*WARNING: This is a LONG post! Don't complain in the comments, you've been warned!*
As predicted, Australia won the Cricket World Cup Final today. This makes me a little angry because I'm a natural egalitarian and think that everyone should get to sit at the head of the table once in a while. But who can blame them - they're a great team, and do deserve the first prize.
It was a dreary, rain-drenched day in Barbados and not at all good conditions for cricket. Makes you wonder why the ICC would select the West Indies to be the host countries during tornado and storm season anyway. Regardless, the match started late due to rain, and was shortened to 38 overs a side. Australia played very well and Sri Lanka did give it their all, but all hope was lost after the fall of lynch-pin Sanath Jayasuriya. This is quite sad because I thought SL was beyond the Indian Sachin's-Out-So-Lets-Give-Up syndrome, but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit. After all, they were playing on a soggy pitch with next to no light...
Cricket aside, it was an interesting day since we watched the game and spent the day at the house of some good friends (who have Dish network of course) along with other couples who drifted in and out all day with their legions of various sized babies in tow.
Despite not having any children of my own, I sure do end up spending time with a whole bunch of them. The problem with having "couple" friends is that 99% of them have kids, or are pregnant. As the only childless couple I know in Boston, we're always the odd ones out, crooning over other people's children with none to show for ourselves!
Don't get me wrong, I actually do enjoy talking about children, their habits, how to rear them, pregnancy stories - my mother and I never had the kind of relationship where such conversations took place (unless they were about how much misery she went through during labor), and our lives in Dubai were always somewhat isolated from the "chehel pehel" of life in India where communal living is normal and there are people to bond with from whom you learn these things. Plus I really love children - I always have been a natural and willing baby-sitter and I like being around them.
But then there comes a point when sticky cups and crumbs, bruises and bumps, and all the sheer noise begins to make your head feel like it's going to explode. It hurts to swallow or turn your neck. You want to be able to start and finish a train of thought without an interruption. You want it to be QUIET.
Mind you, as much as kids get the blame for being noisy, it's the parents who're even louder. Even when their kids are not around and are playing in the basement, parents tend to speak at insanely loud decibels due to the sheer habit of having to speak over the noise of their kids, and that's what makes my head spin even more. I'd rather yell at the kids to keep it down and have them be quiet, than blow out my brains talking like I'm at a rock concert.
Sarwar has immense patience and in general is an exceedingly polite human being, so he doesn't ever even think about commenting on or discussing other peoples' parenting styles/home decor sense/tact/sense of style with me or anyone else - i.e. he never talks about the good stuff :P
But when 7 children get together, decide to leave the sanctuary of their basement, and start screaming and running around the house in circles with no designated "it" and no specific quarry in mind, you really start to wonder if it's worth avoiding that 10 minute tantrum if you have to do it by allowing them to ingest all the sugar they want and then go nuts.
I was brought up on a lot of yelling, spanking and being told what to do. Yes, I have my neuroses but I can't say I'm scarred for life. But today's generation of enlightened, educated parents actually think of parenting as an art or science or skill - not like my parents for whom it was just something that you had to do now that you went ahead and had a baby in the first 11 months of being married.
Parents today are so wary of the adult's impact on children, and so keen on giving their children "normal" childhoods, that these perfectly good disciplinary tactics of yore are giving way to negotiation, rationalization and simply increasing your patience. Again, don't get me wrong - I'm no kid-beater.. but at some level there are things that a good spanking and yelling can achieve that techniques from parenting books can't.
A lot of my childhood memories are about my Dad, and a lot of them involve his strict emphasis on discipline. Sometimes we would be in our rooms and we'd hear him yelling for us in his stern voice. We'd come running out in a panic, thinking we were in trouble, when he'd point to the ground and ask, "Yeh kya hai?". We'd look at the object of his annoyance and see a speck of tissue paper. "Uthao aur phek ke aao", he would command and we'd have to follow.
Yes, I agree this is discipline bordering on mania. But we weren't necessarily scared of him, most of the time his silly rules made us roll our eyes. But we knew that he was right and that we were always expected to meet a certain standard of cleanliness, hygiene, discipline, grades, and social grace. And if they weren't met, there would be consequences.
This simple understanding is what, I believe, drove me and my siblings to do all our homework by ourselves, shower and change by ourselves, run around the block, clean our rooms, and sometimes feed ourselves by the age of 7 or 8. Yes, we had a live-in maid so we didn't have to do any of the hard labor, and there were some exceptions to these habits (see below), but we did have our chores and his high expectations endowed us with a sense of accountability and independence, which are qualities that have helped us succeed our whole lives. Fear of retribution isn't necessarily the best motivator for a child, but sometimes it can be more effective than love alone.
