Christmas is here! Time for my annual trek through the neighborhood looking for Nativity Scenes. :-) And I am thinking of trying my hand at the honey-mustard stuffed chicken recipe I watched on TV over the weekend!
Merry Christmas to you all :-)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Do you know where I want to go on my next vacation? The forests of Pandora :-) Boy! Haven't I fallen in love with the glowing flora, canopy of trees and delicate shimmering creatures floating through air near the magical tree!
If you said "huh?", then you haven't watched James Cameron's latest offering - Avatar - yet. A little confession is in order from my side though. When I first noticed the movie posters, I mistook it for another B-Grade Hollywood fare - featuring out-of-control vampires or werewolves rampaging through American metros - with an exotic sounding Asian title :-) Then I noticed James Cameron's name and wondered why this dude is associated with such a flick. Of course, imdb.com was just a click away so I soon knew how wrong I was.
I won't waste time on the plot because every kid in the neighborhood knows it. My verdict can be summed up like this - Amazing Graphics, an apt message (very relevant in view of what did and didn't happen at Copenhagen recently!) and good storytelling (aren't we Indians fond of good-triumphs-over-evil stories?)
On the flip side, at 162 minutes, it seems a tad too long - for a Hollywood movie that is. :-(
But as the Americans say, I ain't complaining :-) I was too happy gazing into Sam Worthington's (Jake Sully) cool grey eyes ;-)
If you said "huh?", then you haven't watched James Cameron's latest offering - Avatar - yet. A little confession is in order from my side though. When I first noticed the movie posters, I mistook it for another B-Grade Hollywood fare - featuring out-of-control vampires or werewolves rampaging through American metros - with an exotic sounding Asian title :-) Then I noticed James Cameron's name and wondered why this dude is associated with such a flick. Of course, imdb.com was just a click away so I soon knew how wrong I was.
I won't waste time on the plot because every kid in the neighborhood knows it. My verdict can be summed up like this - Amazing Graphics, an apt message (very relevant in view of what did and didn't happen at Copenhagen recently!) and good storytelling (aren't we Indians fond of good-triumphs-over-evil stories?)
On the flip side, at 162 minutes, it seems a tad too long - for a Hollywood movie that is. :-(
But as the Americans say, I ain't complaining :-) I was too happy gazing into Sam Worthington's (Jake Sully) cool grey eyes ;-)
Monday, December 21, 2009
I guess I must have had enough of Mary Higgins Clark finally. So I turned my back on the shelf that contained 2 more of her novels at the library.
My eyes fell on Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father”. I have been seeing this book for the past couple of days at the library but never thought of picking it up. Maybe, partly because I don’t much care for people in politics. But another reason was because I wondered why I needed to know about Obama Senior’s dreams :-)
And then there was this thought – why should I pay Rs. 15 reading surcharge for reading it? I agree that the amount in itself is not much. But some silly stubborn streak in me kept me from paying it and taking the book home with me. I haven’t been able to fathom it out yet. :-(
Anyways, I guess I wanted to take a break from the crime & mystery novels that have been my bedside reading for the past few days and was looking for some meaningful content in the last days of the departing year.
So now, I am reading about the current POTUS’s early life. :-) Will let you know how I find it. Watch this space.
My eyes fell on Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father”. I have been seeing this book for the past couple of days at the library but never thought of picking it up. Maybe, partly because I don’t much care for people in politics. But another reason was because I wondered why I needed to know about Obama Senior’s dreams :-)
And then there was this thought – why should I pay Rs. 15 reading surcharge for reading it? I agree that the amount in itself is not much. But some silly stubborn streak in me kept me from paying it and taking the book home with me. I haven’t been able to fathom it out yet. :-(
Anyways, I guess I wanted to take a break from the crime & mystery novels that have been my bedside reading for the past few days and was looking for some meaningful content in the last days of the departing year.
So now, I am reading about the current POTUS’s early life. :-) Will let you know how I find it. Watch this space.
I Heard That Song Before – by Mary Higgins Clark
If you have read my earlier posts, you must be now be saying to yourself “oh, you got to be kidding me!” :-) But I assure you, this is the last Higgins book I will read – at least for the near future that is :-)
Ok, so now for the plot. We have Kay Lansing – daughter of the Landscaper for the wealthy Carringtons. Her dad had disappeared under mysterious circumstances 22 years ago – about 2 weeks after the Carrington heir, Peter is declared “Person of Interest” in the murder of his friend and neighbor Susan Althorp. Kay hasn’t ever been able to figure out who the couple was that she overheard arguing in the Carrington chapel the night Susan died.
In a bizarre twist of fate, almost a decade later, Kay meets Peter, falls in love and ends up walking down the aisle with him. But their married life is always under the cloud because of Peter’s suspected involvement in the death of not only Susan but also of his pregnant wife Grace a few years back. Just a few weeks into their marriage, Susan’s dying mom Gladys is hell-bent on putting Peter behind the bars. And then the bodies start turning up at the estate as if it were a cemetery.
Kay is convinced that Peter is innocent but soon learns that it is a tough job to even begin to prove it. There is no dearth of suspicious characters. To start with, there is Vince Slater, Peter’s trusted aide. There’s Peter’s stepmom Elaine and her good-for-nothing gambling son Richard. There’s Gary Barr, one of the servants. And finally, there is Susan’s dad, Ambassador Althorp, who was angry with her the night she died.
The best part about the novel is that despite racking my brains, I couldn’t even begin to guess who the killer could be because the needle of suspicion has been consistently pointed at everyone in equal measure. :-) Of course, I am never thrilled at the references of Manhattan that have appeared with unerring frequency in Clark’s earlier novels that I read. But having spent some time in New Jersey it was fun to come across mention of Englewood and Mahwah :-)
If you can tolerate the “Till death do us part” love story of Peter and Kay, then this whodunit is definitely worth a read!
Ok, so now for the plot. We have Kay Lansing – daughter of the Landscaper for the wealthy Carringtons. Her dad had disappeared under mysterious circumstances 22 years ago – about 2 weeks after the Carrington heir, Peter is declared “Person of Interest” in the murder of his friend and neighbor Susan Althorp. Kay hasn’t ever been able to figure out who the couple was that she overheard arguing in the Carrington chapel the night Susan died.
In a bizarre twist of fate, almost a decade later, Kay meets Peter, falls in love and ends up walking down the aisle with him. But their married life is always under the cloud because of Peter’s suspected involvement in the death of not only Susan but also of his pregnant wife Grace a few years back. Just a few weeks into their marriage, Susan’s dying mom Gladys is hell-bent on putting Peter behind the bars. And then the bodies start turning up at the estate as if it were a cemetery.
Kay is convinced that Peter is innocent but soon learns that it is a tough job to even begin to prove it. There is no dearth of suspicious characters. To start with, there is Vince Slater, Peter’s trusted aide. There’s Peter’s stepmom Elaine and her good-for-nothing gambling son Richard. There’s Gary Barr, one of the servants. And finally, there is Susan’s dad, Ambassador Althorp, who was angry with her the night she died.
The best part about the novel is that despite racking my brains, I couldn’t even begin to guess who the killer could be because the needle of suspicion has been consistently pointed at everyone in equal measure. :-) Of course, I am never thrilled at the references of Manhattan that have appeared with unerring frequency in Clark’s earlier novels that I read. But having spent some time in New Jersey it was fun to come across mention of Englewood and Mahwah :-)
If you can tolerate the “Till death do us part” love story of Peter and Kay, then this whodunit is definitely worth a read!
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