Cricket, beatles and other insects

This morning while shaving, I'm looking at myself in the mirror and pretending to be Annu Malik! No, I'm not imagining myself with a receding hairline and donning a Himachali cap! But I'm making up Hindi lyrics to go with Peter Sarstedt's "Where do you go to my lovely" !

I'm humming, "Tu kittheyyyy jaandi payi hai, oye Bubbly" and thinking about Peter who was born in New Delhi of all places! And that set me off on another chain of thought. I used to research famous people, especially Englishmen, who were born in India. It was quite an interesting & ragged collection of people actually. So I would read up about them.

Now one morning I'm driving to the office listening to the fm, and there's some phone-in contest. At stake is a home theatre system for anyone who can answer 3 random question correctly. Of all the people, I'm the one who gets through to the DJ who starts asking me questions. The first question is easy (Capital of West Germany before unification). The second one (What was the age of the Queen Mother when she died?) belongs to History 101. And then the third and final question.

"Where was Colin Cowdrey, once England's captain, born?"

My mind goes completely blank. All I can think of is that divine Home Theatre system waiting for me. After an eternity of numbed thoughts swirling away in my mind, I manage to stammer,"Wales?"

The DJ with great relish (I think!) tells me that he was born in Bangalore, India. And then it strikes me with great force that I knew the damn answer! Not only knew, I had actually done some reading on MCC (Michael Colin C)!

I am still kicking myself.

Talking of MCC, he was a real character. He was recalled from retirement in the mid-70s against the Aussies when the England team fell suddenly short of a batsman, due to the ferocious deadly pace attack of Lillee and Thommo. Now picture this! This dapper propah English gentleman walks to the crease to bat and introduces himself to Thomson: "I don't believe we've met. My name's Cowdrey".

What a moment!

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This evening, on telly there's a feature on the release of the complete James Dean film collection on DVD. Considering that he worked in just 3 films....

Anyways, the feature is talking about the release for the very first time of "East of Eden" on DVD. Now that's a classic book! Steinbeck is an awesome author. Really great stuff. Don't know about the film though.

Most people feel that books made into movies lose something in translation. I know myself that I was much disappointed recently by the movie treatment of "About a Boy", especially the kid that portrayed Marcus. Somehow I never thought of Marcus having such a dorky hairstyle and with vaguely satanish eyebrows! Read the book if you get hold of it. A delightful read! So is Nick Hornby's first book, "High Fidelity". Men be warned though. Never let your girlfriends/wives get hold of this book. It will tell them just too much of the truth about you!

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Why was I reminded of the Beatles this afternoon? Must have been something I caught last night about their first ever US tour....40 years ago today....

So their late manager turned out to have a crush on Paul?!

All this time, we had been led to believe that John was it, but in the end, "the walrus was Paul", eh? Hmmm.......

Anyways, ending here for the day.

Today's MindPOD refrain:
"...No more lonely nights, you're my guiding light
Day or night I'm always there..." Read more!

Who wants to live forever?

I think now I understand why man was never meant to be immortal. There would be just too much weariness and depression and cynicism and acceptance in the world. I mean, once people experience most things in life while getting old, they cease to be amazed by little things and grow ever so cynical or worse still, start taking things for granted.

I think the world needs a huge slosh of innocence from time to time, and that's why we need old people and ideas to die out and fresh innocence to awaken ever so often.

I mean, think about why so many people who have everything going for them in life, end up doing stupid and evil things. It's because they are bored in life and are always seeking the next big high!

Makes sense? Read more!

Was Nietzsche right?

....That thought takes my mind train onto a sidetrack.

Voltaire wrote about 250 years ago: "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer."
Translation: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

That's just so subtly subversive! I love that! The way he says without putting in words that he is a non-believer....Delicious! If irony didn't exist in 1770, Voltaire invented it, I think.

Another sidetrack: A joke this time.

The problem with atheists is: who do they talk to during sex?
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Today's MindPOD refrain: "...they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot..." Read more!

The King and I

Elvis is Alive and he's living on TCM! Yeahhhh baby! For the nth time they have the same rockumentary on....you know the one they dust and bring out every Jan 8th and Aug 16th. But you know something? I don't care. The guy had something.

This morning, I get to work, slide into my seat, singing loudly "Can't help falling in love" and proclaim to TheCoolGuy,"The King is dead, but at least he was on the throne!" TheCoolGuy looks blankly at me. Well, what did I expect? He's into Buddha Bar, Techno and Fiddy!

But he's still a nice guy.

Morning is as usual spent on emails. At 10:30, though, I get up, straighten my bright-yellow-flowers-on-blue-background tie and unobtrusively walk out of the office. The parking lot is so crowded, it's difficult to get to my car. I take the car, dreadling all the while that I'll come back and be circling the lot for a space like a starved vulture. Hmm.

The photographer is a middle-aged Aussie named John (Hiya Mite!) with the regulation dirty jeans, Converse on his feet and an earring in his ear. Oh and he's wielding a massive Canon digicam. He goes through his routine coolly and surely, making me lean on my elbow on a table and clicks away incessantly. Almost no words spoken. Except sometimes he asks me to smile (show some teeth, mite!). I duly oblige, inwardly thinking that I surely look like I'm shooting for Dunston Checks In!

We wrap up the whole thing in 15 minutes and I shake hands with John (G'day, mite!), and am back to office. The photoshoot is an accompaniment to a press blah I'd given recently.

The day goes by.

It's getting to be dark when I come out of the office. Jennifer Rush is on the radio, proclaiming the power of love. Ahhh, that song has mega memories attached. All good ones.

I stop on the highway and dine somewhere, right next to a showroom that has a shiny red Ferrari in the window. It's lust at first sight!

Now finally, I'm home. Will probably fall asleep watching a series of Elvis movies.
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Today's MindPOD refrain: "...I live my life in taxicabs...."

Bye. Read more!