Of course, children are children, and every child is unique. Some kids need prodding, others don't. Some kids need love, some prefer being fed exactly what they want, some prefer to show passive resistance. Different kids, different approaches - enlightened parents are definitely doing the right thing by recognizing that. But at some level, too much understanding gets destructive and you just need a good spanking to be set on the right path.
After all, if I hadn't failed a math test in 10th grade, gotten yelled at by my Dad and been forced to practice tangents in front of him for a whole hour, I probably never would have been motivated enough to get an A in my O'Level Math exam.
If my parents hadn't expressed their shock and disgust after finding out that I had avoided showering for 16 days while they went to the UK to settle my oldest sister into university, I probably would have continued to hate taking showers (oh wait, I still do.. it's not that I'm averse to being clean, they just take so much TIME!).
I try not to judge other parents since it's easy to be on the outside looking in and who knows, when my time comes I might do every single thing wrong as a mother. And I hope I don't offend them when I sometimes speak sternly to their kids, or start cleaning their house without them asking.
But it's a natural maternal instinct that's leaping to get out, a mindset that's been honed and sharpened by decades of disciplinary action. I can only hope that I have the chance to use it constructively soon, and that I succeed with my tactics and don't have to end up eating all my words in this blog post :P
April 28, 2007
April 24, 2007
Dilemma of the Day
Activity on my Facebook profile is going through the roof. And everytime someone does something I get an email alert. Now my email is full of nothing but Facebook alerts!
Today's dilemma: do I reduce the things I get alerted by email for? Or get rid of it altogether and let it be a surprise when I log on???
Today's dilemma: do I reduce the things I get alerted by email for? Or get rid of it altogether and let it be a surprise when I log on???
April 20, 2007
I'm at work and it's 9:30am and I find myself already suffering from Friday syndrome (yknow when you become completely unproductive and just want the weekend to be here?).
It's especially funny that I should feel this way because I'm just freelancing and it's not like I have huge major deadlines. Plus I've been doing this for a week.. the first work I've done in 4.5 months.. yet I'm wishing for the laziness that I've been complaining about all this time because at least then I can sleep in until 11am, avoid spending 2 hours a day on public transportation and eat healthy, home-cooked meals instead of going back to the office routine of $8 takeout lunches.
This office smells like the agency in Dubai where I interned.. either that, or it smells like that 89.3 Radio 4 FM studio in Ajman where I also interned... maybe it's a small office smell. It's definitely a small office - 45 people total, with me being the 5th person in the media department.
On Wednesday I interviewed with another small agency here. It's an office of 10 people, but 70 more of them are in the Maine headquarters. If I joined the media team, I would be one of two people in the Boston office, and one of five people total with both offices combined.
This is all just very funny.. I come from a place where there are 800 media people in one building. The guy who interviewed me on Wednesday told me that moving to such a small team would be a huge culture shock, and would I be ready for it. I gave him a non-committal smile that said, "I really don't want to do this but you're offering a great salary so don't make me say anything I might regret."
The commute to work is so long. It's actually about 40 minutes sitting-in-the-train time, but 20 minutes goes in all the walking and train-changing so it's actually an hour door-to-door. I'm used to a 30minute commute that involves a 10minute train ride. It's funny that in Chicago, Sarwar had the hour long commute and I was a hop and a skip away from work. Now it's reversed. Unfair. *sniff*
Still, the long train rides have allowed me to catch up on my reading. I finished "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, who was a child soldier in the Sierra Leone civil war who luckily was rescued and rehabilitated by UNICEF. It's a remarkable story - I can't believe he survived so much gory bloodiness and merciless killing after going through the physical, emotional and psychological madness he describes in such a clear, calm, third-person manner. As hard as it is to believe, I get the sense that it was easier for him to fall into and accept the madness of war and become a killer, than to get off the drugs he was pumped up on and learn to forgive himself and become a "normal" member of society - even though it took less time to rehabilitate.
It's a terrifying and sad read, but it does have a message of hope in it, that comes from Ishamel's own strength and endurance. And it certainly makes you appreciate the UN's work even though we all criticize it and think it's ineffective. If they're able to change lives like this one by one,they're definitely doing a wonderful job. Highly recommended read.
It's especially funny that I should feel this way because I'm just freelancing and it's not like I have huge major deadlines. Plus I've been doing this for a week.. the first work I've done in 4.5 months.. yet I'm wishing for the laziness that I've been complaining about all this time because at least then I can sleep in until 11am, avoid spending 2 hours a day on public transportation and eat healthy, home-cooked meals instead of going back to the office routine of $8 takeout lunches.
