Whoever Dies With the Most Stuff Wins (18+ only)

Eating Poetry

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:14:54 GMT

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

Dream Deferred

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:35:06 GMT

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

ulysses' gaze

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:19:39 GMT

booker and ray

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:07:43 GMT

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.

folks at ripley's, head thou this way..

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:15:22 GMT

there's a sucker...

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:05:12 GMT

teevee thoughts

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:01:03 GMT

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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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

great books in haiku by david m. bader

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:08:11 GMT

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.

the lighter side of wimbledon

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:33:38 GMT

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."

reality tv

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:18:40 GMT

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

we need to talk about kevin

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:34:27 GMT

evolution

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 05:14:05 GMT

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:

playing hooky

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:45:04 GMT

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.

the divisive hero

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:54:41 GMT

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.

indentities: in a certain regard

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:09:29 GMT

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.

lost heroes and extras

Tue, 22 May 2007 17:46:21 GMT

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

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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.

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

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

lucknow - city of guns and grace

Thu, 10 May 2007 18:30:26 GMT

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.

if we are not horses, what are we then?

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:58:24 GMT

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.

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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.

wisdom

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:09:07 GMT

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

on craziness

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:36:18 GMT

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.

the curse of the egomaniac

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:44:44 GMT

so here they are:

notanangel78
a. Do you recognize this line from a book?
"...he seemed to approach the grave as an hyperbolic curve approaches a line, less directly as he got nearer, till it was doubtful if he would ever reach it at all"
oh great. go ahead embarass me. but if i were to take a wild guess, i'd say tom sharpe maybe?

b. Whom do you envy? (No No..the dogs in Goa don't count)
why not? the dogs in goa surely count. an idyllic life, if ever there was one.
envy is my least favourite of the 7 sins. not very good at it.
e.t.a. actually, i am very envious of creative people, i have zero creativity in the arts. would love to be able to write or sing or dance or paint or something, anything.

c. Seinfeld or Arrested Development? Why?
arrested development. it makes me laugh out loud which seinfeld doesn't. i just identify with dysfunctional families better.

d. What am I missing in Chennai now?
apart from the pleasure of my company? nothing. we do not have fanc kids' museums or dickens' house here.

e. If you were a chef, what would your speciality be?
darling roopa, we've known each other for years now. can you, in your wildest fancies, imagine me as a chef?!?
but if you pushed me to it, how about toast soaked in bloody mary?

vaguelyalive
1) What did you want to be as a kid?
An actor. Or a cricketer. But an actor mostly.

2) If you could settle down in any place in the world for the rest of your life, where would that be and why?
i don't think i have a place like that. i have seen far too little of the world. but some seaside village nestled between hills, where it's spring all year round. or mongolia! ever since i heard it is the least desnsely populated country in the world. but getting to the pub for a friday night of binge drinking might be a bit of a stretch. you'd probably have to get on your camel on tuesday morning maybe.

3) An embarrassing incident from your childhood. (So that we all know you aren't perfect.)
ha! you are so going to regret asking this.
i could tell you about the time i ran away from home, but that would be more tragic than embarassing. or about when i had to apologise in front of the whole school for hitting on a girl. hahaha. oh, i know how about when me and my friend were trying to figure out if we were perchance bisexual and his sister opened the door. there's so much more ..

but here's the most cringe inducing of the lot:
i was 10 and my school had selected me and 2 other girls for an inter-school elocution competition. so the 3 of us were sent packing in the company of a teacher i didn't know to an all girls' school. i had written and prepared really well, it was on patriotism i think. something about the country. i gave myself goosebumps when i read it out. but still cometh the hour i was a nervous wreck. i was in this massive auditorium and we had to wait for our turn, it seemed to take forever and i was growing increasingly nervous. i was rehearsing my lines over and over and over and...
now there are certain biological functions that happen as a result of nerves. you sweat and you need to pee. i had to admit to this in front of those giggling twits from my school and seek permission to go pee. now, this should have been a happy ending where i go to the loo and pee and come back enthused to give my first proper public speech. except this was a girls school and there were no toilets for boys. i searched high and low desperately, the pressure mounting (in my nerves and bowel) as i frantically looked around, trying to control my tears. i tried to find a quiet corner where i could do the deed, but there wasnt one. and the tears started flowing, as did the pee. in my pants. so there i was in a strange school, in the midst of a few hundred girls drenched in my own piss.

