Care for a Hug?
Mass hugging might be just the cure to the entire world’s problems, don’t you think so?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/4953430.stm
Tomorrow hundreds will gather in Nottingham to hug total strangers, this mass hugging event is an art form made popular by two Chinese artists, the Gao brothers.
This will be their first world hug day performance in Britain and it'll be interesting to see if England can prove that it’s a friendly country after all. Which Englishman or woman doesn’t like the feel of a nice warm hug? Though if he/she is a pint or a two down it makes things much easier.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
The Meadow Game with the Beautiful Name
I played my first cricket match on foreign soil a few days ago. It was a practice match against a medical college on a typical English club cricket ground and everything was so picture perfect that I found myself feeling the same as I did when I saw my first live international test match when I was 10. I was in love, again.
I was awestruck by the whole atmosphere from the moment I walked on to the ground with my whites on. The lush outfield, the grass-laden pitch, (nothing like I had batted on), the old school pub, the groundsman reading a tabloid and sipping a pint of ale, the wicket keeper and slips taking the piss out of the batsman, the batting camp smoking fags and, for once, talking about everything else besides the weather, I remembered this was one of the reasons that made me come to England.
That day for me the sound of the leather hitting the willow was far greater than the strumming of a guitar, the rustling of waves, the scream of pleasure or even the rattling of drums. I was in love, again.
The sport that made everyone think I am a crazy little kid, who wants to waste his time swinging his bat rather than solving math was still very much part of my life. I was in love, again.
For someone who grew up playing on dusty maidans and concrete compounds this setting was so alien yet so blissful. No wonder, the English call cricket the meadow game with the beautiful name. I was in love, again.
I played my first cricket match on foreign soil a few days ago. It was a practice match against a medical college on a typical English club cricket ground and everything was so picture perfect that I found myself feeling the same as I did when I saw my first live international test match when I was 10. I was in love, again.
I was awestruck by the whole atmosphere from the moment I walked on to the ground with my whites on. The lush outfield, the grass-laden pitch, (nothing like I had batted on), the old school pub, the groundsman reading a tabloid and sipping a pint of ale, the wicket keeper and slips taking the piss out of the batsman, the batting camp smoking fags and, for once, talking about everything else besides the weather, I remembered this was one of the reasons that made me come to England.
That day for me the sound of the leather hitting the willow was far greater than the strumming of a guitar, the rustling of waves, the scream of pleasure or even the rattling of drums. I was in love, again.
The sport that made everyone think I am a crazy little kid, who wants to waste his time swinging his bat rather than solving math was still very much part of my life. I was in love, again.
For someone who grew up playing on dusty maidans and concrete compounds this setting was so alien yet so blissful. No wonder, the English call cricket the meadow game with the beautiful name. I was in love, again.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
The best piece of news I have read today (from the BBC website).
A group of fishermen in The Maldives got more than they bargained for when they reeled in the country's largest ever drugs haul, local media reports.
The lobster catchers found 1,697 plastic bags packed with cannabis in a lagoon, Haveeru news agency reported. The drugs on the ocean floor weighed in at over 1.6 tons in total.
Police are investigating the incident. Drug smuggling in the island paradise is punishable by death, although no-one has ever been executed for the crime.
According to the Haveeru Daily newspaper the scale of the drugs haul has caused tension among local people who are insisting that police must destroy it in a transparent manner.
A group of fishermen in The Maldives got more than they bargained for when they reeled in the country's largest ever drugs haul, local media reports.
The lobster catchers found 1,697 plastic bags packed with cannabis in a lagoon, Haveeru news agency reported. The drugs on the ocean floor weighed in at over 1.6 tons in total.
Police are investigating the incident. Drug smuggling in the island paradise is punishable by death, although no-one has ever been executed for the crime.
According to the Haveeru Daily newspaper the scale of the drugs haul has caused tension among local people who are insisting that police must destroy it in a transparent manner.
New Album from Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is back after a four-year hiatus, with their self-titled album and judging by their first single-World Wide Suicide, they still seem to have some spark in them.
Here’s the Rollingstone review:
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/9964953/rid/10028282/
Few excerpts:
Pearl Jam have not been this consistently dirty and determined in the studio since they subbed for Crazy Horse on Neil Young's 1995 Mirror Ball.
Whenever the guitars take over, which is a lot -- Gossard and McCready's slugging AC/DC-like intro to "Life Wasted"; McCready's wild wah-wah ride in "Big Wave"; the way he cracks Vedder's gloom in "Parachutes" like heat lightning -- it reminds me that Gossard and McCready deserved to be on our 2003 "Greatest Guitarists" list. Permit me to admit it here: I screwed up.