This office smells like the agency in Dubai where I interned.. either that, or it smells like that 89.3 Radio 4 FM studio in Ajman where I also interned... maybe it's a small office smell. It's definitely a small office - 45 people total, with me being the 5th person in the media department.
On Wednesday I interviewed with another small agency here. It's an office of 10 people, but 70 more of them are in the Maine headquarters. If I joined the media team, I would be one of two people in the Boston office, and one of five people total with both offices combined.
This is all just very funny.. I come from a place where there are 800 media people in one building. The guy who interviewed me on Wednesday told me that moving to such a small team would be a huge culture shock, and would I be ready for it. I gave him a non-committal smile that said, "I really don't want to do this but you're offering a great salary so don't make me say anything I might regret."
The commute to work is so long. It's actually about 40 minutes sitting-in-the-train time, but 20 minutes goes in all the walking and train-changing so it's actually an hour door-to-door. I'm used to a 30minute commute that involves a 10minute train ride. It's funny that in Chicago, Sarwar had the hour long commute and I was a hop and a skip away from work. Now it's reversed. Unfair. *sniff*
Still, the long train rides have allowed me to catch up on my reading. I finished "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, who was a child soldier in the Sierra Leone civil war who luckily was rescued and rehabilitated by UNICEF. It's a remarkable story - I can't believe he survived so much gory bloodiness and merciless killing after going through the physical, emotional and psychological madness he describes in such a clear, calm, third-person manner. As hard as it is to believe, I get the sense that it was easier for him to fall into and accept the madness of war and become a killer, than to get off the drugs he was pumped up on and learn to forgive himself and become a "normal" member of society - even though it took less time to rehabilitate.
It's a terrifying and sad read, but it does have a message of hope in it, that comes from Ishamel's own strength and endurance. And it certainly makes you appreciate the UN's work even though we all criticize it and think it's ineffective. If they're able to change lives like this one by one,they're definitely doing a wonderful job. Highly recommended read.
Two days too late..
but nonetheless..
SANJAYA IS GONE!!
And he actually wept like a baby. C'mon.. how could he have NOT seen this coming? Did he really think he would win American Idol?
Anyway.. finally, America votes and shows it is not entirely tone deaf.
As for who had kept him afloat this far, if it wasn't the Indians, then 9-14 yr old girls in America really need to change their perceptions of hotness.
SANJAYA IS GONE!!
And he actually wept like a baby. C'mon.. how could he have NOT seen this coming? Did he really think he would win American Idol?
Anyway.. finally, America votes and shows it is not entirely tone deaf.
As for who had kept him afloat this far, if it wasn't the Indians, then 9-14 yr old girls in America really need to change their perceptions of hotness.
April 18, 2007
What's Your Favorite?
"Thakki thikki
Thakki thikki
Thakki thikki
Thakki thikki
THA!
..ismein ek hi goli thi."
~CrimeMaster Gogo
Thakki thikki
Thakki thikki
Thakki thikki
THA!
..ismein ek hi goli thi."
~CrimeMaster Gogo
April 16, 2007
A loaf of meat? Who comes up with this stuff?
Try creating a dish called "The I-Would-Do-Anything-For-Love-But-I-Won't-Do-That Dish".
Yes, I made a meatloaf. And that's the name my husband gave it. *sigh*
It's ironic that the meatloaf is the one food that's always used in books and movies to ridicule a person's cooking skills because of the myriad things you can do to ruin it. But it's also the most bizarre concept. Why on earth would you want to bake 2 lbs of meat into one compact block and eat slices of it? Seriously? Not only is it hard to make, it's hard to eat and digest!
Anyway, mine didn't burn like it does in cartoons, and it didn't taste extremely bad - it just didn't bake into a loaf. You cut it, and it fell apart. It was too soggy and I personally don't think 400 degrees is hot enough to bake meat in. No?
So overall, it was definitely edible but disappointing as a project. I took the leftovers and turned it into a pasta dish so it would be easier to finish.
But I also made killer french toast this weekend. YUM-O. Meatloaf disaster avenged.
Yes, I made a meatloaf. And that's the name my husband gave it. *sigh*
It's ironic that the meatloaf is the one food that's always used in books and movies to ridicule a person's cooking skills because of the myriad things you can do to ruin it. But it's also the most bizarre concept. Why on earth would you want to bake 2 lbs of meat into one compact block and eat slices of it? Seriously? Not only is it hard to make, it's hard to eat and digest!
