Friday 28 March 2008

Why is growing up growing old?

I'm getting a lot of real estate advice these days, among other things :|. That's what comes of visiting relatives without parents to buffer the torrential outpouring of wisdom, especially from uncles :-<. Oh well, at least there were kids under 5 years of age to more or less monopolise the general attention for the most part :D.

Of course, whenever more than ten members of my extended family congregate at any place the mood becomes distinctly festive :). (Barring the obvious exceptions, obviously.) So all in all it was quite a fun trip.

Except for the bit where I nearly ran over two elderly and quite possibly rather deaf men on a scooter on the highway :-<. Must say I was very impressed with the braking abilities of the Alto! The discs definitely saved the day there :|.
-- The other thing that happens every time I go on these visits is that my choices in life thus far come under severe scrutiny. When I do survive, it's a pretty massive boost to the self belief. I'm wondering how I'd fare, if one of these days I do lose the argument...
--

It's less than a quarter of a day to lift-off and the plans haven't changed yet! In fact, this time they've stayed rock solid since day one, not a single timing change, cancellation or re-routing! So I guess crew change will proceed as planned, and I head back to Invercargill. Probably for the last time in a while at least.

It will be a little strange locking up as I leave. The parents are still away on their holiday, having a rocking time in the melting snow!

Currently: cleaning up
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - Bend and not break

Monday 24 March 2008

Little things give you away

Sometime not so long back, during a catch-up conversation with a couple of friends I was meeting after a long time, I remember bitching about the fact that no one seems to pay any attention to conversation these days. What I meant was that most people seem too wrapped up in their own worlds most of the time to really be listening to what others might have to say.

Not necessarily an entirely bad thing of course. Especially for those of us with an affinity for putting their foot in their mouth. Say, you could be starting off with something, and then realise after the first few words were out what a monumental jackass you were about to make of yourself, and sort of trail off... Of course quite often people would in fact notice the ensuing silence, and possibly the deer-caught-in-headlights look on your face. But with any luck, you could always go, 'Hey, so did you catch the Liverpool [alternatively insert EPL/ La Liga/ Serie A etc. team of choice] game last weekend?! Shame, eh?' :|

Getting back to said conversation, I was almost immediately made to realise that I was quite often guilty of the same thing myself. I'd sort of promised to myself then, I'd put in some effort to rectify the situation. Instead, a few months down the line I notice myself expertly carrying off conversations without absolutely any clue whatsoever as to the content. (Obviously, all of the content being supplied by the other party.)

Am I particularly mortified? Not really... People seem to be doing worse all the time. Heh, sometimes I'm really thankful that this blog has as tiny a readership as it does.

Looks like this is -pointless introspective bollocks being spewed for no good reason- day.

Different people seem to deal with their lives, and more specifically their troubles in different ways. Eventually, more often than not, none of those ways seem to be entirely perfect, naturally. However, when any of those ways involves other people, who each have their own troubles, we are very likely merely compounding all our troubles.

I like the sound of that last bit :D, sounds particularly nutty :P. Be that as it may, the point (oh yes, there is a point) is that I can never see how discussing other people's troubles, their ways of handling (or trying to handle) their problems, or who those methods may involve, can ever be a source of anything constructive to those completely and utterly unconnected in any way to said troubles.
--

Given the time since I last saw a new movie, by now there's quite a large number of movies on my -would like to see when I can- list. And even a few on my -almost definitely must see, hopefully sometime soon- list. The latter would have to include the now-Oscar winning No Country for Old Men, The Bucket List and 2 Days in Paris. The last being Julie Delpy's directorial debut. I've actually never seen her in anything but Before Sunrise/ Sunset.

Incidentally, all three were showing on one flight or other on my way back to Kolkata. Thankfully (?) I resisted the urge to destroy the experience by trying to make out the picture and dialogue from the stupid in-flight video systems on both flights. As mentioned earlier, I picked Hitman instead.

Ah yes, something I thought I absolutely had to put down in writing. Caught a re-run of the VH1 Storytellers featuring Coldplay sometime recently. The fact that arguably the best song from Parachutes got its name from the yellow pages was something I heartily wish I had never found out :-<. There are times I absolutely hate TV.

Like the time when, years ago, Shankar Mahadevan clarified on some morning show that Breathless was not in fact sung all in one breath. Oh come on! I'm not saying I actually believed that the song had been sung all in one breath in the first place! But when the singer goes on national television and declares the truth of the matter, it becomes somewhat more difficult to wonder what if...

In the mean time, I haven't managed to get quite as much reading done as I'd hoped.

Currently: holidaying despite myself
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - The secret's in the telling

Friday 21 March 2008

Playback

I keep hoping it'll be the last time, and this time was no exception. But I won't exactly be shocked out of my mind if I land up back in the Subi house again for the next office rotation :-<. At least it's a nice little house. I hear there's a possibility that by mid-year the lease on 289A might expire and my employers might decide there's not enough reason to renew said lease. (Sporadic nomadic visits by SE's such as myself alone hardly constitute a good enough reason apparently.) There go the empty bottles, Swedish, Dutch, Finn, Kiwi and Polish, in order of consumption. And just when I'd found the perfect substitute for the Cold Rock place too :-<.

Goodbyes should always be said. Especially to people you expect to never see ever again. But sometimes the opportune moment slips you by (the fact that something really interesting had distracted you at the time doesn't really count) and an email makes for a really lousy substitute. So once I was out of the house I promptly switched back to my shutter-happy self. This time I got a nice little look at Freo port from the flight and also, I think for the first time ever, got a really clear look at Rottnest Island! I didn't know you got such an up-close view actually. But studying the images on a screen somewhat larger than that on my cam later, I could pretty much retrace the bicycle trip we'd taken last year!

