From the magic world to the muggle world – the hype, the leak and the wait…

Beyond the simple sadistic pleasure of spoiling someone else’s anxiety and quelling someone else’s pure enthusiasm, the ignominious acts of the potter party poopers fail to sink into any comprehensible brain cell that I have left. They just deserve complete ignorance from those of us who still believe in some order in this chaotic world.

9:36 PM – 2 hours and odd to go. Even though I wouldn’t do it any other night, I am actually thinking of driving to Barnes and Noble, where I have already pre-ordered my “hallows” copy. The reason why it makes this drive all the more stupid and at the same time desperately selfish is the fact that I have to wake my son up & put him in the car and take him with me in his sleep, as my better half enjoys a well-deserved short weekend vacation with her friends somewhere in Lake Eerie(?). Well, this way – I may actually get to read the book tonight and may even complete reading the book by tomorrow night thus giving me a very short window of time within which I have a chance of ignoring the poopers.

More on the book, the magic, the Harry Potter world, Rowling and the stupid retailers..later.

Hiking in Egypt

The city is vibrant – more than I had ever imagined. The city is diverse – more than I had even seen in movies and television shows. It is cold at nights to the point of slight discomfort. May be, winter in this part of the country sets in late. Yet, to be in a place which is forty degrees warmer than Detroit, is handsomely welcome. I had spent a few months working in New York city. About six years later, I have a few weeks to experience some west coast culture as I get to work in LA – where everything is about glitz and glamour. I have traveled to the west coast at least once a year – mostly for pleasure, but never had been to LA. I can see the most familiar “Hollywood” sign through my window at work. It looks reclusive – could be the distance. Most of the days that I had been here, there is smog everywhere – the visibility level is probably 2 miles. Not that it matters for someone who does not have to worry about driving.

The terminal where I am to board my flight is old – rickety – poorly designed – but serves the purpose, nevertheless. As I sit here and “people watch” in the gate area, I just can’t help but to wonder how is it that so many people travel between LA and Detroit every week – All the flights that I have taken both ways have been extremely packed. I feel like, my regular upgrade privilege in NWA has been robbed, as I normally end up getting a coach class seat – a downright harassment on a 5 hour flight, where one is left to squirm in a space that is ‘unsquirmable‘!

Recent reads -

“A walk in the Clouds” by Bill Bryson – The man with witty temper has his way with words & he made sure that the 870 mile stretch he hiked felt like 8700 miles to his readers. But a very real travel adventure story, very well told by this Iowa author – if you ever thought you would hike the AT one day, this book is sure to encourage you to do that. Here is a funny quote from this book..

Black bears rarely attack. But here’s the thing. Sometimes they do. All bears are agile, cunning and immensely strong, and they are always hungry. If they want to kill you and eat you, they can, and pretty much whenever they want. That doesn’t happen often, but – and here is the absolutely salient point – once would be enough.

“The Egyptologist” by Arthur Phillips – I was not really sure what I had in hand, when I bought the book truly based on the summary on the cover. The setting quite intriguing, the fictional story quite realistic and the author’s knack to narrate a story set in a land about 100 years ago, with so much history clouding over the natives of the soil is worth commending, specially since he did it in an epistolary form (through a series of letters). The book is okay just for the concept – to me, it dragged at some point. But overall Phillips stuck to his imaginative “characterization” very well — throughout, constantly weaving them through some bitterly funny thread with sympathetic stitches sewn all over. If you are looking for some innovative writing on some complex themes, here you have another author to check out.

Catching up…

Never thought my work would actually keep me away from blogging this long. More of a prioritizing issue – Wasn’t really hitting the mark after my long days of meetings at work, to be able to collect my thoughts in my own way and to motivate myself to put them in a nice format before I can reassure myself once again that it is perfectly ok to share them with you.

Let’s see… I may have a plenty of ground to cover if I have to fill in the missing pages in the diary. So here is a minced version of what’s going on around me, on me, involving me and anything that concerns me.

Books – (that I read recently or am reading)

Riot by Shashi Tharoor (an amazing “he said”, “she said” account of a fictitious Hindu-Muslim riot based on a real riot). When I start making my own movies, I will try to adapt this style for one.

Whiteout by Ken Follet (set in Scotland, involves bio-terrorism and a page turning thriller. Super for in flight reading – it’s just that the 1 hour flights between Detroit and Pittsburgh seemed painfully shorter at times, when I was reading this book).

Truth by Al Franken (even the left side of me found some narrations little too stretched for a liberal mind. Nevertheless, a good read to get your blood boiling if you hate everything that’s going on politically around you now).

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (literally a rogue economist’s view on everything and anything that you and I have always believed in. Just makes you wonder if there is anything that is clear as water in this world – I haven’t completed this yet. But this is definitely thinking out of the box).

Music –

Rang De Basanti by A R Rahman – Need I add anymore? Well. I will in my next blog as I am still sucking the album drop by drop. A youthful yet an experimental Hindi album by Rahman. Lots to say about this album. “I love it” – is the summary of that lot.

Other than the hip-hop inundation that I get to listen to everyday (some I secretly would admit liking when I am in a mood for thumping bass, no melody and some funny – unintelligent lyrics), one song that caught my attention in recent times is Beverly Hills by Weezer – certainly not because of it’s “Playboy” value but more because of the attempt to create rock music again for the 21st century.

And what about the Santana song featuring Steven Taylor? I think it caught my attention only because it was them. Just feel better doesn’t make you feel better at all.

Movies –

Goblet of Fire – A must watch for those who have seen the first 3 movies and who have read all the books. I thought there was a more mature handling of the script in this version as the story demands it, what with the lead characters touching their adolescent hoods.

Wedding Date – A chick-flick which I am supposed to be embarrassed to admit that I watched. But what the heck? A light movie nevertheless with absolute déjà vu written all over. Why can’t Hollywood get over this kind of romantic comedies plotted along the same line?

Finding Neverland – Johnny Depp all the way. I watched the movie only for him and he is brilliant! Of course Kate Winslet’s performance stood out surprisingly and I like her even more now.

Is that all? No. There’s definitely more to fill in. But for now, the winter storm advisory in the Pittsburgh area is in the top of my head and I have to make sure I am able to get out tomorrow night.