4) Do you think it's important for everyone to read? Why?
i have generally found people who read to be slightly more intelligent than people who don't. and i think it's important for everyone to be intelligent. so.

5) What is the one pet peeve that will make you stop reading something? (Badly-framed, I know. I can explain it, if you want.)
i think if something is so stupid that it annoys and angers me, i will stop reading it. like shobha de for instance.

crabbycool

1) How did you end up in the business of books?
that's what it is, isn't it. the business of books. maybe there was some fancy notion in my head that what i was doing was noble and daring, but that was a while back. anyway, to business. as it were.
i think sometimes education can be a curse. when i got admission to my master's course, i promised myself that i would do what i wanted to do (whatever it was) and not be bound by the conventions and rules of such a course. i joined the course, like every other person who does an mba, only because i had no idea what i wanted to do. i felt like a loser except i was comforted by being around many such.
but as fate would have it, i was thrust into what i thought was a compromise, do something creative, fun and exciting while still using some of my education. took me about 6 months to realise i was fooling myself. i hated having to get up every morning and dreading going to work.
so what was it that i was passionate about: books, music & movies and i decided to throw all caution to the wind and do something in this field. i shortlisted some companies i didnt mind working for: there was an interesting radio channel in bombay at that time, radio go; mani ratnam's madras talkies; rgv's factory, penguin and my current employer. i was in talks with mani, the go people refused to meet me and in retrospect was a good thing since the channel followed the path of least resistance, had sent out feelers to rgv and was trying to convince david of penguin. but they say fortune favours the brave and once i had met the people here i knew i wanted to work here. i pretty much bulldozed them into taking me, i wasn't taking no for an answer. and so it came to be.

2) How will festivals like the Jaipur Literature Festival change Indian writing and its market(ing) five years from now (if at all you think these festivals will have an effect)?

my problem with indian writing is that it generally is a euphemism for indian writing in english. indian writing in translation loses its impact dramatically either because of a vastly different narrative structure and aesthetic sense that governs them or because of the loss in poetry due to poor translation. either way, there hasn't been many great indian works in the vernacular that have achieved significance at the global stage.
as a compromise we settle for indian writing in english. and those charlatans peddling this form of trade have largely been fakers who need urgently to read bukowski's 'so you want to be a writer?'. they write for all the wrong reasons, for fame, for money, for women. so what we have is a glut of terrible writing peddled by every publisher who thinks she has found the next arundhati roy.

what was your question again? no, i dont think they will have much of an impact, such 'literary festivals' will continue to be a masturbatory exercise with the few praising the few.

3) If you had a transmogrifier, who of the following would you want to be-
a) Muddy Waters
b) Bob Dylan
c) Madonna

dylan. whatever was he on?

4) What's with the obsession with all things Japanese in people who are, or who want to be, cool? Which country is the dark horse of coolness*?

i've never thought of it that way. but i think there could be two ways of approaching this.
what is 'cool'? to me 'cool' is someone dancing to the music only they can hear. there's a sense of liberation in it, doing something they strongly believe in when the rest of the world thinks they are nuts, this appeals to the aspirational child in me. maybe that's something that is very appealing about japanese culture, that they seem to exist in this vaccuum of kitsch. a blending cuteness and extremes all expressed in dramatic colour... i don't know, maybe.

but i also think, that something happens (i wish i knew what) that makes a certain place and time a hotspot of cultural revolution that defines cool, maybe japan has experienced it for an extended period of time. in literature: take england in the 16th century, or russia in the late 19th or america in early 20th or south america in the 70s. in music: consider new orleans or liverpool or seattle or mali. in movies consider france in the 70s, japan and korea in the late 90s, or mexico now. what happens around a certain time and place that it produces artistic work so different from anything around them yet with a universal appeal?

i also think what is cool is a reflection of who you are. to me bollywood isn't cool. it's vulgar and it's stupid. it's just formula repeated ad infinitum. but europe seems to love it, they see it as wild and colourful and buoyant. so who is it to say what is cool?