And an interview with Eddie Vedder (again in the Rollingstone), though I find it a bit disappointing, stupid questions, but luckily the answers saved the piece to some extent.
Link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9961927/eddie_vedder
Excerpts:
Vedder on
∑ Music videos
“I think it's a great art form if it's approached the right way. But it's time consuming...just like interviews! [laughs] It seems like the time spent playing live and organizing shows, and putting the record and the artwork together seems to take up all the time we have. Until we can do it right...we'll see. I found a guy I'd like to do it with, but we'll see.”
∑ What Bob Dylan told Vedder recently
We were about to record our second record, and Bob passed on a few lessons to me in the corner, one of which was, "Don't read anything in the paper. Don't watch TV. Get away." I felt that same thing at the time, overly inundated and somewhat like a commodity -- you'd watch TV or open the paper and our band was there as some kind of commodity. Our band had become part of the pollution.
∑ On The Strokes
The new Strokes record is just a great piece of work. The sounds, and the vocal delivery is really great. Both those guys, Caleb and Julian. Caleb's vocal delivery is so unique and his phrasing; it's like what they used to say about Sinatra -- his phrasing is what really made it. I'm not into Sinatra, but I get that. George Jones is another thing, and even McCartney and Lennon. You listen to these songs, but it's unconscious the way they phrase things. Joey Ramone as well.
Pearl Jam is back after a four-year hiatus, with their self-titled album and judging by their first single-World Wide Suicide, they still seem to have some spark in them.
Here’s the Rollingstone review:
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/9964953/rid/10028282/
Few excerpts:
Pearl Jam have not been this consistently dirty and determined in the studio since they subbed for Crazy Horse on Neil Young's 1995 Mirror Ball.
Whenever the guitars take over, which is a lot -- Gossard and McCready's slugging AC/DC-like intro to "Life Wasted"; McCready's wild wah-wah ride in "Big Wave"; the way he cracks Vedder's gloom in "Parachutes" like heat lightning -- it reminds me that Gossard and McCready deserved to be on our 2003 "Greatest Guitarists" list. Permit me to admit it here: I screwed up.
And an interview with Eddie Vedder (again in the Rollingstone), though I find it a bit disappointing, stupid questions, but luckily the answers saved the piece to some extent.
Link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9961927/eddie_vedder
Excerpts:
Vedder on
∑ Music videos
“I think it's a great art form if it's approached the right way. But it's time consuming...just like interviews! [laughs] It seems like the time spent playing live and organizing shows, and putting the record and the artwork together seems to take up all the time we have. Until we can do it right...we'll see. I found a guy I'd like to do it with, but we'll see.”
∑ What Bob Dylan told Vedder recently
We were about to record our second record, and Bob passed on a few lessons to me in the corner, one of which was, "Don't read anything in the paper. Don't watch TV. Get away." I felt that same thing at the time, overly inundated and somewhat like a commodity -- you'd watch TV or open the paper and our band was there as some kind of commodity. Our band had become part of the pollution.
∑ On The Strokes
The new Strokes record is just a great piece of work. The sounds, and the vocal delivery is really great. Both those guys, Caleb and Julian. Caleb's vocal delivery is so unique and his phrasing; it's like what they used to say about Sinatra -- his phrasing is what really made it. I'm not into Sinatra, but I get that. George Jones is another thing, and even McCartney and Lennon. You listen to these songs, but it's unconscious the way they phrase things. Joey Ramone as well.
'Gee, I don't know,' he says. 'It's a pretty tough one.
Steve Waugh on the upcoming Ashes, his 801page autobiography(Out of my Comfort Zone), his departure from cricket, his charity work and strangely some words of praise for the English cricket team.
Link:
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,,1759264,00.html
Some excerpts:
Well, Stephen, do you think England can do it again?
'Gee, I don't know,' he says. 'It's a pretty tough one. I think Australia will have the edge purely because they're focused on it, really keen to make amends. But England have definitely got a show. The Barmy Army will bring huge support, so it's almost not like an away series.
This is the best England team I've seen as a group. As individuals, they've had just as good players in the past but haven't gelled as a team. They have matured as a side and they realise their strength lies in their unity, not their individuals. In the past there was a mentality of "well, if I do well, I'm in the next Test match", rather than "how are we doing as a side?"
Steve Waugh on the upcoming Ashes, his 801page autobiography(Out of my Comfort Zone), his departure from cricket, his charity work and strangely some words of praise for the English cricket team.
Link:
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,,1759264,00.html
Some excerpts:
Well, Stephen, do you think England can do it again?
'Gee, I don't know,' he says. 'It's a pretty tough one. I think Australia will have the edge purely because they're focused on it, really keen to make amends. But England have definitely got a show. The Barmy Army will bring huge support, so it's almost not like an away series.