Anyway, mine didn't burn like it does in cartoons, and it didn't taste extremely bad - it just didn't bake into a loaf. You cut it, and it fell apart. It was too soggy and I personally don't think 400 degrees is hot enough to bake meat in. No?
So overall, it was definitely edible but disappointing as a project. I took the leftovers and turned it into a pasta dish so it would be easier to finish.
But I also made killer french toast this weekend. YUM-O. Meatloaf disaster avenged.
Moving Along
I was introduced to a song called "Move Along," by The All American Rejects by a friend at work many months ago. At the time I just thought it had a cool video (we were trying to recreate it as a spoof for our own video about our team... long story), but now I realize that this song is quite inspirational.
"When all you got to keep is strong - move along, move along like I know you do..
And even when your hope is gone - move along, move along just to make it through..
Move along.."
So true. It's so important to just keep movin' along. And I am.
Tomorrow I start freelancing with a small agency in downtown Boston, working on a project for them, presumably for a week or two. They will also have a job opening soon so this is a good way for me to suss out whether I'd like to work here.
And on Wednesday, I have another interview with another small agency in downtown Boston, which seems to be quite eager to have me on board.
So who knows, I might actually meet my own deadline of having a job by the end of the month. Let's cross our fingers and see :)
"When all you got to keep is strong - move along, move along like I know you do..
And even when your hope is gone - move along, move along just to make it through..
Move along.."
So true. It's so important to just keep movin' along. And I am.
Tomorrow I start freelancing with a small agency in downtown Boston, working on a project for them, presumably for a week or two. They will also have a job opening soon so this is a good way for me to suss out whether I'd like to work here.
And on Wednesday, I have another interview with another small agency in downtown Boston, which seems to be quite eager to have me on board.
So who knows, I might actually meet my own deadline of having a job by the end of the month. Let's cross our fingers and see :)
April 8, 2007
So one day Yash Chopra was humming a song...
"Uthe sabke qadam, bolo rum pum pum
Aji aise geet gaaya karo..
Kabhi khushi kabhi ghum.. *pause*
[Ooh that would make a nice name for a movie]
Ta ra rum pum pum *pause*
[Ooh an even nicer name for a movie]
Hasso aur hasaya karo..."
K3G came and went, and now it's time for another YRJ masala flick, "Ta Ra Rum Pum".
I vaguely remember reading an issue of Stardust many years ago about a movie of this name being made, and I think it was supposed to star Aamir Khan.. or something. This was the mid to late 90s. Has this project been on the shelf for a while or am I growing old? Who knows.
Anyway, I'm glad to see another Saif-Rani starrer on horizon, but in truth I look forward to it with dread.
As much as I enjoy them for their spectacular cinematography and excellent make-up/hair skills, I'm getting very tired of the formula Chopra movies: song names for movie titles, pre-set music albums (one Rani-as-glam-doll song, one dance track, one love song, one wedding song, and one sad overhead track), along with ghissa pitti plot lines of love = friendship, you can be young, sexy *and* have an 8 year old, New York City is the center of the world, and gee - gay people sure are funny.
This one seems to revolve around a family man sports celebrity who gets into an accident and has his dreams crushed. Hmmm, why does this seem familiar? Oh yes, SRK played the bitter role very badly in KANK.
Well, we can only wait and watch. Hopefully Saif will not disappoint, and the film will play a big part in, if not sweep, next year's Filmfare Awards Sponsored by Yash Chopra.
Aji aise geet gaaya karo..
Kabhi khushi kabhi ghum.. *pause*
[Ooh that would make a nice name for a movie]
Ta ra rum pum pum *pause*
[Ooh an even nicer name for a movie]
Hasso aur hasaya karo..."
K3G came and went, and now it's time for another YRJ masala flick, "Ta Ra Rum Pum".
I vaguely remember reading an issue of Stardust many years ago about a movie of this name being made, and I think it was supposed to star Aamir Khan.. or something. This was the mid to late 90s. Has this project been on the shelf for a while or am I growing old? Who knows.
Anyway, I'm glad to see another Saif-Rani starrer on horizon, but in truth I look forward to it with dread.
As much as I enjoy them for their spectacular cinematography and excellent make-up/hair skills, I'm getting very tired of the formula Chopra movies: song names for movie titles, pre-set music albums (one Rani-as-glam-doll song, one dance track, one love song, one wedding song, and one sad overhead track), along with ghissa pitti plot lines of love = friendship, you can be young, sexy *and* have an 8 year old, New York City is the center of the world, and gee - gay people sure are funny.
This one seems to revolve around a family man sports celebrity who gets into an accident and has his dreams crushed. Hmmm, why does this seem familiar? Oh yes, SRK played the bitter role very badly in KANK.
