At last!

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=73519 I say, get rid of all of them. At $60 a barrel, they're far more trouble than they're worth anyway. I've long been of the opinion that car charges are far too low in this country. From taxes to parking, users generally do not pay the true cost of owning a car. There are certain things that I hold as the hallmark of a civilised urban society and for me the most important things are parks, wide sidewalks and good public transport. It is these things that tell how egalitarian a society is. Of course, car lovers will plump for the 'individual freedom' argument, but lets not forget that in an open society people are free to the extent that they're not causing harm to anyone else. When the number of cars means that school children are not free to ride their bicycles, then something needs to be done. Those who see this as a conflict would do well to read the initiatives that Enrique Penalosa got going in Bogota. India has ridiculously few cars per person compared to the developed world, and already the lane where we played galli cricket is like a parking lot. I shudder to think what'll happen when we go from 6 cars/1000 people to 60 or 600. End it now. Besides, I cannot understand how people can still drive with the way traffic and parking are. I suppose it is okay if four people take one car, but for one person to drive a Ford Endeavour....how does he do it? Doesn't he go mad with frustration? I used to drive, enjoyed it for a while, but now the thought just raises bile to my throat. Get a bike! Has anyone noticed how awesome the Indian Express has become of late? Their local coverage is really stunning. And they seem to know my mind. Today, they trashed the IMD and the IITM too! When I started the weathermap project, I slowly became convinced that our Met Department was a piece of shit. And today, this -> http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=73523

Sideways - Movie Review

Redemption through wine, words and love. What a great film. Two ex-college roommates meet after years to go on a wine tasting trip through California. Miles is a serious wine aficionado. His friend Jack is a struggling actor about to be married to a rich and beautiful girl and who just wants to get his rocks off before his big day. The first half of the film is a rich tribute to wine. At first we're presented with the technical details, what to look for, how to smell it, how to drink it, and then Maya asks Miles why he's so into Pinot. The conversation that follows seemed like I wrote it. Miles sys he likes Pinot because it's a hard grape to grow which needs constant love and affection and only the best vintners can make it. Maya says she loves wine because of what it makes her think about. The stories of the people behind the wine, and if it's an old one.... Such soul! The Spanish word for hobby is 'aficion', but 'hobby' is such a poor translation for a word that implies such a depth of passion, and while this film might be about wine and wine 'hobbyists', it is really a take on art of any sort. Some reviewers have complained about the 'specialist audience' viewpoint of this film, but anyone who has studied anything in great detail, detail enough to see the wonder of things, will relate without much trouble. Maya says that wine is like a living, breathing thing, always different, ephemeral. Like music. Woven into this is the stories of the two guys and their women. Miles is a cerebral man still in love with his ex-wife. Jack wants to bone the sexy Stephanie before he gets married and has no trouble lying about his situation. The movie never stoops to moralising about their personal philosophies though, and it ends happily for all concerned. Technically too, this movie was superb. It's been made with such love and affection. The actors have all (well, almost) done superb jobs, with Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen (so beautiful) being the pick of the lot. The music by Rolfe Kent (with some help from Tarrega) was to die for! Watch this film.

This movie....

I am speechless. I laughed so hard I started crying and then at some point, I started to cry for real. When Om Puri says "...to not be scared of cancer...." I saw it again immediately, just to be sure. And I'm not going to complain about happy endings.

All The Names by Jose Saramago

I know I said I wouldn't write any more reviews, so its good that this is not a review but awe-struck, gushing adulation. What a book! Senhor Jose works in the Central Registry and passes his time collecting namecards and details of famous people. One day, an unknown woman's card enters his collection by mistake and thus does Senhor Jose's obsession start. Of course this book and the story are many things - a short treatise on the State, on chance, on identity and happiness, on obsession, on life and death and of course, on talking ceilings. I don't know why Saramago isn't better known. Perhaps its because he writes in Portugese and not Spanish. At any rate, this is first class writing. Makes me want to go out and buy all the Saramago(e?)s. The writing is incredibly dense and incredibly sparse at the same time. The words are all bunched together with little punctuation and the dialogue all mixed up with the other words, but it works incredibly well in the hands of a master. It's like reading a creme-brulee. The texture of the pages make it look like it's going to be hard, but what you get is delicious prose that slides down your throat like caramel. As a kid I was taught that short sentences make for good writing. While this may generally be true, it seems no one told Saramago that. He writes like people speak, with little more than a comma to indicate that he's now going to go off at a tangent and talk about something else. And yet totally absorbing, clearly delineated and deeply philosophical in the sense that the book leaves you with many questions which you would ask if only you could find the words. Saramago lived 68 years in Portugese-induced obscurity until he was discovered. Ten years later, they gave him the Nobel Prize.