This is the best England team I've seen as a group. As individuals, they've had just as good players in the past but haven't gelled as a team. They have matured as a side and they realise their strength lies in their unity, not their individuals. In the past there was a mentality of "well, if I do well, I'm in the next Test match", rather than "how are we doing as a side?"
A VJ in exile
The Observer has a moving piece on the life of Shakeb, a former VJ in Afghanistan now living in Sweden in exile.
Here’s the link: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1756654,00.html
Shakeb Issar, a young spiky Afghan VJ bringing western, MTV style music videos to a country where such entertainment is regarded as downright porn and blasphemous is a convenient target for the religious zealots.
He looked upon the MTV culture as more of an alternative route to a better life than the commercialization aspect by which it invites so much contempt in the first world. But…well I won’t divulge it as yet. Do read the whole story, it’s a great piece.
Here are some excerpts:
'Just 10 per cent of peoples, they hate me,' he said after recording the show, the childlike enthusiasm of his voice enhanced by his habit of over-emphasising certain nouns and adjectives. 'Mullah peoples, al-Qaedas, Arabs: all are my enemies, all have made promise to kill me. I hate these people too much! But Afghan girls, they love me more. Every day I'm receiving too many text message. "Shakeb please to marry me." "Shakeb you're tooo cute!" So today I think I am the Enrique Iglesias of Afghanistan.'
There was no doubt that Shakeb had a following among thousands of young Kabulis. The ratings reflected as much. But to his enemies, he was the anti-Christ - or rather the anti-Muhammad. The country's new religious council had issued a number of fatwas against him. And al-Qaeda and the Taliban had appealed for him to be put to death immediately. Not a day went by without Shakeb receiving a new threat. They came to him by post, by courier, by phone - even by SMS text message.
'Dog Boy!' began one. 'Son of noseless whore! Bald-faced ape! Understand that as Allah is my witness, I will wipe your accursed self from the face of the Earth! To snap your neck will be as easy as picking the gristle from between my teeth.
Then his life takes a turn, he wants to move to the West, to realize his dream, and finally rather ironically ends up in a small town in Sweden and finds the ground reality. His dreams of staying in a western society with its fast money, bling-bling, page 3 girls is not as ‘awesome’ as he imagined.
The 'number one bad boy' of Afghanistan, as he used to call himself, has also found certain things shocking. 'In Sweden, all girls at 14, 15 they're having sex!' he tells me, wide-eyed.
'Up till now I never kissed a girl in my life,' he says, adding in a loud voice so all the restaurant can hear: 'I am virgin! Yes, it's true! I don't believe it's nice to have sex with girl and leave her. For me it must be someone very special.'
It's at this moment that I realise just how innocent Shakeb really is. He likes Celine Dion and dreams of meeting David Beckham. In Afghanistan, he was told there was freedom of expression and was encouraged to express himself. For that innocent crime, he's been banished from his home, a symbol of the ever-widening divide between the West and the Islamic world. But Shakeb hasn't given up. Recently Tolo TV broadcast his Swedish video diary. And he's hoping to do more for his enduring Afghan fans.
Here he sounds like a revolutionary in his own right, so what if doesn’t involve arms, a huge treatise, academic theory or any form of old school anarchy. He at least seems sincere even though his reasoning may not be that convincing.
'I believe that music can change Afghan culture,' he says. 'Because entertainment is the most powerful tool.'
But don't you still worry about eroding important cultural values, I ask him. You've been shocked yourself by how morally loose this place has become.
'People must decide for themselves,' he says, a certain maturity in his voice suggesting that he is finally coming of age. 'Nothing is worse than mullah peoples. They are murdering and always they want to control people. They are my enemies and I must fight them.'
We finish our coffees and Shakeb hurries off to play football with a local team. He's wearing shorts, something he did just once in Afghanistan because he was abused for putting on 'his little brother's trousers'.
Watching Shakeb leave, I think how tragic it is that he has been forced to flee his home and has had to choose between two cultures. But neither the missiles nor the mullahs, the Taliban nor even his isolation so far from home seem to have dampened his natural optimism. As he put it to me: 'They can abuse me, they can laugh at me, they can even beat me, but if I have music then I know I am OK. Because I love music too much!'
The Observer has a moving piece on the life of Shakeb, a former VJ in Afghanistan now living in Sweden in exile.
Here’s the link: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1756654,00.html
Shakeb Issar, a young spiky Afghan VJ bringing western, MTV style music videos to a country where such entertainment is regarded as downright porn and blasphemous is a convenient target for the religious zealots.
