of boners and bibles

After the amazingly hilariously juvenile fun we all derived from reading about Boners – or rather about Batman’s Greatest Boner in particular – it’s time to move on to more serious topics. Like this!And remember, don’t do drugs (oh yeah!?). Reality is much better. And rehab is for quitters.
Speaking of boners in the bibles, this bible storyteller is going down. Rot in hell you sacriligious dog!

when a cat goes away....

births. deaths. relatives. work. car that gives way. work. a quiz. ah! weekends over the past couple or three months have been consistently thwarting all attempts at repopulating mine residence with cats. and to think that's its not hard at all, not when you have people like this on your side, but one of these days an expedition (yes, all things considered that is what it will be) must be mounted and cats procured.

And speaking of procuring cats brings one to this: the cat that's been the icon of theBekku turns out to be an official Kitler. Which means that for now, this Kitler will go away for a while and this one will be the official Bekku for a while:

and speaking of cats going away, those of you cat-people who've lost one will surely understand this

garrrrhhhh!!! who the fyukh ever came up with that term post-modern/post-modernism?
garrrrhhhh!!! why the fyukh did he ever do that for it to be perverted so?
garrrrhhhh!!! what the fyukh does the term post-modern/post-modernism mean?
garrrrhhhh!!! why the fyukh do people use the word post-modern and all its various permutations and combinations to describe everything from books and music to comic strips and las vegas strippers?

i hate. Yes hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate the word "post-modern" even though I have no fyukhin’ clue what the hell it means. Or what it’s supposed to mean. Contexts notwithstanding. Because none of the times when it has been used in various conversations has it made sense to me. Because none of the people who used it in the abovementioned conversations have been able to tell me what it means and most not even what they want it to mean. There are a couple of guys who made an honest attempt (you know who you are!), but I still didn’t get it cos we kept going around in confused circles. I guess I’m just dumb. All apologies.

All one knows is that if you wanna look cool and hip and intelligent (or sound intelligent at least) and be considered ‘an intellect’ please pepper your conversations with words like ‘post-modern’ ‘post-modernism’ ‘post-modernist’, etc. etc. no matter what you’re talking about.

phew.

*spleen alert!* Almost running out of spleen to vent. And with the last reserves of venom I give you this : PoMo - the amazing Postmodernism Generator!!!! (do you know somebody who speaks like this? Sure you do.)

Reading which, kind of reminds one of a post on theBekku not so long ago.
So this post’s last quota of spleen goes into directing you to the Revenge of Natives.

now, why would you want to know this?

this post is for the benefit of those who like Kiedis, but whose e-mail ids/names have not been given and/or for the benefit those whose friends haven't gone on a honeymoon in a long time.



















Used without the kind knowledge and/or permission of Mr. Anthony Kiedis. PS: There are some nice stories to go with these pics. go read.

thanks magaa

Mine friend, the Communal Cow, went on his “sponsored” honeymoon to Alleppey [the first of many, I’m sure!] and came back with these!!

Came back with these! For me!!!

currently tripping on Scar Tissue and crossed the part where two not-so greenhorn high school friends, a stoned Keidis and an equally stoned mike balzary (who would soon be known to the world as Flea), are jumping off buildings into random swimming pools. And the Red Hot Chili Peppers exist in the not-too-distant future. cool! Puppet Masters. Ah! What can one say about Heinlein what hasn’t already been said?

Sorry, no reviews. For either. Buy them, they’re worth it. Or just get your friend to go on his/her honeymoon. Hehehe….

Emerald Dog Poet - or - One thing leads to another

It’s funny when you look back into your life. And when the past rears its head up and you smile. You ask yourself, “was I like that?”. And you smile. For you know the answer. For you are the sum total of your existence. And that includes all the things, all the people that you were before. And are now. No regrets. You are what you were then. All phases included.

And why this now? Because this reared its head up: A poem (?) from mine past, circa 21-ish. Kinda dorky in an immature sort of way. I likes. For there is a story there.

And why did this rear its head up? Because i like inconsequential challenges. And thusly gave a shot at poetry after many years with this : A walk along the country lane : a poem by Poetess Sam a.k.a Samyukta.