Well, we can only wait and watch. Hopefully Saif will not disappoint, and the film will play a big part in, if not sweep, next year's Filmfare Awards Sponsored by Yash Chopra.
Looking through blue colored glasses..
Spent a lot of last week suffering from achy, watery eyes and achy head. Yesterday, decided to try on a pair of new and upgraded glasses I had had made a year ago but never wore 'cos I couldn't be bothered to get used to them. It worked. Looks like my eyes have now gotten to the point that the old prescription won't work. Must get new lenses added to old frame. Can't be wearing metallic blue Pepsi frames with everything!
Made some awesome chilli-garlic shrimp with fried rice last night. I also had a 3 hour tummy ache from 11:30pm to 2:30am (finally cured by a double dose of Zantac) but I wonder if it was all the grapes I had for dessert?
Used the morning to look through the clothing stash and identified two saris that I will turn into shalwar kameezes when I go back to Dubai next. Umm.. whenever that is. I hope my tailor still remembers me :(
That is all.
Made some awesome chilli-garlic shrimp with fried rice last night. I also had a 3 hour tummy ache from 11:30pm to 2:30am (finally cured by a double dose of Zantac) but I wonder if it was all the grapes I had for dessert?
Used the morning to look through the clothing stash and identified two saris that I will turn into shalwar kameezes when I go back to Dubai next. Umm.. whenever that is. I hope my tailor still remembers me :(
That is all.
April 5, 2007
Oops! Sorry Portland.
U.S. News' major grad school rankings mixup
MediaLife Magazine
Portland State University may have a decent electrical engineering graduate program, but it’s not as good as U.S. News & World Report said it was in its “America's Best Graduate Schools 2008” rankings guidebook last week.
The magazine placed PSU at No. 9 and the University of Texas at Arlington No. 10, accidentally omitting Carnegie Mellon University, the real No. 9, and true No. 10 University of Texas at Austin.
U.S. News says the error occurred through a glitch in its computer sequencing, which turned out to be off by one starting with colleges beginning with the letter P. The mistake was brought to the magazine’s attention last Friday, in time to fix it for the magazine version of the rankings, which were changed online over last weekend.
The involved schools were notified of the error by Monday, though a bit too late for Portland State. Believing it had been ranked in the top 10, the school issued a press release saying the ranking illustrates how state investments in higher education can increase programmatic capacity, according to Inside Higher Education. When it discovered the ranking was made in error, PSU sent an email to its press list, advising them to ignore the earlier release.
This is the latest controversy to hit the U.S. News college guidebook, following a snafu last month in which Sarah Lawrence alleged the magazine was going to use incorrect SAT scores to calculate its rank.
My Maps
Especially useful for those of us with no sense of direction.... this is cool stuff.
Google makes mashups easy, even for me
Google makes mashups easy, even for me
The search giant's new My Maps feature lets anyone create customizable maps with photos and video, regardless of technical know-how.
By Elinor Mills
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
By Elinor Mills
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Mashups that overlay any kind of data on top of an online map are all the rage. But up until now I didn't know that even I, with no coding experience whatsoever, could make a customized map of my own. I did, and it took less than an hour. And it can even be found in the Google Maps index if I want it to.
Google allowed me to preview a new feature of its maps service that it plans to launch on Thursday called My Maps. It lets anyone create mashups by essentially pointing, clicking, dragging and dropping. I used a temporary log in and password since the feature hadn't publicly launched yet, but normally I would log in using my Google account information.
When the feature is live, the Google maps site will feature a new "My Maps" tab next to the "Search Results" tab. I clicked on the "create new map" link and typed in a title and description. The interface also gave me the choice of whether to keep the map private or make it public.
If I choose to keep my mashup private, I can share it with friends by distributing the Web address. If I make it public, it will be accessible through Google's searchable maps index. It may take several weeks to be included in the index because it takes about that long for Google's Web crawler to notice new Web pages, said Jessica Lee, a product manager for Google Maps. User-generated results created using My Maps will be displayed in Google's map search index directly below the organic results, Lee said. My Maps creations can also be viewed in Google Earth, she said.
I decided to make a mashup of places of interest from a city where I lived for a year, so I typed in "Lisbon, Portugal" in the search box and Portugal's capital city was displayed. I created a marker for my old apartment by clicking on the marker icon at the top and pointing and clicking on the location I wanted. I wrote a title and description for each marker and was able to choose from a variety of marker styles, from upside-down teardrops to pushpins to icons in specific shapes to designate lodging, food, or recreation. I also had a choice of icon colors.