He looked upon the MTV culture as more of an alternative route to a better life than the commercialization aspect by which it invites so much contempt in the first world. But…well I won’t divulge it as yet. Do read the whole story, it’s a great piece.
Here are some excerpts:
'Just 10 per cent of peoples, they hate me,' he said after recording the show, the childlike enthusiasm of his voice enhanced by his habit of over-emphasising certain nouns and adjectives. 'Mullah peoples, al-Qaedas, Arabs: all are my enemies, all have made promise to kill me. I hate these people too much! But Afghan girls, they love me more. Every day I'm receiving too many text message. "Shakeb please to marry me." "Shakeb you're tooo cute!" So today I think I am the Enrique Iglesias of Afghanistan.'
There was no doubt that Shakeb had a following among thousands of young Kabulis. The ratings reflected as much. But to his enemies, he was the anti-Christ - or rather the anti-Muhammad. The country's new religious council had issued a number of fatwas against him. And al-Qaeda and the Taliban had appealed for him to be put to death immediately. Not a day went by without Shakeb receiving a new threat. They came to him by post, by courier, by phone - even by SMS text message.
'Dog Boy!' began one. 'Son of noseless whore! Bald-faced ape! Understand that as Allah is my witness, I will wipe your accursed self from the face of the Earth! To snap your neck will be as easy as picking the gristle from between my teeth.
Then his life takes a turn, he wants to move to the West, to realize his dream, and finally rather ironically ends up in a small town in Sweden and finds the ground reality. His dreams of staying in a western society with its fast money, bling-bling, page 3 girls is not as ‘awesome’ as he imagined.
The 'number one bad boy' of Afghanistan, as he used to call himself, has also found certain things shocking. 'In Sweden, all girls at 14, 15 they're having sex!' he tells me, wide-eyed.
'Up till now I never kissed a girl in my life,' he says, adding in a loud voice so all the restaurant can hear: 'I am virgin! Yes, it's true! I don't believe it's nice to have sex with girl and leave her. For me it must be someone very special.'
It's at this moment that I realise just how innocent Shakeb really is. He likes Celine Dion and dreams of meeting David Beckham. In Afghanistan, he was told there was freedom of expression and was encouraged to express himself. For that innocent crime, he's been banished from his home, a symbol of the ever-widening divide between the West and the Islamic world. But Shakeb hasn't given up. Recently Tolo TV broadcast his Swedish video diary. And he's hoping to do more for his enduring Afghan fans.
Here he sounds like a revolutionary in his own right, so what if doesn’t involve arms, a huge treatise, academic theory or any form of old school anarchy. He at least seems sincere even though his reasoning may not be that convincing.
'I believe that music can change Afghan culture,' he says. 'Because entertainment is the most powerful tool.'
But don't you still worry about eroding important cultural values, I ask him. You've been shocked yourself by how morally loose this place has become.
'People must decide for themselves,' he says, a certain maturity in his voice suggesting that he is finally coming of age. 'Nothing is worse than mullah peoples. They are murdering and always they want to control people. They are my enemies and I must fight them.'
We finish our coffees and Shakeb hurries off to play football with a local team. He's wearing shorts, something he did just once in Afghanistan because he was abused for putting on 'his little brother's trousers'.
Watching Shakeb leave, I think how tragic it is that he has been forced to flee his home and has had to choose between two cultures. But neither the missiles nor the mullahs, the Taliban nor even his isolation so far from home seem to have dampened his natural optimism. As he put it to me: 'They can abuse me, they can laugh at me, they can even beat me, but if I have music then I know I am OK. Because I love music too much!'
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Sahi Bola..Hanif Bhai
This is a link to a piece written by my favourite author Hanif Kureishi or Hanif Bhai as I prefer calling him...http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1757858,00.html
He talks about his play Borderline which is now 24 years old and still runs in The Royal Court Theatre.
He stresses on the lack of social commentators in the mainstream arts scene today even though there is a great need for such voices to dilute the fear and paranoia that is being bought and sold like wares in a Sunday market.
Like most of his pieces it contains some very poignant points and examples.Brilliant....Here's an excerpt of his article in The Guardian today (These are the last three paras
"Ten years after the Southall riots, in 1989 - the year communism died in Europe - there was another significant demonstration by Asians, this time in Hyde Park, central London. It was not about racial attacks, unemployment or indeed any of the concerns shown in Borderline. It was a demonstration against the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, and Muslims had travelled from all over the country to protest. A group of Asian female demonstrators (perhaps from a group not unlike the Southall Black Sisters), who were carrying placards saying "Women Against Fundamentalism", were attacked by Muslim men. As these dissident voices were suppressed, as secular and socialist Asian voices were discouraged across the community, a range of new issues emerged, many to do with the idea of speaking, books, writing, words, and the place of the artist and intellectual as critic.
