playing 123.5

saw this 'funtime-activity' on a blog-link off simplesimon's page.. soleil, i think.
so just for fun..

page 123, line 5 from the book nearest my computer..

The Heart of a Goof- P.G.Wodehouse

"Golf had no surprises for them, no gallant spirit of adventure."

aah, heck.
the temptation with wodehouse is to also put down the previous and succeeding 20 lines... how is a random line from a random page going to make clear to anyone, the mastery of the man that was wodehouse..
now i'm cheesed off.
gah..

today was allllllll about hanif.. that means you, boomsa, but it actually means... the cutest behemoth ever to hit our screens and various playing fields across the world .

many sighs i sighed for him today.. i also admit being smitten by the dashing younis khan..

india had the pakis in some heavy soup early this morning. but in sauntered a khan, and then lumbered up the Haq. . and then that was that.
tee hee.

have just been and visited simplesimon's random ruminations .. have found it lovely reading.. have added to links.. and although simple simon is not a person i know i know, that is where the link will go..

thanks you, boomsa.. mins, another niceness from your end to mine. *silly grin thing*

yeah...
watched 'hitch'... [mindless adoloscence crush on will smith is back. hubba hubba.]

watched 'farenheit 9/11'.. nothing too special.. already knew and appreciated what creeps bush and his cronies were.. this movie just added some particulars. also had some disturbing graphics from the iraq invasion. ugh really. and bush DOES look like a simian, with due respect to those creatures.

watched 'page 3'.. nice, nice. loved sandhya mridul, as always. konkona sen was hmmm.

match 2.. india wins!

dear el topple..
the wall stood tall again.. and again.. meaning 2 swell centuries, one in each innings. briliant to watch. yaay. very happy for your happy blushes.

next game.... BANGALORE!!!!!
who's going? who? who?
or rather, who isn't..?

in any case, i'm going to be watching, so if any of you do plan to go, wear distinctive clothing and a hold up cheesy and/or crazy banners.
oh yes, and also let me know in advance so i keep my eyes well-peeled for the likes of you's.
ta!

2 nice bumper stickers i saw here and there.

Confucious say "Man who stands on toilet is high on pot."
"As a matter of fact, my father does own the road..."

movies i want to watch and haven't yet. some of these are still running, so shame on me:

1] finding neverland
2] eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
3] million dollar baby
4] hitch
5] the final cut
6] farenheit 9/11
7] spongebob squarepants
8] being john malkovich
9] page 3
10]exorcist- the beginning [just and only because i liked the original one, ok?]
11]wimbledon
12]one flew over the cuckoo's nest [!! yes, yes, i know.]
13]the shining [hullo again, mr nicholson]
14]finding nemo
15]shark tale
16]gods and monsters
17]in the bedroom
18]wit
19]chokher bali [in bengali, with english subtitles pls]
20]khaamosh paani
and so on and so forth..

i have however, watched sideways and closer.
very funny movie, the latter. very. and i don't mean funny as in humorous.
am going to illegally download and watch more.

right.
now.

my old school!!

how sweet.. i found this yussturday..
very lovely predictable cheesy verbose thingmajig.
click title.. yeaaaayyyyyyy!!

match summary

Test 1 was, thankfully, easy on the appetite..
no matter who you were cheering for..
because it was a good match. period.
very well played, pakis. good job sticking it out for an unbelievable amount of time. 7th wicket partnership in gold letters and for posterity. *many pats on shoulder to young kamran akmal. usual swoony grins for razzaq*.
nothing need be said about the indian batting. splendidly done. mr sehwag- special mention.
the wall- swoony grin for you as well. [el topple is doubtless thrilled].
the bowling however, ermm. not going there.

in a word, nicest match. all are well primed for the next.
to end on the appetite note, as begun, it's whetted.
see you, eden gardens.

nooooooooooo...
rain since the morning..
no play so far..
no pores, no sixes.. and no wickets.
harrumph. [have always wanted to use this expression and only today have found the appropriate circs.]

a potato

boomsa

erm... i don't know how to create a links section..
*cringe cringe*
but anyway, this is one of my favorite blogspots to loaf around in.

day 1

commenced 0825 hrs..
grandpater was up [how kyoot!] and about from the 1st ball bowled.
i joined shamefacedly an hour later..
to summarise: pakis-312 all out, at the end of day's play.
will wait and watch with bated breath on the morrow.