Video: Google's new mashup feature
My Maps tool makes customized mashups easy
There were also tools that allowed me to draw on the map and outline areas. I basically pointed and clicked to create a shaded section around a section of the city called "Bairro Alto," well-loved for its fun bars and night life.
Lisbon is known for its quaint cobblestone streets and beautiful river views, and I wanted to include my own photos that would be displayed in a bubble that pops up when a marker is clicked. However, My Maps doesn't yet allow people to grab photos off their hard drive. That function is coming, Lee said. I had some photos on Flickr and found others on the Web to use and they were easy to insert by clicking on the image icon in the edit function of an open bubble and cutting and pasting the URL for the photo into it.
I also grabbed a YouTube video of Mariza, a popular contemporary singer of Fado--Portugal's version of the blues--to include on a marker for a Fado restaurant I used to frequent in the historic Alfama district. I did that by cutting and pasting the video's YouTube "embed" code into the marker bubble on my map. It was all incredibly easy and I'm very excited about creating my first mashup, something I figured was out of reach for my lack of skills and time.
The My Maps site features some examples created by Google employees, including a fascinating oral history trail of characters encountered along historic Route 66, which runs from the northern Midwestern states through the Southwest. Another featured map shows the red and blue states from the country's 2004 presidential election and the statistics of voters for each candidate.
"This is the mainstreaming of mashups," said Greg Sterling, principal of consulting firm Sterling Market Intelligence. "It's moving from the realm of developers and (technologically) sophisticated enthusiasts to ordinary people who can use these tools to create maps to share."
There are other similar mashups-for-dummies-type services, notably Platial, dubbed "The Peoples' Atlas," and Microsoft's Live Search Maps Collection Hub. But neither service offers "the same extent and visibility" as Google's My Maps, Sterling said, particularly since My Maps offers inclusion in the Google search index, which millions of people use every day.
Google also unveiled this week an experimental tool for creating a mashup using data from Google Spreadsheets. However, that tool requires some technical or programming know-how and requires that users have their own Web site to host the mashup, and does not allow for insertion of video or photos, said Lee. In addition, those mashups are not included in Google's search index, as the My Maps mashups are.
April 4, 2007
Art Over-Analyzed?
Bloomsbury and Scholastic have released the cover art for final Harry Potter book (see here and here). Here's a sneak peek at the different versions...
UK/International - Children and Adult Editions
US - Standard Edition
Strange. I always felt that "Deathly Hallows" would refer to a process.. to hallow means to consecrate or make holy (hence Halloween being the other name for All Saints Day when dead souls are honored).. and maybe that would be the process by which Voldemort would be extinguished (hence Deathly)...
But the British covers show no action being performed.. just treasure or jewelry. The locket is clearly the horcrux Regulus stole, and I'm having a hard time understanding why Harry, Hermione and Ron look so pained while being flooded by all that gold.
The only "place" represented is that amphitheatre type arena on the American cover which hardly looks deathly.. in fact it seems like there's a nice sunset going on in the background. But Voldemort has never been on the cover before, and it seems like both he and Harry are reaching out towards the sky trying to summon the same thing, while others watch in the background, so this could be the actual final battle where the two confront one another and one must die. Maybe this battle *is* the Deathly Hallows process?
Who knows. My biggest concern right now is that the book comes out on my husband's birthday. How am I going to provide him with undivided attention when the book is sitting right there in front of me, itching to be read? :/
UK/International - Children and Adult Editions
US - Standard Edition
Strange. I always felt that "Deathly Hallows" would refer to a process.. to hallow means to consecrate or make holy (hence Halloween being the other name for All Saints Day when dead souls are honored).. and maybe that would be the process by which Voldemort would be extinguished (hence Deathly)...
But the British covers show no action being performed.. just treasure or jewelry. The locket is clearly the horcrux Regulus stole, and I'm having a hard time understanding why Harry, Hermione and Ron look so pained while being flooded by all that gold.
The only "place" represented is that amphitheatre type arena on the American cover which hardly looks deathly.. in fact it seems like there's a nice sunset going on in the background. But Voldemort has never been on the cover before, and it seems like both he and Harry are reaching out towards the sky trying to summon the same thing, while others watch in the background, so this could be the actual final battle where the two confront one another and one must die. Maybe this battle *is* the Deathly Hallows process?
Who knows. My biggest concern right now is that the book comes out on my husband's birthday. How am I going to provide him with undivided attention when the book is sitting right there in front of me, itching to be read? :/
Down with the Crazies
So I'm watching and following American Idol very very closely this season..
Yesterday was Tony Bennett night, and as usual the worst performance was by Sanjaya Malakar.