By January 2006, my two eldest sons and I would be going to Trafalgar Square to watch the community demonstrating against other blasphemies - cartoons, this time. The three of us, with Muslim names and a Muslim history, had no place in what was going on and criticism didn't appear welcome. During the same period one of the young actors who took part in the recent reading - he had appeared in Michael Winterbottom's Guantánamo Bay film - had been arrested, harassed and held under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Heathrow, on his way back from the Berlin film festival, where the movie won the Silver Bear.
During the 10 years between the Southall riots and the demonstration against The Satanic Verses, the community had become politicised by radical Islam, something that had been developing throughout the Muslim world since decolonisation. This version of Islam imposed an identity and solidarity on a besieged community. It came to mean rebellion, purity, integrity. But it was also a trap. Once this ideology had been adopted - and political conversations could only take place within its terms - it entailed numerous constraints, locking the community in, as well as divorcing it from possible sources of creativity: dissidence, criticism, sexuality. Its authoritarianism, stifling to those within, and appearing fascistic to those without, rejected the very liberalism the community required in order to flourish in the modern world. It was tragic: what had protected the community from racism and disintegration came to tyrannise it."
This is a link to a piece written by my favourite author Hanif Kureishi or Hanif Bhai as I prefer calling him...http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1757858,00.html
He talks about his play Borderline which is now 24 years old and still runs in The Royal Court Theatre.
He stresses on the lack of social commentators in the mainstream arts scene today even though there is a great need for such voices to dilute the fear and paranoia that is being bought and sold like wares in a Sunday market.
Like most of his pieces it contains some very poignant points and examples.Brilliant....Here's an excerpt of his article in The Guardian today (These are the last three paras
"Ten years after the Southall riots, in 1989 - the year communism died in Europe - there was another significant demonstration by Asians, this time in Hyde Park, central London. It was not about racial attacks, unemployment or indeed any of the concerns shown in Borderline. It was a demonstration against the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, and Muslims had travelled from all over the country to protest. A group of Asian female demonstrators (perhaps from a group not unlike the Southall Black Sisters), who were carrying placards saying "Women Against Fundamentalism", were attacked by Muslim men. As these dissident voices were suppressed, as secular and socialist Asian voices were discouraged across the community, a range of new issues emerged, many to do with the idea of speaking, books, writing, words, and the place of the artist and intellectual as critic.
By January 2006, my two eldest sons and I would be going to Trafalgar Square to watch the community demonstrating against other blasphemies - cartoons, this time. The three of us, with Muslim names and a Muslim history, had no place in what was going on and criticism didn't appear welcome. During the same period one of the young actors who took part in the recent reading - he had appeared in Michael Winterbottom's Guantánamo Bay film - had been arrested, harassed and held under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Heathrow, on his way back from the Berlin film festival, where the movie won the Silver Bear.
During the 10 years between the Southall riots and the demonstration against The Satanic Verses, the community had become politicised by radical Islam, something that had been developing throughout the Muslim world since decolonisation. This version of Islam imposed an identity and solidarity on a besieged community. It came to mean rebellion, purity, integrity. But it was also a trap. Once this ideology had been adopted - and political conversations could only take place within its terms - it entailed numerous constraints, locking the community in, as well as divorcing it from possible sources of creativity: dissidence, criticism, sexuality. Its authoritarianism, stifling to those within, and appearing fascistic to those without, rejected the very liberalism the community required in order to flourish in the modern world. It was tragic: what had protected the community from racism and disintegration came to tyrannise it."
Friday, April 14, 2006
Looks like Semi-Violence is actually a reality, and not a bunch of bullocks(which it is)
One more piece on The Onion website which doesn't seem too far away from the truth.Very frightening actually..
The character here is of an Iraqi cleric/scholar Al-Naqib who is called the apostle of semi-violence, whatever that means. Here are some of his pseudo legendary quotes.
"Violence is not the solution," al-Naqib writes in his bestseller in the Middle East, Practicing Semi-violence. "It is only approximately 19/20ths of the solution. We should not work toward the total annihilation of all who oppose us—just some of them. And perhaps it is best we practice occasional mercy for the innocent, such as the young, who can easily recuperate."
'I denounce those who kill vast numbers, for the death of a few—the death of even one, if that one is well-chosen—spreads my message far and wide."
This might be the new face of Islamic Fundamentalism, but all in all, it’s the same friggin thing.
He was imprisoned for two days for criticizing the 9/11 attacks, his assessment was that it would have been better to bring down only one of the towers.
No wonder then that, he has a huge following especially in Iraq, where he is from and other parts of the Middle East. He also is the winner of this year's Mideast Peace Prize, an award given to him by the Yemeni government this year.
