B’day

It is my B’day today…and I feel utterly Random about it…’whatever’ seems appropriate at this juncture.

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Playing for Pizza

Book Name: Playing for Pizza

Author: John Grisham

So I lied. This is not the post about Horny werewolves and the dashing Amnesiac Prince, instead I give you -the very random-Playing for Pizza. I was in a very sad airport bookshop (which stacked itself high with books on management and guides to the quickest way to the fastest buck) and I had over four hours in all to waste. So I picked up the book for the purely superficial reason that I liked the title (pat yourself on your back, moniker makers!) and well it was John Grisham and we’ve all read or heard of some of his legal fiction at least and this seemed different. ah well…it was as random a read as ever.

First off, I don’t get football americano…every time I see American sport movies with the particular game, there’s always a vague voice at the back of my head shouting, “THAT’S not FOOTBALL!!!” “STOP calling it FOOTBALL!!!”. I don’t know much about it… Perhaps, if I did understand the game, parts of the book that describe the game would have appealed to me more.

I guess the reason I bought it, was its interesting premise -the idea of a jaded quarterback whose been shipped off to Italy. The fact that the game actually EXISTS in the mecca of real football was even more interesting.

Anyways, the book doesn’t really do anything with the interesting premise, than build a run of a mill sports movie around it…underdogs, love for the game v. fat pay check, angry fans, finding your strength, team spirit etc. Still it has some nice touches to it, like the Cleveland reporter who can only find the worst in every one of the quarterback’s games, the very fine description of Italian cuisine (that might just be the foodie in me taking interest), and the slightly open ended finish.

I was Okay with the book. Served its purpose rather well as it helped me pass the time, waiting for my plane to land as it circled the airport for over an hour.

Hardcore John Grisham fans may, however, find it disappointing for its very non John Grisham air, or perhaps it’s nice having something different from the author you like? I am just guessing.

The Kite Runner

Book Name: The Kite Runner

Author Name: Khaled Hosseini

 

                                              Wikipedia declares it as the first book by an Afghan writer in English, which must (at least according to Wikipedia) mean something. For me, the book has earned the dubious distinction of being a work that every girl in my hostel seems to have read and dearly loved. I’d see it all over the place…it was, as if the book was following me around…tucked in my friend’s economics book or left in apparent abandon on a nearby table…ah well, how could I resist? End semester exams be damned…I picked up the book and began to read.

 

Initial fears of over hype were removed before I got through even half the book. I felt comfortable with the book…I can’t quite explain it. The Afghanistan (both past and present) that Hosseini describes is very different from the India I live in. Yet there was this uncanny similarity of tone that made me think I was reading something by an Indian author.

 

                                   The story isn’t anything that you haven’t heard before. Half brothers, a circle of fate; very Bollywood in one way.

 The villain Assef is a cardboard cut out – a boy who is a Hitler sympathiser and a playground bully of the worst kind grows up to be a paedophilic Taliban general. The whole bit about him having a German mother, seemed unnecessary to me as in – what did it add to the story? Something as crude as say, ‘that explains his Hitler fixation or something?”  

 On the other hand, the book has the sort of narrator Amir who simultaneously moves me to disgust and at the same time earns my kinship. A dreamy boy, filled with literary ambitions. He can be quite selfish and vicious when he chooses to be, and yet be wracked by guilt over his own selfishness. The degree to which he goes disgusts me, but I know how difficult it is to be courageous enough to own up to something you’ve done and I think the way his act of cowardice shapes his identity is well shown in the book. Truth is, I think it would be wrong to say that Assef  is the actual villain of the piece. The greatest struggle in the book it would seem is the narrator’s struggle with the guilt of his own actions. He is the most memorable of the lot of Hossieni’s characters.

 The rest are light on the memory. The father, the wife, the uncle, even the lovable Hassan and his son Sohrab… it is as if they play their part in the book but there is nothing distinct that makes them memorable.

 It is however, a very well written book, something to be read for say the tone and the bittersweet aftertaste that it leaves behind for a short while.

 

 

Ps: Next Time: Horny Werewolves and a Dashing Amnesiac Prince

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Now playing: Euphoria – Tu Hi Meri Zindagi
via FoxyTunes

Make Love To Me forever alternatively Filling the Gaps

It isn’t that I haven’t had things to write about; life in fact has been a little too full. Every now and then i would write something and then two days later, i’d find some fault with it and delete it. After a while, i just stopped writing and yet i had so much to say… I can’t just begin now; I need to fill the gap and what better way than the randomest post of them all…So here goes.