Despite making several plans of going out to catch some movie or other, the only new thing I'd managed to see while in Perth was something called Garden State. No, it's nothing new, just one of those lesser known debut features from a few years back. And my house-mate had the DVD. Pretty much loved it to bits :). Nothing earth-shattering, quite all-over-the-place as a matter of fact... but still, found it absolutely captivating. And totally loved the bike with the side-car. It also helped that the soundtrack was totally awesome. As was Natalie Portman.Also caught Hitman on one of the flights out. Let's say I didn't hate Tim Olyphant as much as I thought I would. He managed not to destroy the movie entirely :|. I still stand by my initial choice of Vin Diesel and if not him then Jason Statham for 47. As it turns out these guys were apparently approached, in that order, but somehow the role still ended up with TO :-<. At least it was more or less fun to watch. Now I'm back home. Turns out I won't really have to stay in Kolkata for too long by myself. Quite glad to be off on the routine trip this time. Might even get a bit of reading done...

Currently: on the unwind
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - Ghost of a good thing

Sunday 16 March 2008

Failure to launch

Absolutely the worst start to the season possible :((. Ferrari with double DNFs at Melbourne and McLaren with a win! What hurt most were the two absolute blunders from Raikkonen :-<. And of course that mutt Coulthard raving about how it was all Massa's fault in that accident when it was DC who just refused to leave any sort of opening!!! I couldn't believe my ears!!

And to think that this weekend was going so well :-<.

Currently:
gutted :(
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - Rapid hope loss

Thursday 13 March 2008

Oh well

I'm getting a bit tired of this now. Of plans falling apart. There goes Kashmir. :-< It's quite amusing (well not really) how things you start off hating at one time seem so hard to let go of later. Just 'cos in the meantime you've gotten used to the place, the pace, the (sometimes entirely misplaced) sense of belonging, or merely the idea.
When the night takes a deep breath
And the daylight has no air
If I crawl, if I come crawling home
Will you be there?

In a little while
I won't be blown by every breeze
Friday night running to Sunday on my knees...
Current Mood: blah
Listening to: U2 - In a little while

Tuesday 11 March 2008

Idle thought


--

ps: I have gotten quite addicted to the show Scrubs over the last week or so! I'm quite surprised how I've never bothered to watch it before, in fact :).

pps: Looking forward to the imminent beginning of the new Formula 1 season. A Lot! :D

ppps: Was about to write something in the space above, but then thought better of it.

Currently: pissed off with this keyboard /:)
Listening to: Moby - Extreme ways

Friday 7 March 2008

Of sardines... and tin cans

A good thing is only good as long as you don't find out what's bad about it. No? Oh well, maybe that's being a wee bit cynical. But I do think it's a relief that we (well, most of us anyway :|) aren't exactly omniscient. Despite and notwithstanding retrospective wisdom. Ignorance is, indeed, bliss.

It's suddenly started raining here since yesterday. I can't recall where I've left my famed, multi-folding (and now broken, if I recall correctly) umbrella. So I'm sticking to picking the route to and from work affording the longest extent of shaded side walk, and playing hide and seek with the showers. Thus far, successfully.

I'm happy to announce that I've finally strayed into hitherto uncharted territory in book one of A Song of Ice and Fire. I think :P. This is one of those few books that I'd started reading at some point (several years back) and hit a wall. It hadn't helped that in this particular case I was reading a borrowed copy, the owner had eventually tired of my slow progress and demanded I hand it back.

Since I'd started reading my own copy recently, I kept having vague flashbacks and sometimes premonitions that I knew what was about to happen :|. Not the best way of reading an altogether quite remarkably twisted story. Thing is, that last forsaken read was quite a while back, and I have no idea how far I'd actually gone then. But the last few chapters have not yielded any sense of deja vu. And now that I am at this point, I'm wondering what had kept me from going on last time! Maybe I've become more enamoured of the vicious and the vile....

I wish I had some photographs to post :-<. But of course, there won't be any till I actually go and click some now will there?! But of what? Rather a sad drab dingy grey, altogether too familiar state of affairs, out in the city, inside my head.... A distinct feeling of going round in circles.

Speaking of photographs! Just found out that Canon have gone and released the successor to the EOS Rebel XTi! Meet the new EOS 450D / Rebel XSi! It's been out over a month now actually. Of course this shouldn't have me as excited as this, given that I've firmly decided that the next camera I buy will not be a DSLR. But they put Live View in it!!! :) An interesting thing is, although I'm absolutely sure that (if and) when I do buy a DSLR it will definitely be a Canon. But to date, all the experience I've actually had, has been with Nikons :).

God I'm bored! Here comes the weekend. Oh dear.

Currently: duh :|
Listening to: Enya - Storms in Africa

Tuesday 4 March 2008

Blue

How long had it been?! I honestly can't remember. It must be years since the last time I'd actually watched a cricket match from start to finish :). (No, I didn't even watch any of the Twenty20 World Cup matches in full.) But this Sunday, thanks mainly to my new Aussie house-mate, I ended up watching the first final in the CB Cup. Quite incredibly, we won!

Okay, so I'm one of those people who, through bitter experience (tears, a long long time ago :), and repeated heartbreak), have come to believe that the Indian cricket team cannot possibly win a match until the last ball has been bowled, and the other team have somehow, not managed to win. But I was hoping Sachin would get that elusive ton. How many does it take to will something into reality? Well, I guess we've always had the numbers on our side....

It was even better to follow the second final, with a significant measure of hope, and be rewarded yet again!!

Currently: victorious!!!!!!!!!
Listening to: Joshua Radin - Today