The worst thing is he is being called the Iraqi ‘Gandhi’ which is obviously derogatory yet ironical in some way.
One more piece on The Onion website which doesn't seem too far away from the truth.Very frightening actually..
The character here is of an Iraqi cleric/scholar Al-Naqib who is called the apostle of semi-violence, whatever that means. Here are some of his pseudo legendary quotes.
"Violence is not the solution," al-Naqib writes in his bestseller in the Middle East, Practicing Semi-violence. "It is only approximately 19/20ths of the solution. We should not work toward the total annihilation of all who oppose us—just some of them. And perhaps it is best we practice occasional mercy for the innocent, such as the young, who can easily recuperate."
'I denounce those who kill vast numbers, for the death of a few—the death of even one, if that one is well-chosen—spreads my message far and wide."
This might be the new face of Islamic Fundamentalism, but all in all, it’s the same friggin thing.
He was imprisoned for two days for criticizing the 9/11 attacks, his assessment was that it would have been better to bring down only one of the towers.
No wonder then that, he has a huge following especially in Iraq, where he is from and other parts of the Middle East. He also is the winner of this year's Mideast Peace Prize, an award given to him by the Yemeni government this year.
The worst thing is he is being called the Iraqi ‘Gandhi’ which is obviously derogatory yet ironical in some way.
Mockery doo
Just found this article on an American news website, The Onion, obviously its false and made up because its The Onion after all, but the scary thing is might turn out to be true...its worth reading for shock value I guess.
It is also a way for Americans to mock us, but that's acceptable, all we need to do is mock their culture rather than embrace it like a blind rat. If only we could realise the significance of self-mockery.
Air India Now Offers Business Caste Seating
April 12, 2006 | Issue 42•15, The Onion-America's finest news source.
MUMBAI—Air India, the subcontinent's largest airline, announced it will offer upgraded Business Caste seating on all flights starting in July. "More legroom, wider seats—and no need to associate with the manual laborers," a spokesman for the airline said Tuesday. "Our business travelers must have lived good past lives to deserve this." Air India still ranks at the bottom of the airline industry in customer satisfaction, with a high volume of complaints about cooking fires in the climate-uncontrolled cabins, wandering cows that flight attendants refuse to remove, and the "Untouchable" Coach Caste, which is towed behind Air India jetliners in a giant burlap sack.
Just found this article on an American news website, The Onion, obviously its false and made up because its The Onion after all, but the scary thing is might turn out to be true...its worth reading for shock value I guess.
It is also a way for Americans to mock us, but that's acceptable, all we need to do is mock their culture rather than embrace it like a blind rat. If only we could realise the significance of self-mockery.
Air India Now Offers Business Caste Seating
April 12, 2006 | Issue 42•15, The Onion-America's finest news source.
MUMBAI—Air India, the subcontinent's largest airline, announced it will offer upgraded Business Caste seating on all flights starting in July. "More legroom, wider seats—and no need to associate with the manual laborers," a spokesman for the airline said Tuesday. "Our business travelers must have lived good past lives to deserve this." Air India still ranks at the bottom of the airline industry in customer satisfaction, with a high volume of complaints about cooking fires in the climate-uncontrolled cabins, wandering cows that flight attendants refuse to remove, and the "Untouchable" Coach Caste, which is towed behind Air India jetliners in a giant burlap sack.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Knock Knock, Who's there, Freddie Who, Freddie Flintstone??...Fuckin Hell, its Flintoff,you twat
Sorry for the oversmart pompous little headline, but to get to the point Flintoof was deservedly selected as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2005. Three cheers for the bulky Preston lad, he is currently the best cricketer around and everyone knows there is no refuting that fact, and if you don't agree make it a point to see all the matches he has been involved in the whole of last year and then if you still stick with your gun, then call me for a duel....
here's a link to a nice lil piece by Simon Barnes on cricinfo.com
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/current/story/243786.html
Sorry for the oversmart pompous little headline, but to get to the point Flintoof was deservedly selected as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2005. Three cheers for the bulky Preston lad, he is currently the best cricketer around and everyone knows there is no refuting that fact, and if you don't agree make it a point to see all the matches he has been involved in the whole of last year and then if you still stick with your gun, then call me for a duel....
here's a link to a nice lil piece by Simon Barnes on cricinfo.com
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/current/story/243786.html
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Divided by Time
Just got to know about this from a BBC article:
“Sri Lanka is a country divided not just by war, but also by time. Officially the country is six hours ahead of GMT. But in Tamil Tiger controlled areas, the time difference is five and a half hours ahead of GMT, the same as in India. Now that may change. “
Imagine time besides religion being different in one country, its quite unbelievable in that sense. No wonder then that Sri Lanka's time has changed 3 times in the last ten years and this one will go back to their 1996 time. It's sad that two religions cannot even decide on a uniform time, how will they agree on other things?