half the family is with india, the rest with pakistan.. i'm secretly planning on dressing up the nephew as inzy.. hanif, u must be glad.
although the nephew's parents are strongly and staunchly siding with an india.
*hyuk hyuk hyahahaa..*

mark mark mark..

pls to see:
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/FeaturesNF.asp?ArticleID=154999


and so on for aye..
thats been the state of things since i went concerting at the dubai media city ampitheatre.. beauteous night of march the 3rd.. gorgeousness weathers.
and mr mark knopfler..
on the dot, at 9:00 pm as promised in the promos..
in white shirt and blue jeans-pents.
with nice sensible and sexy spectacles..
a 55 yr old hubba hubba.
and then he started singing. to me. only mins only for me.
crooning more like.
warbling, serenading and things.
it was a love happening.
sighhhhhhhh.

[fully appreciate the appreciative crowd alongside me.. 10,000 strong it turns out, which is a very very big deal in dubai]. i thought there were only about 10,000 people in totum.

about a movie

called sideways..
prettiness throughout..
including the silliness of jack-ass.
and what a soundtracks..
and what lovely things about wine..
and my best scene in the movie:
when the foursome head home after first date..
miles and maya out on the porch.. and the whole wine-conversation, esp maya's bit.
very amazingly good.

have just been and remembered shakti... am insanely muddled up for the anon, as will be explained.. the show itself was a very beauteous.. it mysteriously coincided with what-should-be vasantahabba in bangalore. at least i think so, it being the first saturday of february. shall confirm with a boomsa.

as expected, it was a stunner.. as not fully expected, it was cold as dammit.. thank god for my semi-pashmina.. i wrapped the self up meticulously, allowing third parties the luxury of assuming that i was a cocoon. scoff. if third parties are more interested in larvae housing than a show of such mindblowing genius, who's loss is it i ask you?

as soon as the artists appeared and began taking their positions on stage, my insides started to upheave [yes, they did. and yes, i can make unverby words verbs if i so feel like it].

i remembered a hundred thousand moments, all from my yesterdays in bangalore with old-friends-bookends.. sharing a mutual something in a glance. and smiling. understanding a silence. laughing at the same inanities. feeling wrath at trashpeople one eventually comes upon in a crowd.. or not...falling freely into the music. very happily. wholly.
and many things.
i have been spoilt for life in bangalore. i won't ever be able to go through a concert again without feeling 'it would have been so much better back there'...

so anyway, when the show started and the maestros ran into the intro, the self started sobbing.. at the beauty of it, and also at the sadness of it.. hot tears down cold cheeks.
and the show went on and made me feel better and worse.
*much love to my boomsa*always always* in ways that you will never understand*

zakir hussain is hot stuff. not just his performance tonight, but his kyoot onstage presence. very lovable-laughable. loved him fully. his troupe/co-performers all took me back to the good old days: selva ganesh, vikku vinayakram, mandolin srinivas, shankar mahadevan,a.k. palanivel and taufiq qureishi [his youngest brother, didn't you know]. plus john mclaughlin, a jazz guitarist. divine things were happening. they were all talking to each other with their music.. and almost entirely jamming . i think there were two old numbers, but all the rest were spontaneous pieces. oh, and the sweetest thing happened. in the middle of their frenzied conversation on the tablas, mridangams, mandolins, guitars, drums and things, someone went a bit awry and they all screeched to an awkward halt and then burst out laughing..
very heart warming..

i could go on, but really, i don't need to.
plus im very drained tonight.
plus do i really need to make excuses to a computer screen..
nyaaahahhahahahah.
byes.

mark my words...

ahemmm.. i could be dreaming. just mayhap..

full and unabridged

oh me, oh my..!
lookee what i found.
[click on title as always]

feel very bad inside my insides

turns out i didn't go for jethro tull. even though i hate myself muchly for the same, and even though i really couldn't do anything about it. [*mhein khya kharti, thum mheri mhajbhoori khyon nahin samhajhte... gag..bawl..*]..
extra aiches are for added effect, and emotional hindi dialogues require that they be used.

