sunday 18th jan, 2009

man i have a headache. but no heartache, which is excellent. think i should write a long and meaningful post soon, but what about? ah, now if i knew that, i would have much less existential angst no.

saw slumdog millionaire today, and it's an all right film. i mean, it's quite good to look at, and humorous and moving... good cinema really. but i wouldn't want it to define what absolute newbies think about india. as several recent indian films have been, it's stuck somewhere between serious meaningful, message-carrying cinema and pure bollywood entertainment. as a piece of craft, it's a classic - the way the protagonist tells his life through the answers to 'who wants to be a millionaire' questions, how episodes in his life taught him the answers. and the fairytale romance quality - childhood love, pure and absolute, how all things converge to unity, one woman, one destiny, one ambition, one love story. less real than life, and yet larger. (real life is more about one mistake, or the same mistake, made over and over again, one pattern. i meant that to sound wry rather than bitter...) Rahman does not disappoint with soundtrack either (- has Rahman ever disappointed?) However, Dev Patel's BBCD accent escaped him a few times, as did his younger version's south indian (?) one. And the only baddie was Muslim, and the police officers Hindu, and the riots persecuted only Muslims, and the hero didn't crack a single smile that had nothing to do with his lover girl, all of which increased the film's annoyance quotient for me a little.

afterwards, i went to browse for a shoe holding rack type thing.. something compact, which can hold twenty odd pairs of shoes of all shapes and makes, something slick, and yet cheap. miraculously, i found two contenders at Argos, a canvas and steel stand-alone shoe stand, and a door-hanging steel one. while the canvas is prettier, i think it'll have to be the door hanging one; space saving you see. london has shit space standards. my room is considered large, but i often struggle to fit my stuff in. i did organise my underwear drawer and jewelry box yesterday though; doesn't look like much if you just glance at it. but anyone who has seen the state of both in the past will be very impressed at my 4 hour handiwork.

post Argos, i went to meet Pedro halfway between our two neighbourly locations. he looks all hot and eurotrash in winter jacket and crutches (football injury). of course, he is a prize kameena where women are concerned, so i revel in our platonic friendship (some would say marriage).

i do like my parantheses. (see that's a longish post.)