I am finding it tough to find an opinion on this issue and the reasons given seem at times outdated and even ironic.
Religion
Superstition or the Divine order, I don’t know....
The country's Buddhist clergy believe Sri Lanka's "old" time will fit better with their rituals and they believe a decade living in the "wrong" time has upset the country's natural order with terrible effect.
The Venerable Gnanawimala says-"After this change I feel that many troubles have been caused to Sri Lanka. Tsunamis and other natural disasters have been taking place," he says.
Business
Sri Lanka's Minister of Enterprise and Development, Rohitha Bogollagama, feels returning to the same time zone as India, a major trading partner, would be good for business. Economics and time, what a deadly combination, would be interesting if their economy actually does improve, don't you think, but I wonder if it will have anything to do with their time.
Science
Lastly Sci-fi Guru Arthur Clarke whose been staying on this island country for quite a while now (50 years actually), is against the time change and he thinks being out of step with the GMT time, will be inconvenient (Sounds the most rational out of all them, doesn't he?)
Just got to know about this from a BBC article:
“Sri Lanka is a country divided not just by war, but also by time. Officially the country is six hours ahead of GMT. But in Tamil Tiger controlled areas, the time difference is five and a half hours ahead of GMT, the same as in India. Now that may change. “
Imagine time besides religion being different in one country, its quite unbelievable in that sense. No wonder then that Sri Lanka's time has changed 3 times in the last ten years and this one will go back to their 1996 time. It's sad that two religions cannot even decide on a uniform time, how will they agree on other things?
I am finding it tough to find an opinion on this issue and the reasons given seem at times outdated and even ironic.
Religion
Superstition or the Divine order, I don’t know....
The country's Buddhist clergy believe Sri Lanka's "old" time will fit better with their rituals and they believe a decade living in the "wrong" time has upset the country's natural order with terrible effect.
The Venerable Gnanawimala says-"After this change I feel that many troubles have been caused to Sri Lanka. Tsunamis and other natural disasters have been taking place," he says.
Business
Sri Lanka's Minister of Enterprise and Development, Rohitha Bogollagama, feels returning to the same time zone as India, a major trading partner, would be good for business. Economics and time, what a deadly combination, would be interesting if their economy actually does improve, don't you think, but I wonder if it will have anything to do with their time.
Science
Lastly Sci-fi Guru Arthur Clarke whose been staying on this island country for quite a while now (50 years actually), is against the time change and he thinks being out of step with the GMT time, will be inconvenient (Sounds the most rational out of all them, doesn't he?)
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Wicked Gaits
Young people here, (especially the ASBO generation, the ones with the hoodies, the gangstas, the chavs) walk in very peculiar way, maybe its a way they express themselves. It is suave the way in which they move their hands and feet, it is almost choreographed in that sense. Walking is one thing which should not be, though if models have to learn the sort of ramp walk why can't them, after all even an army marching is almost ballet-like in a regimental sort of way.
My cousin walks and talks like one of them, it is a ritual to him in the shallow sense of the term. He even asked me to walk like that once, He said, "If you walk like one of them(though he meant us) you will be safe and you will be deemed cool." Well of course, I didn't try it out and wouldn't manage even if I did. Luckily, it hasn't resulted in any scraps or fights, as my cousin had warned me. However, he still agrees my that my gait is not wicked enough in his part of London. My answer is a resounding 'yes, I know'. But I know one day it will come naturally,(though I hope not) just like an accent, which interestingly is still the same, the suffix of ya, ya's and bhanchod is very much there.
Young people here, (especially the ASBO generation, the ones with the hoodies, the gangstas, the chavs) walk in very peculiar way, maybe its a way they express themselves. It is suave the way in which they move their hands and feet, it is almost choreographed in that sense. Walking is one thing which should not be, though if models have to learn the sort of ramp walk why can't them, after all even an army marching is almost ballet-like in a regimental sort of way.
My cousin walks and talks like one of them, it is a ritual to him in the shallow sense of the term. He even asked me to walk like that once, He said, "If you walk like one of them(though he meant us) you will be safe and you will be deemed cool." Well of course, I didn't try it out and wouldn't manage even if I did. Luckily, it hasn't resulted in any scraps or fights, as my cousin had warned me. However, he still agrees my that my gait is not wicked enough in his part of London. My answer is a resounding 'yes, I know'. But I know one day it will come naturally,(though I hope not) just like an accent, which interestingly is still the same, the suffix of ya, ya's and bhanchod is very much there.