5) Do real men wear ties?
in india, you have to be a jackass to go around wearing one. i also think women wearing ties are incredibly sexy.

and obligatoy rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, ~~"i don't need porn, i masturbate looking at the mirror"~~ "I too am an egomaniac."
2. I respond by asking you five questions. You will answer them, because you like talking about yourself.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

the times they are a-changing

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:53:32 GMT

indian popular cinema traditionally has been strongly rooted in plot. movies are made by story writers who have higher aspirations, who join as 3rd assistants and slowly work their way up while working on their 'screenplays', learning the trade, intuitively learning formulas and applying them, eventually to become directors. Story-Screenplay-Dialogue AND Direction BY ....

the indian movie going experience is unique too, cinema is larger than life and what it provides is 3 hours of life itself, packing in every conceivable human experience and fantastic emotion into the lives of these superhumans. we needed song & dance, laughter & death, trust & betrayal, good & evil. going to movie halls even as a child i realised that the 12 rupees spent at the gate was the price paid for escapism. money passed hands, a ticket was purchased, all logic left behind at the door. reality had no place here. everything was super accentuated. good people were saints, bad people were monsters. and a person was either good or bad. and the alternative to mainstream commercial cinema was so depressingly, meanderingly bleak.

paruthi veeran is representative of a certain new breed of movie making, film-makers who emphasise on delivery over plot. that there is a plot is incidental. every aspect of paruthi veeran has been designed to bring a village to life: from its wasteland cinematography to the organic score and the oh-so-brilliant folk songs that blend seamlessly into the movie, and the extraordinarily spunky and true performances from the leads karthi in a stunning debut, priyamani (one of the best performances i've ever seen) and saravanan, but what stood out for me were the dialogues, capturing the banter that is symptomatic of rustic life.

the movie is not without flaws, the monochrome flashbacks are overly sentimental and there are a couple of songs which are needless nods to formulas of old and the comedy track while entertaining was unnecessary in a screenplay that was overflowing with natural humour. this, incidentally, is one of two tamil movies to represent indian cinema in the world panorama section at cannes this year, and i hope they send an edited director's cut.

Song: Paruthi Veeran - Tanka Dunga

surely you're joe king, stephen

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:07:22 GMT

"heart shaped box is, quite simple the best debut horror novel since clive barker's damnation game. it's the kind of book that the overworked adjectives people use on book jackets - relentless, gripping, powerful, a genuine page-turner - were really meant to describe, for it's all of those things and enormously smart besides. a genuinely scary novel filled with people you care about; the kind of book that stays in your mind when you turn over the final page. i loved it unreservedly" - neil gaiman

not every book has an endorsement like this on it's jacket. and not every book that receives it lives upto such endorsement. joe hill's heart shaped box does and does. resoundingly so. horror is a genre that has always fascinated me, though strangely i have read little. read a bit of poe and shanu, a bit of king and koontz and a bit of suzuki and yamada. but not nearly enough to validate the love i profess.

written with wry wit, odd turns of phrase and authentic spooks this one is a winner. it's astonishing that a first time writer knows his craft so well. must be in his genes. all this is just a devious elaborate ploy to cue my supposed one liner. which is that hill is not his real surname. his father is the real stephen king. and so joe hill's real name would joe king. how funny is that?

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:26:06 GMT

salt and sugar in lemonade. karan johar movies. south park humour. the oprah phenomenon.
you either love em or hate em. i love two, hate one and am decidedly ambivalent about oprah.

i find the oprah show to be especially useful in times of a hangover. makes me want to puke and helps clean up my system. whether it's her exploitative weepy feel good domestic stories, her support of fraudulent pop psychology pish-posh, her savvy capitalistic marketing or her well sponsored philanthropy there's enough in a regular dose of oprah to offend any evolved aesthetics.

but, i've always been a big fan of her book club. not that i have ever discovered a book from it. but i'm sure there are millions that do. books like drowning ruth, white oleander, deep end of the ocean, cane river, tara road, jewel and the pilot's wife are the stuff of daytime soaps. but i'd much rather that people read daytime soaps than watch them. whatever else i may say of oprah, there's little denying that she has done more to further the cause of reading than any person since gutenberg. the subjects of queen oprah worship her every whim and fancy. so while attracting countless readers through books catering to little more than the lowest common denominator oprah has built a legion of readers. people who have discovered the power of the written word. lonely bored housewives who can escape the treachery of their predictable lives. dispirited losers who yearn for a better life elsewhere. naive consumers who believe every word they are told. oprah has brought magic to their lives.

consider some of these selections: sound and the fury, night, a fine balance, east of eden, one hundred years of solitude, poisonwood bible, house of sand and fog, the heart is a lonely hunter, bluest eye, daughter of fortune, anna karenina. books that will grace many a 'greatest ever books' list compiled by bearded men in glasses. now consider how many people have discovered these wondrous books thanks to the easily detestable oprah.

