

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in superfantastic news: woody allen's new collection of weirdo pieces is coming out in may/june. love the title - 'mere anarchy'.

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while waiting for lost season 3 to come around, i fill the void with heroes. the plot is pedestrian (despite its acomic book aspirations), the acting downright amateurish and yet i watch it every week.

-------

i have 87 movies in my collection that i've not seen. it will be 85 by morning.
i actually like the red eye flight.

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the new pepsi gold ad ('aglaa world cup hum laayenge') is downright insulting to the cricketers. i hope the cricketers have enough self respect to take offence and stop signing up with pepsi. why don't they just air this instead? and as much as i hate 'the times of india', they atleast make great ads.

friends are like alcohol. stick to one set for the evening, you mix them up and they make you want to puke.

in breaking news, my favouite book of 2006, the road, wins the pulitzer.

after reading steven johnson's 'everything bad is good for you', i decided to try my hand at gaming. as a child ive played a bit of pacman and mario and prince of persia, but that's about it. maybe 15-20 hours of my entire life.
i have one major fear of games: i have enough solitary obsessions as is, books, music & movies are alienating pursuits when carried to the level of mania that i take them to. and i am scared that adding games to the list might be dangerous.
but nevertheless after reading johnson's convincing arguments on how popular culture makes us smarter, i have decided to try a strategy game and was recommended age of empires 3 by a friend. so i have it installed on my comp. i will play it one day soon.

meanwhile, how do guys live with beards? i have been tryign to grow one for the last two weeks and it itches like hell. so off it went just now. two weeks of being stared at and questioned, all gone.