And speaking of poetry or prose which garbs itself as poetry (or vice versa) brings back memories of the carefree times spent on various occasions in the cemetery, with the Criminally English and the Communal Cow and The Pillai who I don’t think has a linkable blog. The cemetery, where each took turns at writing one line of a story/poem as the case may be (wonder where those scraps of paper went?), in the august company of E.Obulesu (Army) and the Naidu family. Yes, they were six feet under us, but so what? Ah! My favourite cemetery spot in the whole wide world!!! Not including the burning ghats which I still prefer to cemeteries. Mine favourites so far being the Manikarnika in Banaras, and the one in Kathmandu near Pashupatinath. Now that topic is for another day.

subjectivity is the name of the game. objectivity, the cloak.

This is the reason why some songs should not be turned into videos.


Listen n enjoy. It's a good song. But open your eyes at your own risk. The images jar. *shudder*
Much gratitude to Viju "Ghazalmaster" Janardhanan for bringing this to mine notice.

Nature calls

The wild outdoors. Chilly nights by a campfire. Bloodsucking leeches. Great company. Great escapes. New friends. New scratches and bruises. Sweat and swearing. Memorable weekends. Stories of hunger, thirst and adventure. Anecdotes about the Forest Officers’ wives. Waking up to bird calls, and not ringtones. And of course, trekking, rock climbing & rappelling, mountaineering, rafting, parasailing and more. For less. You've always wanted it, yes? Well. Worry not! BaseCamp is here.

Yeh Pink Floyd saala hai kaun?

Or An Idiot’s Guide to Pink Floyd : theBekku exclusive! With the usual peregrinations into other related titbits of intelligent-sounding information and conversation points

Clearing some misconceptionsContrary to popular perception Pink Floyd did not die of a drug overdose. In fact, Pink Floyd’s not dead at all. It is to squash these rumours that Pink Floyd got his act together to perform last year at a circus organised to give aids to the people of Africa. Incidentally, the organiser of this carnival, Baba Geldof (not be confused with Baba Dylan, Baba Marley or Baba Ramdev), was for a while the ‘Pink’ in Pink Floyd. And then his shaved eyebrows grew back.

Also, contrary to another popular perception, Floyd is spelt F-L-O-Y-D not F-L-U-I-D, pink liquids, Roger’s Waters, and common nouns notwithstanding.

The various origins of Pink Floyd
Now let’s backtrack to when it all began. Inspired by various inspirations, Pink Floyd got his act together for the first time. It should be noted here that he was a student of architecture at this point of time. Which probably explains his later fascination with bricks, cement, walls and other things constructive. It should also be noted here that it has been suspected for a long time that The Wall (an animated cartoon movie, which also claims to be the world’s longest music video) is a tribute to Bangalore Boy Rahul Dravid. When contacted backstage during his concert in Bangalore regarding this fact, Pink Floyd just shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s just not cricket.”

Pink Floyd: a “god of rock”
Interestingly, it was during the period preceding this aforementioned concert in Bangalore, that Pink Floyd was duly conferred with the title of “God of Rock”, a title which he (Pink Floyd) shares with such luminous luminaries – as Bryan Adams, Uriah Heep, Mick Jagger a.k.a. The Rolling Stones, Inner Circle, MC Hammer, That smoke-on-the-Waters band (no relation to Roger’s Waters), The Winds of Change Band, and many others – and guess what? Some of whom were actually rock musicians! Or musicians for that matter. This is in keeping with an old Bangalore tradition of calling people “God of Rock” when they decide to perform in Bangalore as part of their Pension Fund Tour or The Where-Can-I-Find-Suckers-Who-Still-Listen-To-Me –And-Will-Pay-To-Listen-To-Me Tour. It has been surmised that this custom probably began when Queen Shantala conferred on Amarashilpi Jakannacharya the title “God of Rock.” Go figure. In other newses, other “Gods of Rock” who are rumoured to be on their way to Bangalore include Skid Row, Tears for Fears, Milli Vanilli, and Kevin Federline.