and consider oprah's latest selection: cormac mccarthy's road - the brutal yet delicate tale of love between a father and son when everything else is lost. a book i have recommended to many and no doubt helped in selling atleast thirty copies more. it gives me enormous joy to be able to help someone discover a wonderful piece of art. books, music or movies. oprah announced her latest selection two days back and the book has not left the amazon top five list since, selling, by conservative estimates, atleast a few tens of thousands already.

this is by no means an easy read for anyone, let alone the average oprah fan (and i mean that in the most sincere non condescending way). now they will discover this work of genius and some of them will plough through it and others will throw it away and yet some others will share in the magic of that book and many more in years to come. cheers oprah. this drink's to you.

the random soundtrack to my life (meme)

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:48:07 GMT

supercool meme borrowed from

vaguelyalive
Here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

And, I am not smart enough to make this up. This was just perfect! Like some Shuffle Playlist God with an extraordinary sense of irony was overseeing it.

Opening Credits: My Love is Music by Space
How true. Kinda boring song though.

Waking Up: Revolver by Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell
"just waking up
some dogs start barking
a bell starts ringing
and you're still missing"

First Day At School: Prisoners by Regina Spector
"All of the prisoners serving life sentences
Wait for the earth to suddenly shake
For the walls to somehow suddenly come crumbling, tumbling and
For the bars to somehow magically break"

Falling In Love : Heimdalsgate like a Promethean Curse by Of Montreal.
"I'm in a crisis, I need help
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on be a friend"

Fight Song: Sweet dreams by Tori Amos
""Lie, lie, lies everywhere," said the father to the son
Your peppermint breath gonna choke 'em to death,
Daddy watch your little black sheep run
He got a knives in his back ev'ry time he opens up
You say, "he got be strong if he wanna be a man"
Mister i don't know how you can have"

Breaking Up: Angel on My Bike by The Wallflowers
"Now it's hard time on these wheels
These fairytales
Turn to rusted steel
And it's gettin' hard now to believe
She's seein' me"

Prom: Don't Talk Like by Sleater-Kinney
(I initially got Word Association by Monty Python but that doesn't count, since that's not a song. i mean, as funny as prom is going to be, i am not dancing to monty python. so i skipped ahead to get here.)
"Dont talk like
Like youre nineteen
Youre thirty-five
If youre a day
Dont act like
Like youre nineteen
Everyone is waiting"
*ouch*

Life: Barefoot Dirt Road by Mose Allison
a totally groovy boogie-woogie tune! neat!!

Making Babies: Tropka by Raznotravie
making babies (?!?) while listening to russian gypsy music. ya, i can handle that.

Mental Breakdown: Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered by Ella Fitzgerals
"I'm wild again, beguiled again
A simpering, whimpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I
Couldn't sleep and wouldn't sleep
When love came and told me, I shouldn't sleep
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I"

Driving: Each Coming Night by Iron & Wine
a slow sad song about death? ya, sure. what could be more perfect for driving.

Flashback: Ka Huila Wai by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
nice!! must be a happy flashback then.

Getting back together: Love in the Shadows by The Magnetic Fields
"The whispers you hear
Are not sweet nothings
Let's have one more beer
And I'll tell you something
Don't laugh
I think you're beautiful
Love In the Shadows
Was never hard to find
Sometimes the moonglow
Plays tricks on your mind
Love in the Shadows is the only kind"

Wedding: Travel Mountains by Espers
a long slow song that is haunting and sad.
sure. skip the presents, don't turn up. just make the donation to our charity of choice.

Birth of Child: I Believe in Symmetry by Bright Eyes
"Some plans were made and rice was thrown
A house was built, a baby born
How time can move both fast and slow
Amazes me
And so I raise my glass to symmetry"
holy mother of god! this thing works!

Final Battle: Shore Leaves by Tom Waits
oh! so this is gonna be one of those moody slow battle scenes, like the fight in the snow between the bride and o-ren-ishii.

Death Scene: Seems Twice by The Cruel Sea
hmmm... a trippy happy death? this should switch places with the driving scene song and it would be perfect!

Funeral Song: Dans La Vie by Stephane Grappelli
it means "life's work" right? or something like that, i think

End Credits: Master Plan by My Morning Jacket
hahaha ... right, like it was all a master plan