...winter and a new bedspread

There’s a delicious bite in the air…winter is putting in it’s annual guest appearance (finally!)…and the homebody in me can’t think of anything better than snuggling under an inviting quilt, surrounded by a motley crew of books, taking contented l'il slurps from a mug of hot chocolate and trippin' off into dreamland.

I have just acquired a new bedspread…it’s white with a chutney-green print all over it. It is simple, rustic and straight out of ‘Little Women’! As I tuck in the corners, I can almost imagine Marmee doing the same homely gesture as she tended to her housekeeping back in the goode-olde-days. I can imagine the March family having an impromptu picnic on the bedspread.

I dream up enticing visions of chunky sweet-chutney sandwiches, tiny little quiches, great big thunks of chocolate cake, elegant lemon rolls with their unique green sugar adorning the ends and some bottles of Ginger Beer to complete the picture and have a 'smashing' time. I imagine spreading out the bedspread at the edge of a gurgling brook under a gnarly, ancient tree….lying down and wearing a big sappy grin as the dappled sunlight plays across my face. And just when I have drifted off to La-La land, I imagine a close (and particularly cheeky!) friend tickle my nose with a long blade of grass. In true-parallel world fashion, I also gleefully dunk said-friend in the aforementioned brook...

….and so on and so forth……

Bless my humble bedspread...for the comfort and the flights-of-Victorian-fancy...

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

It’s true what they say.You pick up The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and either chuck it away when your head starts to whirl OR you totally appreciate the head-whirling sensation, plunge right in and don’t surface till you have reached the Restaurant at the End of The Universe.

It is with great delight and spots before my eyes that I can proclaim that I belong to the latter breed. You need a wee bit of whimsy, a lot of quirky and a love for all things whacky (all three which I possess in abundance) to appreciate the magnificence of this space odyssey.

The plot is fairly simple. Seconds before planet Earth is completely demolished to make way for a galactic bypass, bemused Englishman Arthur Dent is whisked away to safety by his friend, Ford Prefect. Ford is not an out-of-work actor as he has led everyone to believe. He is in fact, the resident of a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and a researcher for the revised edition of ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’.

Together, the bursting-with-enthusiasm Ford and the bursting-with-disbelief Arthur get set to cruise around the galaxy. Adding to the comedy of errors are Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed galactican president; Trillian, a lady who by some bizarre coincidence had once given Arthur the ditch at an earth-party and Marvin, the oppressively-depressed robot who could drive even a spaceship to suicide.

Along the way, they have many a hit-and-fly situation with various warped creatures who inhabit the universe…they listen to some truly terrible poetry…they land on the legendary planet, Magrathea…and even learn about the super-intelligent computer *DEEP THOUGHT* and it’s mission to answer the question to Life, The Universe and everything. All this while trying to find a decent cup of tea...

Douglas Adams was the king of one-liners and whip-smart dialogue. He took human flaws, failings and reams of red-tape and converted it into a seriously funny tale. Many argue that the written work is just a reflection of Adams’ thoughts…well hell..which book isn’t?!?

I have hemmed and hawed over the years wondering whether I should pick up the book or not…always inhaling it in bits and pieces. All I can say to the still-wary is this: grab the spaceship by it’s tail-lights and get geared for a mad-trip of a lifetime.

I So Don't Do Mysteries

Don’t know what to get an almost-teen girly girl?...a girl who rolls her eyes at all things Middle Earth/Hogwarts?...a girl who is just venturing into the world of messy emotions, boys and malls (…and not in that particular order)?

Chuck her a copy of 'I So Don’t Do Mysteries' and she won’t hate you too much.

Sherlock ‘Sherry’ Holmes Baldwin has a lot on her plate. Her widowed dad is getting married to her Maths Teacher (no less!), her l'il brother is being a pain as only l'il brothers can be, the boy she’s crushing on appears to be sending out similar vibes and her real mom, a Phoenix Police Department cop who was killed in the line of duty is now back as an invisible ghost asking Sherry for assistance.

Turns out Sherry’s mom didn’t go off into the big doughnut in the sky. She chose to stay on in the Academy of Spirits, an organization which trains ghosts to protect the living. Unless Sherry’s mom solves the mystery entrusted in her care, she will have to move-on.

Despite her name, Sherry is not big on the whole sleuthing gig. But the alternative means never hearing from her mum again. So the digging-her-heels-in-the-sand Sherry is soon off to San Diego to save a bunch of rhinos from a ploy to take them out.

The book is frothy, filled with a few interesting ideas and a bunch of adorable(seriously, that’s the only word I could think of) comparisons like:
a.A full moon has risen, a sugar cookie in the night sky
b. Miles off in the distance , green hills are dotted with rocks that look like huge Pippi Longstocking freckles

……you get the idea...

Mahi-Way

Chick-Lit comes to Sony TV with it's new offering: MAHI-WAY.

Overweight Mahi is a 25-year-old columnist who works for a trendy fashion-rag which goes by the name of what-else?...Trend. Office dragons take the form of a snooty boss (Sharon Prabhakar attempting a Miranda Priestley) and a pair of colleagues who for some strange reason accompany their regular shots of bitchiness with a side-order of cackling ('cos how else would we figure out they are the *a-hem* "villains"?!?).

The homefront is no better with it's dyed-in-punjabi-wool family complete with a long-suffering grandmother, a mother who constantly disses the unfortunately plump Mahi and the snooty, has-it-all-AND-her-figure elder sister.

Potential love-interests take the form of the supposedly suave Ishaan Avasthi who graces the office-elevator and looks adeqately good-looking to set Mahi's heart in *thump-pp* mode AND the likeable (As yet anonymous) hunk who runs into Mahi at her most-inopportune moments.