The various origins of Pink Floyd (coda)
Oh! Coming back to Pink. Before officially printing his name on sleeves (of albums) as ‘Pink Floyd’, Pink Floyd when around pubs and clubs of London under various names which were as varied as Six Sigma (from where the measure of quality gets its name), Mega Death (in tribute to his favourite thrash band with an ‘a’ added to avoid copyright issues) and the word Abdabs with many prefixes and suffixes. Pink Floyd (for one final time before he became Pink Floyd) went by the name of The Tea Set (a fact commemorated in the song ‘a saucer full of cigarettes’).

Then finally, he settled upon a name by which we know him today. The ‘Pink’ part came from a Black guy who was into Blues and went by the name of Pink Anderson of Chicago. The second part ‘Floyd’ came either from his lawyer, Counsellor Floyd or from a member of the local administration called Floyd the Councillor – depending on whom you ask, Pink fans who pretend to smoke weed and Floyd fans who visit pubs that play music from all three of his albums or quizzing aficionados who don’t listen to Pink Floyd but who know everything there is to know about Pink Floyd, and then some.

The Hits just kept on coming
For a band with all of just four “official” releases (not including Rwandan bootlegs) Pink Floyd has delivered a surprisingly large number of profitable hits, some of which some people have actually claimed to know the lyrics of. First there was the breakthrough album called “The Other Side of the Moon or something like that” (in the words of an informed music store sales man) an album that gave the world such hits as ‘Time’ and ‘Money’. Another famous song is The Bell Song from some other album. Not the Man on Fire album though, which is supposedly a tribute to some dead guy who was in the jewellery business and went by the name of Crazy Diamond. There was also that monster hit called “The Bell Song”.

Pink Floyd: The Influences of Popular Culture (and Unpopular Culture as well)Were it not for Pink Floyd, we would today not have a book called “Animal Farm” by Orson Welles, the same guy who wrote the screenplay for War of the Worlds starring the ‘Tom’ in TomKat. The inspiration for Animal Farm apparently came from a Pink Floyd album called Flying Pigs. Pink Floyd has sometimes been very controversial, for instance, that monster hit with a chorus that went “We don’t need no birth control!”

Pink Floyd is also credited with having invented the genre of rock called ‘Space Rock’ ‘Psychedelic Rock’ ‘Progressive Rock’, among others. Some people have also claimed that he invented ‘Dance Rock’ when he released A Collection of Great Dance Songs – a compilation album of great dance songs (duh!) that misled many critics into calling Pink Floyd as having laid the groundwork for the genre of Disco Metal.

Of course, no mention of Pink Floyd would be complete without a mention of his albums’ covers. Pink Floyd pioneered the method of art through hypnosis. Leading to some great albums covers. Great album covers eh?

The sociological impact of Pink Floyd is legendary. Research has shown that the mere mention of Pink Floyd in a conversation raises the Perceived IQ of the speaker by almost 48 points. This is rivalled only by a mention of Bob Dylan: 53.5 points. Of course if you’re a little older, desperate and are gunning for anything that will do, you might want to try Grateful Dead. If the girl's just out of her teens and a manic depressive try Nirvana.

Be cool. Be hot. Become a Pink Floyd Fan today!
Now that you know more or less how much you need to know be known as a person who knows Pink Floyd, why not become a fan today? The last person who claimed to be a Pink Floyd fan hooked himself a hot date. Plus, Pink Floyd is supposedly a good man to listen to when you’re stoned (as evidenced by the previous boyfriend of the friend of my ex-girlfriend). Rock is good when stoned, or something to that effect.

So there you go, almost everything you wanted to know about Pink Floyd, but were too scared to ask. But remember! To come across as a True Fan, remember to say "Floyd" as in *shake of head* "Yeah, i listen to floyd." Saying "Pink is a good band" could lead to potentially disastorous results and the loss of a hot date.

(theBekku lays no claims to originality of any of the ideas and information presented above. This guide would not have been possible without the help of various people through the ages. Thank yer all for yer valuable nuggets. Of course, the mistakes and rambles are all mine.)

blather aborted....

theBekku must needs learn the art of brevity. But once a random rambler, always a random rambler, one guesses. For theBekku had a nice, long, lengthy and carefully composed post – about travels and travails over a hectic few days – just headed from ‘draft’ status to ‘published’. Until the Eyyala, regular partner in crime & punishment, onion aficionado, butter-lover and general good fun, came along and killed the post in one stroke. For he wrote me something that I can never match. This is what he messaged me.