the point is, longblackveil is now married.. other things take preference in life.. like soddy wedding receptions, air-kissing and meeting the aunties' circuit. preference over:
1]the international jazz festival 2005
2] jethro tull in concert
3] 'the graduate'- a play
4] and many-more-other-such-like-thingses
*grrrrr*

anyway, theres a silver lining...
http://www.timeoutdubai.com/events/info.php?evtid=2411
and this time, peoples, I YAM GOING.

i have the tickets to prove it. yay.
tomorrow it is.
hope all the rest of u lucky toads enjvaai a sting.
i want to know all.

attended an arabic wedding last night- our neighbor mariam's family. my first. here's how it went..

sup-rate entrance for mens people and ladies people. i mean totally supprate..
aunt and me went as reps of the girls in our family. as soon as we walked in through strange revolving doors, all signs of male life form ceased.. [it was a beautiful.. things looked much prettier at once *bwuhahahah*].
we tailed about a hundred arab ladies [all in their uniform black abayas] through to the ballroom entrance. i was thinking, hah, this party's going to be fun, everyone will look the same.
up an elevator, which we shared with 2 other arab ladies peoples. party on 2nd floor. as soon as the elevator left the ground, mysterious behaviour ensued on the part of aforementioned arab ladies. swiftly, but surely, they started peeling off layers of clothing.. meaning the abaya business went phut.. what emerged from underneath it all was a gasp-inducing display of stinkily expensive designer ball gowns and things of that genre.. not to mention hairdos and makeup to blow one away.. and this was just the 2 of thems!
the lift reaches 2nd floor.. can hear loud dancy arabic musics..
doors slide open... senses all are hit by very loud music, very strong but beautiful 'itrs' [non-alcoholic, used all across arabia- perfume] and very very intimidatingly beautiful ladies in the fanciest-shmanciest evening wear possible..
row upon row of pretty young things, and pretty not so young things, right from the entrance.. was welcomed in by our neighbor, whom i did a double take at, seeing her for the first time without her abaya.. she was wearing a very clingy choco brown dress with a fishtail thingy, lots of jewellery and more stunning makeup than i thought possible.. then the introductions began.
in very broken arabic we were introduced to young ladies who said 'salaam alaikum, hullo, i mariam's sister's friend.. err.. zat ezzz her nephew, yes?' of course i said yes! it made complete sense.
was mouth agape [in my mind] for at least a half hour.. sleeveless, backless, strap-less, cleavage-revealing dresses on arabs was a revelation to me. and nothing crass or garish. very classy stuff going on. hair and makeup that i thought possible only in movies and advertisements . arab ladies are stunners anyway, even when we can only see their mugs. one can only imagine why men are not allowed in the vicinity..
was thinking about how they were partying wildly with the waiters and photographers around.. then, noticed that all the waiters were actually waitresses, even the photographers were ladies and that there was not a single male human onthe entire floor.. 'serviced by lasses' is apparently the motto of all arab ladies' gatherings. very smart work. great security system in place.


lemme describe the proceedings. big ballroom was divided into 2 equal sections by the aisle down the middle. round tables on either side, where we, the guests, were sitting. stage right at the front.
every so often, young girls either in pairs or by themselves, would do a dainty feminine sway-walk to the music playing, all the way down the aisle. and smile at one another and say things as they passed, and keep going. turns out, all the young things do this at weddings, so the older ladies spot prospective brides for their sons etc.. a very organised sort of matchmaking platform.. i found it most interesting.

the bride finally arrived in a gorgeous ivory-cream wedding gown.. miles of lace, tissue and flower bouquets.. took her fifteen minutes to reach the stage because every few steps she had to stop and turn this way and that so that everyone got a good look at her clothes and her.. [thats the way its done].

food to die for, desserts and fruit in abundance, and the clincher was... patchi chocolates at the end!!!! yeahh.. shamelessly bagged about half a dozen, and made our grand exit..
all in all a very bizarre but happy insight into the private lifestyles of the rich and not famous arab society..
am thinking that these girl-bashes are quite prominent in arabia because, in retrspect, most of the shoppers at the big stores in the malls are arabs. used to be flummoxed when i saw them buying scandalous western wear, but last nigth has made all crystal. apparently, they know how to have their funs.
has definitely made me stop feeling bad about the seemingly bland lives of arabs.. am thoroughly certain that them folks have as much fun as we do, if not more..


that was yesterday..
tomorrow, hwere i cwome....!!!!@!!~
*exits with flourish*