Each week, I wait with bated breath to see if America will have come to its senses and knocked this poor excuse for a singer off the show, but alas it seems like people care less about the talent and more about the freakshow personality that he's become. He seems to enjoy his new found celebrity, trying out bizarre hairstyles each week, arguing with the judges like a 5-year old and continuing to look shocked each time he is not eliminated.
Howard Stern and VoteForTheWorst.com aren't helping either, as they goad their followers to vote for.. well.. the worst. The judges, including acerbic Simon Cowell, have resigned themselves to laughing uncomfortably at the end of his performances and avoiding all comments about his vocals because it's just too shockingly bad to bear and they're probably kicking themselves about why on earth they let him on stage in the first place.
So, back to last night. After watching all the swing-themed performances, of which Sanjaya was predictably the worst, I found myself saying: "It's definitely going to be Phil Stacey who gets knocked out next".
And then I paused and realized the sad, sad situation that we all end up in as a result of a broken system. We become so apathetic and disillusioned by the logic-defying trend, that we don't even consider the fact sanity could prevail and Sanjaya could be knocked out. We're so convinced of the stupidity of the nation that we've chosen to even stop expecting rationality to kick in.
And this is just 4 weeks on a reality TV show. No wonder countries and whole populations can't pull themselves out of deadly ruts of terror and depression and bad leadership. We've just become used to settling for less.
Anyhoo - assuming Sanjaya stays, I think that beginning next week I'm actually going to pick up the phone and call in to vote. Sitting around on my butt expecting America to wake up clearly hasn't worked, so I'm going to use my democratic right to, if anything, give one less vote to Sanjaya. 'Cos if I don't speak up, I'm part of the problem, right?
Yesterday was Tony Bennett night, and as usual the worst performance was by Sanjaya Malakar.
If you've been even slightly awake during the last month, you've definitely 
heard of the 17 year old, half-Indian half-American, sexually-dubious creature who cannot sing, knows it, yet still continues to remain on the show for inexplicable reasons that may include the entire South Asian population of the US voting for him out of some twisted solidarity (yes, lets endorse him and prove South Asians can't sing) and little girls between the ages of 9 and 12 who, frankly, will always vote for the youngest contestant because he's closest to them in age and they can have gooey dreams about him.
heard of the 17 year old, half-Indian half-American, sexually-dubious creature who cannot sing, knows it, yet still continues to remain on the show for inexplicable reasons that may include the entire South Asian population of the US voting for him out of some twisted solidarity (yes, lets endorse him and prove South Asians can't sing) and little girls between the ages of 9 and 12 who, frankly, will always vote for the youngest contestant because he's closest to them in age and they can have gooey dreams about him.Each week, I wait with bated breath to see if America will have come to its senses and knocked this poor excuse for a singer off the show, but alas it seems like people care less about the talent and more about the freakshow personality that he's become. He seems to enjoy his new found celebrity, trying out bizarre hairstyles each week, arguing with the judges like a 5-year old and continuing to look shocked each time he is not eliminated.
Howard Stern and VoteForTheWorst.com aren't helping either, as they goad their followers to vote for.. well.. the worst. The judges, including acerbic Simon Cowell, have resigned themselves to laughing uncomfortably at the end of his performances and avoiding all comments about his vocals because it's just too shockingly bad to bear and they're probably kicking themselves about why on earth they let him on stage in the first place.
So, back to last night. After watching all the swing-themed performances, of which Sanjaya was predictably the worst, I found myself saying: "It's definitely going to be Phil Stacey who gets knocked out next".
And then I paused and realized the sad, sad situation that we all end up in as a result of a broken system. We become so apathetic and disillusioned by the logic-defying trend, that we don't even consider the fact sanity could prevail and Sanjaya could be knocked out. We're so convinced of the stupidity of the nation that we've chosen to even stop expecting rationality to kick in.
And this is just 4 weeks on a reality TV show. No wonder countries and whole populations can't pull themselves out of deadly ruts of terror and depression and bad leadership. We've just become used to settling for less.
Anyhoo - assuming Sanjaya stays, I think that beginning next week I'm actually going to pick up the phone and call in to vote. Sitting around on my butt expecting America to wake up clearly hasn't worked, so I'm going to use my democratic right to, if anything, give one less vote to Sanjaya. 'Cos if I don't speak up, I'm part of the problem, right?
April 3, 2007
An Anniversary of Sorts
It is now April 2007, and it's been one year since my blog was revived. I think I have now proved to the cynical masses (you know who you are) that I am *not* a statistic!
Although March does seem to be the month when I lose steam... I stopped writing in March 2005, started again in March 2006, and wrote the least posts of the year in March 2007. I wonder why...?