“2195 kms. 74 hours. 17 locations. 2 states. 2 great guys. People would call it madness…we call it Life.”

You can’t beat that, can you? i can’t. And yes, truth be told, i can claim only a portion of the above stats. i bailed. and for one, i never did keep count.

Damn these Hucksters!!!!

Dorks. That big, fat and irritating coca-cola advertisement is still doing the rounds. Do people even stop to think? Oh. Stupid question. Just goes on to show the pervasiveness and the power of the media in general and advertising in particular. To influence “people” and societies in all the wrongs ways, most of the time. If there are two professions that need regulation, it is these. Especially that whore of capitalism, consumerism, whatever, called advertising. Scratch that, even the media in equal portions. Speaking of which, yours truly has just – after years of scouring shelves and streets – laid hands on Pohl and Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants. A harsh critique-cum-parody-cum-satire on advertising. About a world that is run (for all practical purposes) by ad agencies. Where your standing is defined by your ability to own. About a world divided into two: the haves and the have-nots. About a consumer-driven society gone horribly wrong, which anyway is the fate of any such society. Anyway reading has just begin, full review later.

The copy of The Space Merchants i just got happens to an old 1981 edition (the book was written in 1952, which makes its prescience even more so prophetic), prominently stamped “DISCARD” by The Harrisburg Union High School’s Instructional Media Center (hmmm… instructional media center).

And this is what precedes the book in the ‘raving reviews’ pages. The St. Louis Dispatch gets it down pat – “…a bitter satire on the conscienceless activities of the ad men…” Kingsley Amis, “The Space Merchants, clearly, is an admonitory satire on certain aspects of our own society, mainly economic…” “In The Space Merchants, we have some of the best satire of our times; it has The Hucksters beat us all hollow.” That was the Denver Post. This is what The New York Times had to say “…a civilisation built on the code of the huckster, where the account executive is king, and the captive audience is just that—a mass of helpless, hapless serfs, living by the law of the singing commercial.” See what advertising can reduce us to? And I stress, this book was written in ’52. A classic I’m sure it will turn out to be. Huck! I guess it already is one.

“Give me the airtime, and I will sell the Earth.”

my land, my peoples

A picture's worth a thousand words. These are worth billions to me. They tell me the story of how almost ten lakh people can crowd into a 3-kilometre stretch, driven there by nothing more than faith.
The sweltering heat. The suffocating humidity. Fainting is common. Stampedes more so. All to see the Siblings on their journey once. To see the gods who take sick leave. To see a king turn into a sweeper. To get a hand on the ropes that pull the chariots. Just once is enough. It's the dream of a lifetime for many people. Driven by nothing more than faith.

Once a part of them, you lose your Self in the flow. Carried away by the fervour that each one emanates. It's a time to celebrate. A time to worship. A time to wish. A time to pray. A time that i hope never passes.

Ha!!

Indians make up one of the major human ancestry groups, with relatively little genetic differentiation among people from different parts of the country, according to a new study conducted in the US. "We were struck both by the low lewel of diversity amongst people spanning such a large geographical region, and that by the fact that people from the Indian sub-continent constituted a distinct group when compared to populations from other parts of the world" says Pragna Patel, who led the study.

And this is from the synopsis of the report

"....The authors performed an extensive investigation of Indian genetic diversity and population relationships, sampling 15 groups of India-born immigrants to the United States and genotyping each individual at 1,200 genetic markers genome-wide. Populations from India, and groups from South Asia more generally, form a genetic cluster, so that individuals placed within this cluster are more genetically similar to each other than to individuals outside the cluster. However, the amount of genetic differentiation among Indian populations is relatively small. The authors conclude that genetic variation in India is distinctive with respect to the rest of the world, but that the level of genetic divergence is smaller in Indians than might be expected for such a geographically and linguistically diverse group.

Ha! More ammo. You can read the full PSoS Genetics report here

here by "unbelievable" demand

This post could also, alternatively, have been titled... And yes, that's the Page. Y'know, Jimmy of the dirigible band. Notice chai in hand. cheerio. pix off. purpose served. Full story still available. In person only. No credit cards acepted.

go ahead, insult yourself.

drawing a line

The more you immerse yourself in books – in words, thoughts, ideas, notes, footnotes, anecdotes, history, geography, historiography, et al – there’s one thing that screams out at you from every page: YOU KNOW NOTHING!!! And if this is what the pursuit of knowledge and ideas is all about, so be it. Because there’s so much we know, and that much more we don’t.

