So, here I was, reading Promised land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice and all the time, I was thinking .. 'why this this remind me of Heinlein so much?' Well, specifically, 'The moon is a harsh mistress', also with certain dollops of Julian May's 'Many coloured land' tossed in. Frankly, I am disappointed. Connie Willis means a really interesting plot(Passage), some awesome humour(To say nothing of the dog) and gutwrenching drama(Doomsday Book). I think this might be due to the efforts of Cynthia Felice. [note to self: avoid literature by Cynthia Felice].
Also, in related news, I gave up on Gregory Benford's 'Beyond infinity'. Really, the only reason why I thought he was any good was because Asimov collaborated with him. (10 points if you name the work they did together). Not impressed in the least.
Is it that I am growing old or is it because I am too busy.. I don't know, but I am increasingly less tolerant of bad writing. Perhaps its the old 'life is too short to waste on bad literature'. Add bad films to that list.
Antarmahal was on my list recently... Rituporno Ghosh (yes he writes his name that way) made this film from a story by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. A beautifully told story of Colonial (West ) Bengal, where a zamindar (landowner) has taken another wife. for obvious reasons.. (he wants a son, stupid!).. while trying to impress the hell out of his favourite British viceroy (sycophantic bastard) by fashioning the Goddess' face like Queen Victoria, during the annual Durga Pujo. Now, Ghosh has the wonderful habit of taking otherwise decent actors and extracting performances of such delicacy and nuance from them that one is taken aback. He did so this time as well... in fact, he pretty much outdid himself (wrt Utsav, Titli, Shubho Muhurat... ).
I also saw Renaissance.. a future S/F work placed in mid-21st century Paris, finished in ultracontrast B/W anime style. Very slick. Also tried to say Faces. Utter crap. Now in the meantime, here is a question.. how important is it to plan things? Or not? I recently had the misfortune to observe people arguing over the necessity of planning.
And lastly, here we go with some pictures to make you smile.
Clouds!!!
How to camouflage an aircraft factory.
Also, in related news, I gave up on Gregory Benford's 'Beyond infinity'. Really, the only reason why I thought he was any good was because Asimov collaborated with him. (10 points if you name the work they did together). Not impressed in the least.
Is it that I am growing old or is it because I am too busy.. I don't know, but I am increasingly less tolerant of bad writing. Perhaps its the old 'life is too short to waste on bad literature'. Add bad films to that list.
Antarmahal was on my list recently... Rituporno Ghosh (yes he writes his name that way) made this film from a story by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. A beautifully told story of Colonial (West ) Bengal, where a zamindar (landowner) has taken another wife. for obvious reasons.. (he wants a son, stupid!).. while trying to impress the hell out of his favourite British viceroy (sycophantic bastard) by fashioning the Goddess' face like Queen Victoria, during the annual Durga Pujo. Now, Ghosh has the wonderful habit of taking otherwise decent actors and extracting performances of such delicacy and nuance from them that one is taken aback. He did so this time as well... in fact, he pretty much outdid himself (wrt Utsav, Titli, Shubho Muhurat... ).
I also saw Renaissance.. a future S/F work placed in mid-21st century Paris, finished in ultracontrast B/W anime style. Very slick. Also tried to say Faces. Utter crap. Now in the meantime, here is a question.. how important is it to plan things? Or not? I recently had the misfortune to observe people arguing over the necessity of planning.
And lastly, here we go with some pictures to make you smile.
Clouds!!!
How to camouflage an aircraft factory.
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