i went soooooo off-track on my last blog.
it was supposed to be a 'bitter, spleen-venting diatribe' on the horrors of modern day telivision. yuk, and don't get me started etc.

instead, the nephew led me sweetly astray- to a much happier place.
very handy to have one of these around. they could almost make one a better person.
almost.

oh, here he comes again. this soppy love-story is a bit much. i'll save you the gory details and go snuggle up with him now. ta.

right..
so it's been almost a month of inactivity on the blogfront. highly incapacitated due to absence of any functional computer in the vicinity [meaning my house], i had to resort to ..ugh.. extended hours of tv viewing to kill Time and His buddies- Restlessness and Ennui.

after enduring through a month of highly banal-cringe-and-you-miss-it programs on cable, the whoops of joy i let out on sighting the old monitor back where it belonged, adjacent to another favorite haunt of mine, the dining table, are understandable. one could almost say my cup ranneth over.. and that i sponged around and under my cup hoping for it to runneth over again and again without any misgivings as to the extra housework involved. hah. what a wonderful world.

so anyway, this gives third party observers an interesting insight into my universe. it says to them, oh. if this is the sort of thing that amounts to a high point in her life, the poor girl needs a new one.
me, being very blase about the whole thing of course, can cock a snook at them.. in spite of not knowing what the hell that expression means, i will very well cock a snook at them, esp because it sounds like the right kind of thing to do under the circs. highly satisfying phrase that. and to think i thought i'd never actually use it in a real sentence. [i probably won't when i'm speaking, but this is close enough].

on a level much closer to my heart than computers [you don't say?], my nephew [being the sole hot-looking stud-muffin under 3 feet in the middle east region] is developing beautifully.. it's a swoony feeling whenever he starts doing something for the first time in his life, or for that matter, any of our lives. him doing it that is.
like when he took his first fumbling steps, and only i was around.
when he first made noises that actually meant something real, like BUH.. for bird.
when him and i play a special game that only the both of us understand, and the rest of the world is switched off for all we care.
when he learns new tricks and shows off for us, and gives the most heart-wrenching cheeky grin in the world of imps that ever was..
and a hundred million things that would bore the hell out of everyone who hasn't had the fortune to see him live [laaeev].. but that leave me ready to burst with the joy of it all.
awwww.

all in all, the last month wasn't too bad.. in retrospect.

am back from the dead..

finally.

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..