RANDOM THOUGHTS
.... about the cricket World Cup, books that make me think and Spiderman 3
The dust has settled since I last wrote. India bowed out of the cricket World Cup leading to a lot of condemnation of our cricketing heroes. The Wall, the master, the Bengal tiger ..... everybody in the cricket team became objects of criticism. A lot of it was justified since we simply expect and demand more in the only team sport that we can think of being world beaters ! The World Cup went on with Sri Lanka emerging as the possible contenders for the cup. In the end though, it was the sheer professionalism and preparedness of Australia that saw them through easily. I saw a hoarding of a famous Australian beer that put it best. It simply said : "Australian for HABIT" and showed the cricket world cup ! That hoarding says it all !
What of India ? Piyush Chawla made a promising debut in the one dayers against Bangladesh, but there are still some key people missing. I like the inclusion of Manoj Tiwari in the squad, though it is unfortunate he is now injured. I had not considered him in my dream squad ! Where are the other genuine all-rounders for team India though ?!
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I go to work in a staff bus. In the mornings, I read a book. Currently, I am reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". When I first read it, I felt that the book needed a deeper reading : that was a polite way of telling myself that I didn't understand much in the book :-)) Second time around, I find that not much has changed for me :-))
On a serious note, I think this book is a stimulating one. There are few books that I have read, which have really made me think. The best so far is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand in this respect. I could not believe the revolutionary ideas in that book. The idea that selfishness is good was so far away from my thoughts when I read it, I thought I had misunderstood some of the ideas that Ayn Rand communicates in "Atlas Shrugged". George Orwell's "1984" scared me when I first read it. The possibilities in that book are so plausible, it is scary ! The KGB in communist Russia, the Stasi in former East Germany and a whole lot of other intelligence agencies are direct examples of "Big Brother" in "1984".
Similarly, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is another book that makes me think. It is almost spiritual in the way it links the idea of quality and the object and subjects of quality. I also learnt a bit about Western philosophers and rationalism. In sum, I quite like Zen ..... I think I will be reading it again and again, a sure sign that I like a book !
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My wife and I saw Spiderman 3 last week. In the comics, Spidey is a wise-cracking superhero. In the movie, he is a serious hero with feelings and doubts that could be identified with any young man : the question "Why me?!" is clearly one that Spiderman is tackling head on right from the first movie. In Spiderman 3, he also is a little arrogant and is very much in love with the girl of his dreams, but he cannot understand her point of view.
In all this, he is rather human and less of a superhero. In a sense, that is a triumph of the movie, particularly in the case of Spiderman. I don't think the comics treat Spidey in this manner. The movie has an advantage over the comics in this respect. Of course, I am not that big a fan of Spiderman comics. On the other hand, I believe that Batman on film is no patch on the comics of Batman. The kind of self doubt and the myriad of small obstacles that the comic book Batman faces and overcomes has not been transferred to the movies well.
The movie Batman (and to a lesser extent, Superman) is all glitz and special effects and surrealism. What is missing is the soul of the comic book Batman, his fears and his feelings :-( In Spiderman 3, more of the comic book characters' souls are shown, whether it is Spiderman himself, Sandman or Harry Osborne. The scene when Spiderman and Harry team up against Venom and Sandman almost made me think of two estranged brothers in a Hindi movie come together against the villain who has killed their father !
Still, I liked Spiderman 3. The special effects are awesome, but what is special is the message of forgiveness and adjustment that Spidey learns. In the end, that (and other elements of the overall plot) is more than any special effects that the computer can throw up.
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
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===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
.... about the cricket World Cup, books that make me think and Spiderman 3
The dust has settled since I last wrote. India bowed out of the cricket World Cup leading to a lot of condemnation of our cricketing heroes. The Wall, the master, the Bengal tiger ..... everybody in the cricket team became objects of criticism. A lot of it was justified since we simply expect and demand more in the only team sport that we can think of being world beaters ! The World Cup went on with Sri Lanka emerging as the possible contenders for the cup. In the end though, it was the sheer professionalism and preparedness of Australia that saw them through easily. I saw a hoarding of a famous Australian beer that put it best. It simply said : "Australian for HABIT" and showed the cricket world cup ! That hoarding says it all !
What of India ? Piyush Chawla made a promising debut in the one dayers against Bangladesh, but there are still some key people missing. I like the inclusion of Manoj Tiwari in the squad, though it is unfortunate he is now injured. I had not considered him in my dream squad ! Where are the other genuine all-rounders for team India though ?!
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I go to work in a staff bus. In the mornings, I read a book. Currently, I am reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". When I first read it, I felt that the book needed a deeper reading : that was a polite way of telling myself that I didn't understand much in the book :-)) Second time around, I find that not much has changed for me :-))
On a serious note, I think this book is a stimulating one. There are few books that I have read, which have really made me think. The best so far is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand in this respect. I could not believe the revolutionary ideas in that book. The idea that selfishness is good was so far away from my thoughts when I read it, I thought I had misunderstood some of the ideas that Ayn Rand communicates in "Atlas Shrugged". George Orwell's "1984" scared me when I first read it. The possibilities in that book are so plausible, it is scary ! The KGB in communist Russia, the Stasi in former East Germany and a whole lot of other intelligence agencies are direct examples of "Big Brother" in "1984".
Similarly, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is another book that makes me think. It is almost spiritual in the way it links the idea of quality and the object and subjects of quality. I also learnt a bit about Western philosophers and rationalism. In sum, I quite like Zen ..... I think I will be reading it again and again, a sure sign that I like a book !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
My wife and I saw Spiderman 3 last week. In the comics, Spidey is a wise-cracking superhero. In the movie, he is a serious hero with feelings and doubts that could be identified with any young man : the question "Why me?!" is clearly one that Spiderman is tackling head on right from the first movie. In Spiderman 3, he also is a little arrogant and is very much in love with the girl of his dreams, but he cannot understand her point of view.
In all this, he is rather human and less of a superhero. In a sense, that is a triumph of the movie, particularly in the case of Spiderman. I don't think the comics treat Spidey in this manner. The movie has an advantage over the comics in this respect. Of course, I am not that big a fan of Spiderman comics. On the other hand, I believe that Batman on film is no patch on the comics of Batman. The kind of self doubt and the myriad of small obstacles that the comic book Batman faces and overcomes has not been transferred to the movies well.
The movie Batman (and to a lesser extent, Superman) is all glitz and special effects and surrealism. What is missing is the soul of the comic book Batman, his fears and his feelings :-( In Spiderman 3, more of the comic book characters' souls are shown, whether it is Spiderman himself, Sandman or Harry Osborne. The scene when Spiderman and Harry team up against Venom and Sandman almost made me think of two estranged brothers in a Hindi movie come together against the villain who has killed their father !
Still, I liked Spiderman 3. The special effects are awesome, but what is special is the message of forgiveness and adjustment that Spidey learns. In the end, that (and other elements of the overall plot) is more than any special effects that the computer can throw up.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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