But what I know is that reading, and understanding, leads to one thing dangerous –opinions. And the minute you have an opinion – even if it is about the lack of hair on SRK’s chest – you draw a line. Between you and those who don’t agree. Between those that are with you and between those that aren’t, or even worse those diametrically opposite and in opposition to you. Ah! There’s so much we need to know…and so do you.

my land beckons…

Another haitus. This time brought about by that plagues most of us. Wanderlust. Or as Steinbeck would’ve put it, “…an urge to get away from Here.” And Here is everywhere that is everyday. This is the time. A time for unpredictability and the unexplored. A time for no agendas and aimless wandering with some purpose. Coursing through peoples and cultures of mine land. wandering and wondering at the bold richness that makes this place what is is. Everyday brings something or someone new. And isn't that something to look forward to?

So unless I do a Dharmapada for no reason, or the Juggernaut’s wheels take me, or both of which seem unlikely, regular thought processes, venom spewing, online dumping and such like should resume week after next, Tribhuvaneshwara willing.

Matthe siguva. Ati sheegradalli….

Hiatus. It's called. Brought on by various things like work, football, life and other such disorders. As a sign of life, i give you this week's PostSecret. sheesh!
And among other things, the portly artist currently known as Balraj (he of the late biriyani cartoon fame) takes his first tentative steps on the blogverse in the form of a QuantumLeap.

David Beckham, in mine opinion, is a much better "leg spinner" than Anil Kumble.

one big cup

My money's on Argentina. The Boys from Brazil (no, not the little Hitlers Mengele cloned, the team) will unfortunately have to go back empty handed. There are many reasons for this. Reasons why Argentina will win: Messi, Sorin, Riquelme, Ayala Saviola, Crespo, Tevez, Heinze. Ha! Take that! One of the reasons why Brazil will lose: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In other words, Pele's said that Brazil are favourites, and going by his prediction record, it only means that Brazil will lose. So on that note, we watch now a mastercard ad from Argentina that tells us what we all knew: Argentina kicking the s**t outta Brazil: Priceless.

Calling all exhibitionists

Spotted: A hoarding (for a jeweller) next to Manipal Centre with big, bold letters that read, “Show the world your family jewels.” Now, here is one guy who needs WordWeb, linked to in this post, if only to know the difference between an exhibition and an exhibitionists.

An Amazing Post

Remember The Escapist? The amazing creation of the amazing Kalavier and Klay, whose story was so amazingly recounted by the amazing Michael Chabon in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay? Well. That's him below. Seen here at the mercy of a too-hot-to-be-dastardly Nazi who's not dastardly anyway, from a cover by Brian Bolland for "Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist". Amazing, ain't it?

Check it out and more, including stories about the amazingly real Kavaliers and Klays, the art of Mike Mignola for The Escapist, views and reviews, amazing insights into comics history, and info about the amazing book at The Amazing Website of Kavalier and Klay. And yes, read the book as soon as amazingly possible. Because as if ruining amazingly great comics by turning them into not-so-amazing movies wasn't enough, it's the turn of books about comics. The Amazing Hollywood is all set to amazingly ruin the book by making a movie out of it. Even with Chabon himself scripting it, you know how amazing these monstrosities can get. So get hold of this amazing book, and enjoy the amazing website. And yes, do take a look at the amazing covers of the various editions of the book in the cover gallery. And if you have the time, ask yourself, which one you would've like to own. So, enjoy and have an amazing time.

expression

Freedom of expression. Ok. Then how come the ‘secularists’ baying and braying to get the Da Vinci Ccode banned are baying and braying to get Fanaa a proper release in Gujarat? General disconnect happening. Whatever.

We have our Sardarji jokes. The Europeans have their Polish jokes. And the Poles in Poland (which is 95% Catholic), or in other words, the Surds of Europe, are laughing at us because The Code is being asked to be banned, when in Poland it had a free run. And it is banned in Punjab. Wonder why it is so in the land of Sardarjis? Oh. Sorry. That explains it all.

a haunting melody

Forget the spirits and the séances. Forget the pentagram, the candles and the necromantic chants. All you need is HIM's song. Check this out if you want to summon a ghost. Talk about ‘possessive’ musicians.