Take note of the name- Hugo Chavez
Forget the Osama’s and the jihad terrorists and all those other enemies of the Western world, there is a new one, in the next few years he might find a place in every newspaper. He is the latest anti US renegade of our times.
He is the president of Venezuela, and more importantly best mates of Fidel Castro. His anti US stance seems to making a lot of headlines and with elections round the corner in at least 3 to 4 Latin American countries, the leftists seem to be frontrunners to win the elections in all 4 countries.
The US seems to be in a slightly sticky situation but I am sure they have something up their sleeve. Looks like world focus is going to move to Latin America very soon.One reason why the US is a bit annoyed if at all, is that Venezuela after the Middle East has the most number of oil resources and with the draining of oil from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and the hostile political climate there, a new guinea pig is needed.
But it is surely not Chavez, who the US calls a dictator, which in the true sense of the word, he isn't. He was democratically elected, though he is known as quite a megalomaniac. Secondly, he is quite a fearless guy, and he just bought a load of military helicopters from Russia to protect the country from a 'US invasion'.
These tactics are doing little to dispel fears in Washington that Venezuela is increasing its arms expenditure and is affecting the balance of power in Latin America, yet he doesn't seem to be doing it as loud-mouthedly and lavishly as Iran's president and thank god for that.
Lastly, whoever has the guts to propose to Condi Rice on a state visit, must be respected. Don't you think so?
Forget the Osama’s and the jihad terrorists and all those other enemies of the Western world, there is a new one, in the next few years he might find a place in every newspaper. He is the latest anti US renegade of our times.
He is the president of Venezuela, and more importantly best mates of Fidel Castro. His anti US stance seems to making a lot of headlines and with elections round the corner in at least 3 to 4 Latin American countries, the leftists seem to be frontrunners to win the elections in all 4 countries.
The US seems to be in a slightly sticky situation but I am sure they have something up their sleeve. Looks like world focus is going to move to Latin America very soon.One reason why the US is a bit annoyed if at all, is that Venezuela after the Middle East has the most number of oil resources and with the draining of oil from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and the hostile political climate there, a new guinea pig is needed.
But it is surely not Chavez, who the US calls a dictator, which in the true sense of the word, he isn't. He was democratically elected, though he is known as quite a megalomaniac. Secondly, he is quite a fearless guy, and he just bought a load of military helicopters from Russia to protect the country from a 'US invasion'.
These tactics are doing little to dispel fears in Washington that Venezuela is increasing its arms expenditure and is affecting the balance of power in Latin America, yet he doesn't seem to be doing it as loud-mouthedly and lavishly as Iran's president and thank god for that.
Lastly, whoever has the guts to propose to Condi Rice on a state visit, must be respected. Don't you think so?
Link of the Day...
A nice quirky piece trying to investigate what happened to the breed of the actual Midnight's Children and The Rushdie file whose dreamlike take on the city is very much part of Mumbai literature, yet it aks how we need somone to tell him things have changed quite a bit since he was here. He knows that too but its all through his nostalgia tinted obtuse glasses and we need a new version. However, we definitely need no more Shantarams.
Check the piece out. Cheers.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1473487,curpg-1.cms
A nice quirky piece trying to investigate what happened to the breed of the actual Midnight's Children and The Rushdie file whose dreamlike take on the city is very much part of Mumbai literature, yet it aks how we need somone to tell him things have changed quite a bit since he was here. He knows that too but its all through his nostalgia tinted obtuse glasses and we need a new version. However, we definitely need no more Shantarams.
Check the piece out. Cheers.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1473487,curpg-1.cms
Winter is now part of the past.
Well, so looks like spring is finally here after bouts of speculation and doubt, the weather has changed. No need of a sweater, woolens, beanie caps, gloves, 3 to four layers of clothes and an excuse not to get out. Which actually doesnt work so well for me, the bug of cabin fever seems to be well at its peak.
It gets dark only at 8ish in the night, one I have actually still to comprehend, my science and geography lessons would have come in handy, if anyone knows the theory and the forces involved, please do pass a line.
So basically imagine, having your dinner and then going out and the its still bright out there, lovely isn't it...well it is..I can tell you that....
Well, so looks like spring is finally here after bouts of speculation and doubt, the weather has changed. No need of a sweater, woolens, beanie caps, gloves, 3 to four layers of clothes and an excuse not to get out. Which actually doesnt work so well for me, the bug of cabin fever seems to be well at its peak.
It gets dark only at 8ish in the night, one I have actually still to comprehend, my science and geography lessons would have come in handy, if anyone knows the theory and the forces involved, please do pass a line.
So basically imagine, having your dinner and then going out and the its still bright out there, lovely isn't it...well it is..I can tell you that....
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