Rules:
1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?

“Tales of Brave Aphrodite” by Velocity Girl.

um, right. Let’s just try and pretend that this actually has to be taken seriously. So, someone asks : “is this okay?” and really i don’t think it is; except because it is me and because I am such a passive doormat, I just say “whatever! tales of brave aphrodite!” which actually makes some sort of sense. I mean she is the awesomely pretty Greek goddess who had to get married to the lame god blacksmith, right? So yeah, I mean they must have asked her if “it was okay?” and she must have said, “yeah whatever,” coz anyways she had Ares as her lover and really now that i have rambled on for so long, i have forgotten the brilliant exposition that i was building in the first place. (some lawyer, huh?) sigh, moving on.

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

“Carnation” by The Jam

Hmm, loads of petals…hmm layer upon layer, profound dude!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

“Be Still My Heart” by The Postal Service

lubdublubdublubdublubdub (official hearts songs if my 12th standard zoology text book is to be believed. )

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

“Sweet sweet” by Smashing Pumpkins

this is kinda nice…sounds doped but still nice.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

“Live in Sunshine” by The Rapture

isn’t it everyone’s?

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

“Always Love” by Nada Surf

snorts, Yeah Right!

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

“forsythia” by Veruca Salt

My friends think i am a bunch of pansy yellow flowers? I have all the personality of a Carnation? I have too much music that has Flower Names!!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

“Love Will Come Through” by Travis

that’s right, dad! I belive in you. So what if I scratched the paint of the side door of your car, the last time you let me drive? I know you’ll let me try, again, somewhere in this millenia … coz dad there are more important things than brand new cars….really …seriously…dad, you still there?

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

“My Right versus Yours” by The New Pornographers

and I’ll win, damn it!

WHAT IS 2+2?

“The New Year” by Death Cab for Cutie

2+2 = New Year. Not hard to believe, considering the answer to life the universe and everything is 42.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

“All I want for christmas is you” by Mariah Carey

ha! aha! hahahaha! Deep Secrets Surfacing? no, but seriously, I wouldn’t mind seeing her; she’s at the other side of the continent, and man, i miss rambing on and on. Though, I think she’ll freak if i started singin the song!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

“Thnks Fr Th Mmrs” by Fall Out Boy

enough said.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

All I want For Christmas Is you” by Olivia Olsen

I am so not going down there again! ps: I can’t believe I have two versions of the same song…sheesh.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

“Fairytale of New york” by The Pogues

Hee hee, i think the songs about a pissed drunk man, but hey, I aam just supposed to take the song on the name value, so yeah not a bad thing to be…a fairytale…that could work. Maybe I could like have this wonderful fairytale life in New York! I love this game!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

“Santa Baby” by Everclear

shit, I am actually going to be thinking this when i see him the next time. Like I needed something to broaden my goofy grin, great!

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

“Sunday Shining” by Finley Quaye

cute! (shall not analyse, though)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

“Believer” by Susanna and The Magical Orchestra

Gods! I am going to have a really cheesy wedding, right?

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

“I Saw Daddy Singing Santa Clause” by StandStill

I REFUSE TO COMMENT ON THIS ONE. NO COMMENTS, YOU HEAR ME. NO COMMENTS!!!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

“Heart and Shoulder” by Heather Nova

be random why don’t you, you stupid windows media player, coudn’t have been more random in the before question eh?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

“Christmas with you is Best” by The Long Winters

I am going home for Christmas, so that’s okay enough. I might just not uninstall you, windows media player!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Punk Rock Christmas by Sex Pistols

Hee Hee, Bloody Appropriate!

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?

Make Love To Me Forever by Snow Patrol

you think? I am sure the stats for this post are gonna be high, if I put it under that!

So, that’s that. As you can see, apart from the flower songs, christmas fills my thoughts. AHA! I know what I am going to write about in my next post…Christmas and the weird reasons why I love this strange alien festival.

This exercise has been good for me, try it. You’ve been tagged!

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Now playing: Pierre Henry – Psyché Rock
via FoxyTunes