Although March does seem to be the month when I lose steam... I stopped writing in March 2005, started again in March 2006, and wrote the least posts of the year in March 2007. I wonder why...?
A Weekend of Themes
Friday: Disappointment Night 
~ Dinner at a much-hyped Thai restaurant called Erawan of Siam. Started off well - the decor was wonderful, appetizer was great. And then dinner arrived. My Jumbo Rainbow, ordered because of the temptation to try chilli plum sauce, was nothing but steamed veggies with no trace of sauce. Thai Iced Tea left a strange taste in my throat. Sarwar's dish was unnecessarily spicy with no other flavor. Overall - highly disappointing.
~ Watched The Namesake. Decent performances all around, but not a very gripping or well-directed film, which is unsurprising since the book wasn't gripping either (I found Jhumpa Lahiri's entire treatise on the Indian immigrant experience very hypothesized and stylized, as if this is how she "thinks" it would be like to be an immigrant, rather than the story being born of any personal experience or any credible, nuanced insight into the experience) and Mira Nair has never directed a "Inspired by the Book" movie before so one can't expect it to be good. The film was definitely more bearable than the book because the anguish was very diluted and Tabu is always a pleasure to watch, but overall - very easily missable.
Saturday: Do-Something-New Day
~Finally overcame my fear and drove into Boston. Was quite exciting to be behind the wheel again after so many weeks, and actually parked 3 or 4 times without a problem :D
~Wandered around Brookline, stopped for long periods in good bookstores and snacked on a Dulce De Leche crepe at Paris Creperie :D
~Sarwar was feeling creative and decided to bake a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Eventually became a joint effort in the interest of time, but all kudos goes to him :D
~ Watched The Departed. What a fantastic film, classic Scorsese! Though it's fairly bloody and violent, the drama unfolds beautifully and each character is so well-portrayed. The ending, especially, is just phenomenal. Highly recommended.
Sunday: Other People Day
~Had brunch with some friends, tea with more friends - both long and noisy affairs.
~Watched two new episodes of Planet Earth on Discovery HD. This stuff is amazing. It's not just a documentary, these cameras go into the hidden corners of the earth and show you worlds never encountered and things never recorded or seen by the human eye. The shots are magnificently breathtaking, the story-telling compelling without being intrusive, and just the HD... this series alone is worth buying an HD TV for. Highly recommended.
Overall, a good and busy weekend! :)
~ Dinner at a much-hyped Thai restaurant called Erawan of Siam. Started off well - the decor was wonderful, appetizer was great. And then dinner arrived. My Jumbo Rainbow, ordered because of the temptation to try chilli plum sauce, was nothing but steamed veggies with no trace of sauce. Thai Iced Tea left a strange taste in my throat. Sarwar's dish was unnecessarily spicy with no other flavor. Overall - highly disappointing.
~ Watched The Namesake. Decent performances all around, but not a very gripping or well-directed film, which is unsurprising since the book wasn't gripping either (I found Jhumpa Lahiri's entire treatise on the Indian immigrant experience very hypothesized and stylized, as if this is how she "thinks" it would be like to be an immigrant, rather than the story being born of any personal experience or any credible, nuanced insight into the experience) and Mira Nair has never directed a "Inspired by the Book" movie before so one can't expect it to be good. The film was definitely more bearable than the book because the anguish was very diluted and Tabu is always a pleasure to watch, but overall - very easily missable.
Saturday: Do-Something-New Day
~Finally overcame my fear and drove into Boston. Was quite exciting to be behind the wheel again after so many weeks, and actually parked 3 or 4 times without a problem :D
~Wandered around Brookline, stopped for long periods in good bookstores and snacked on a Dulce De Leche crepe at Paris Creperie :D
~Sarwar was feeling creative and decided to bake a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Eventually became a joint effort in the interest of time, but all kudos goes to him :D~ Watched The Departed. What a fantastic film, classic Scorsese! Though it's fairly bloody and violent, the drama unfolds beautifully and each character is so well-portrayed. The ending, especially, is just phenomenal. Highly recommended.
Sunday: Other People Day
~Had brunch with some friends, tea with more friends - both long and noisy affairs.
~Watched two new episodes of Planet Earth on Discovery HD. This stuff is amazing. It's not just a documentary, these cameras go into the hidden corners of the earth and show you worlds never encountered and things never recorded or seen by the human eye. The shots are magnificently breathtaking, the story-telling compelling without being intrusive, and just the HD... this series alone is worth buying an HD TV for. Highly recommended.
Overall, a good and busy weekend! :)
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