The plot is tried and tested....(remember our good ol'Jassi-Jaisi-Koi-Nahin'?)...and yet the element of freshness is brought about by the wholly-likeable Mahi (played by the cute-as-a-pixie Pushtiie). She is confident....clumsy...has the spit-fire attitude in place...and if only she could, would muster up the gumption to rip all her naysayers to shreds with her sharp tongue and timely quips.

Here's hoping that MAHI WAY just gets better with time and doesn't deteriorate into a saas-bahu saga....

...on Resolutions

Be stirring as the time,
be fire with fire,
threaten the threatener,
and outface the face of bragging horror;
so shall inferior eyes,
that borrow their behaviours
from the great,
grow great by your example
and put on the dauntless spirit of resolution
~SHAKESPEARE

New Year's Eve...

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the
universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage
of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same
thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights

~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

AVATAR

James Cameron’s mum had a dream of 12 feet-tall blue women and in course of time, The Na’vi were born. He wanted to create a movie that would make ‘Titanic’ look like a chick-flick…he wanted to unleash something huge that was choc-a-bloc with groundbreaking technology and exhilarating action, all neatly driving home an uncomfortable social-message………and Avatar was born.

The year is 2154, and in a distant planetary system we have an earth-like moon called PANDORA which houses the ecologically-conscious, blue-skinned humanoid race called ‘The Na’vi’. RDA corporation is mining Pandora in an attempt to lay their hands on the large deposits of a precious mineral called ‘Unobtanium’. Providing security and serving as merceneries are ex-marine forces led by the brutal human tank, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Since humans cannot survive unassisted in Pandora’s atmosphere, the only way to infiltrate Na’vi territory is to implant genetically engineered Human-Na’vi hybrids called ‘Avatars’ which are controlled by genetically matched human operators. Jack Sully(Sam Worthington) is one such operator. Taking the place of his dead twin-brother who was involved in the experiment, the paraplegic ex-marine is all bluster and raw-courage.

But an unfortunate accident as an Avatar leaves Sully alone and at the mercy of Pandora’s night-predators. Neytiri( Zoe Saldana), a female Na’vi saves his life and takes him back to her clan: Omaticaya-Mo’at. Jack in his Avatar learns the ways of The Na’vi, trains as a warrior under the tutelage of the haughty Neytiri and develops a growing respect for his eerily-beautiful surroundings. He falls in love with Neytiri and is soon initiated into the tribe.

Loyalties shift and the wiser Sully sees the folly of his employer’s ways. Attempts to convince the Colonel and the corporation fall on deaf-ears and open war is declared on the unsuspecting Na’vi. What ensues is kaleidoscopic chaos…destruction of a home, devastation of a race and the death of innocents.

It is now upto Jack Sully and his handful of supporters to turn tables on the system and bring some sanity to the proceedings…

Avatar scores on many points….it is like a plate of Turkish-delights for the fantasy/ sci-fi lover….the scenes are rich, bursting with colour and detail. The Nav’is are a gorgeous race …caring, socially adept and complete with the usual mixture of good and troublesome characters. Sigourney Weaver as the scientist Dr.Grace Augustine who heads the Avatar program pitches in with her reliably-brilliant performance. The military mutton-head Quaritch is custom-made for the role. He looks like a G.I.Joe villian who came to life and decided to wreck the maximum carnage in minimum time…or as he charmingly puts it “wrap it up…I want to be home for dinner”. Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez) reprises her tough-chick-with-a heart act and does a slap-up job of a security force pilot who is disgusted by the mindless-violence. Jack Sully, the newcomer, is truly likable….he starts off as a cocky-bloke (despite his infirmity), someone you would imagine chilling out at a bar surrounded by red-faced drinkers and gradually matures into a man with a mission…..a man who realizes the error of his callous ways and a man intent to bring about change.

The movie caters to all…the action-seekers, the fantasy-lovers, the technologically-inclined…and amidst all this, it strikes a socially relevant message. The movie couldn’t have released at a better time.

Go, watch and be amazed…(sorry, couldn't resist adding the last, cheesy bit)

Birthday Prayer (...came across this on a site)

Lord, let this feast of my birth be a reminder to me of all the gifts and blessings
I have received from You this day and all the days of my life.
On my day of celebration, I thank you for my life and all of my blessings
and ask for another year filled with Your presence in my life that I may continue to grow in your love.

Gracious God, I thank You for enabling me to celebrate my birthday.
Lord You have been good to me all these years
and I thank You for all the blessings
I have recieved but especially for life itself.

Creator God, I do not know what lies ahead for me this year.
Yet I know that You are holding my future in Your hand.
Let my ways be pleasing to you.

As You have promised, be with me, Lord.
Grid me with Your strength and grace so that I can live for Your light.
Enable me to draw closer to You
that I may walk in your peace
and be the creative and loving person that you intend for me to be.

I ask this and all things in the sure and certain knowledge of your love for me and for all your people.
Amen.

My spankin' new mobile!

...from the mouths of babes

.....kids today are maturing faster, cussing sooner and developing a streak of cynicism so broad that it would put a seasoned politician to shame. I was at CrossWord today, in the kiddie-section. A trio of kids were checking out the games and here's the ensuing conversation.

Kid#1 : Why don't you go for this???

Kid#2: H-ush..

Kid# 1: Why don't you...

Kid#2: Wait!

Kid#1: Why don't y...

Kid#2: Why don't you shut up and die...

...and Kid#3 sniggered evilly and did the best sidekick act this side of a summer no-brainer.

..................ok, I am guilty of finding it a tad amusing. Here's this chocolate-faced preteen mouthing some seriously sharp sentiments and my lips are curled in amusement. Bad Namz...Bad BAD Namz! Makes me wonder what choice phrases I had come up with when I was ten...