The Treachery of Images

"This is not a pipe" declares Magritte, the painter. That's what the french words at the bottom say. And it's true. That is not a pipe. That's just a painting of a pipe. Guess Foucault agrees.

Reflections on an Ian McKellan weekend

Poor Ian McKellan. His characters seem to be getting a raw deal nowadays.

In one movie, he loses out to people who could’ve helped his cause, but have fundamental differences with his views. And ultimately he’s the loser.
In the other, he loses out to people who could’ve helped his cause, but don’t, because they have fundamental differences with his views. And ultimately he’s the loser.

The movies in question, of course, are X-Men: The last stand and The Da Vinci Code, respectively.

Watch X3 for some good action and the introduction of new characters and see some old characters lose theirs. The stage is set for more. If not anything, X3 looks like a clean-up act before an even better X4 turns up. The Da Vinci Code, not surprisingly, suffers from the usual limitations of the medium of cinema. And Tom Hanks’ habit of swallowing up syllables doesn’t quite help the cause either. Neither does the irritating and melodramatic background music which though ostensibly to heighten the ambience does nothing of that sort and instead just ends up irritating the viewer. But it doesn’t matter, because you’ve already read the book and know the ending. Do however , look out for the howls of laughter and snide comments and smart-alecky views expressed when the famous Disclaimer comes on before The Code.

But all said and done, both movies are worth a watch. Poor Magneto! Poor Sir Teabing! Well, the world needs losers, who might need a reason to get back in the sequel. At least, the Ian McKellan weekend ended on a good note with HBO airing yet another rerun of The Two Towers (no, not The Twin Towers!), the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and it was nice to see Gandalf the White charge down with the Eomer, and the Rohirrim to end the Battle of Helm’s Deep on a victorious note.

Well, here’s looking forward to X4, and the Magneto movie, and more LOTR reruns. Three cheers to Ian McKellan!

how do you explain this?

What’s the difference between Casteism (discrimination based on caste) and Social Justice?
“Lower caste” people penalised for being born into a lower caste. That’s casteism.
“Upper caste” people penalised for being born into an upper caste. That’s social justice.

And what is Affirmative Action? Anything, just about anything, that looks like it may get you votes, give you power and feed your corrupt, anti-national vermin soul. No matter the high cost of such an action. The country be damned. Its future be damned. Reservation zindabad!

Jai Mata Di! Let’s metal!

HE smiles! Yes! Smiles in his new video for ‘I love you o Sayyoni!’ featuring the luscious Candice. Listen up as he goes “One time!” a la Wyclef. And for those of you who could not get enough of HIM, he’s acting!! Yes, Himesh is going to act in a movie next year. 27 hits in 6 months he’s given us. And now a hit movie? Wait and watch.
Also, Himesh has promised to compose a Heavy Metal song (whatever that is) for his new movie Hostel. So that should bring the metal boys into the HIM-fandom. Here’s wishing HIM all the very best.

This has been a Himesh Reshammiya update. What? You want to see him one more time? Ok. Here goes. Let it not be said that theBekku did not give you a glimpse of HIM when you needed it. Enjoy!

lost in translation?

The 'Legends of Khasak' has been read and loved. A masterpiece. The english translation, by none other than the author himself, i am told is good. The immortal characters, the eternal philosophy just touched upon, I lived in Khasak when I was reading it. In english, it's a great masterpiece (i reapeat) but the how and why the original created a storm in Malayalam literature is lost on you. As much as I understood the book – maybe because I have been to the Palghat area, or because I was born and brought up in a village, or because I know all the cultural/mythological/spiritual references OV makes – at the back of my mind, I felt I was missing something. Something more evocative. Something more closer to the heart. And all because i know not Malayalam. My bad. Because now the heart that wants more wants to read this:
Because at the end of the day, ‘similar’ does not mean ‘same’. Because an imitation, no matter how good and true to the original, is still not the original. Because...'The Legends of Khasak' is not the same as 'Khasakkinte Ithihasam'.