Apple Shuffle

After a wait of nearly a month, I finally laid hands on my own shuffle. Even though, it's puny memory space of 512 megs pales in comparison to other jukeboxes available in the market, it was a good buy considering my small music collection and relative ease of use.
There was one funny thing I noticed on the back of that little thingy. "Designed in California. Made in China". Guess being designed in USA isn't good enough, it has to be designed in "California". I don't understand the public's fixation with the word California. Recently I noticed a truck with the legend "California Closets". C'mon it's just a simple space arrangement system for disorganized people who either buy too much and/or cannot distinguish between what is useful and what is junk. Are we really that superficial ?

Naipaul's "The mystic masseur"

Now reading "The mystic masseur" by V.S. Naipaul. A good read so far

The heart is a lonely hunter - by Carson McCullers

This book was recommended in Oprah's book club.

McCullers wrote this book when she was just twenty three and it is said to have immediately put her in the category of other great american authors like Hemingway and Faulkner. Her portrayal of race relations in the deep south; the pathos and loneliness in her characters and the
overall feeling of crushed dreams and hopes is simply extraordinary.
The story revolves around a group of people living in this small industrial town in the Carolinas who find solace and comfort not with one another but with a deaf and dumb mute(Singer). The mute can read their lips so that they can talk with him but even greater is his capacity to really relate to what they are trying to say. Most of them are sad/despondent with failed dreams, lost spouses and no/little hopes and are looking for a friend who can understand them and confide with.
There is this young girl,Mick who is interested in music. She is really a tomboy who has just grown up to discover that she is really a girl and can't fight out with guys anymore. Since they do not have a radio, she wanders around town in the rich parts just to hear some music.She wants to compose music and tries to even make a violin out of a broken ukulele and some strings but the instrument does not work out. She composes new tunes in her head and wants to write them out but cannot do so because she does not have a formal music education.

An old african american doctor; Copeland wants to uplift his people from their bad situation but cannot do so because of his people's inability to think big or better for themselves. The idea of being inferior to the white race is so deeply ingrained in their minds that they have accepted it as a fact and do not want to challenge it.The story comes to a point where the doctor's son is tortured in a prison camp and his legs have to be amputated but still the community does not want to antagonize the whites... The whole thing is kind of depressing at this
point.
A well educated but alcoholic communist Blount comes into town and starts working at the local fair where the mill workers come at night for entertainment. He tries to start some kind of a workers movement but again is met with distrust and suspicion.
The mute becomes a good friend to all these troubled people but the unfortunate thing is that he can never talk to them. He used to have a deaf dumb companion with whom he used to talk incessantly but his companion had to be sent to a mental institution. Singer visits his
friend Antonopoulous every six months bringing him gifts and talks about his new friends back home. Once when Singer goes to visit his friend, he finds that he is no more.He is so heartbroken that he comes back into town and shoots himself. Things turn to the worse for his friends who are left with no one with whom they can share their troubles and loneliness. Finally all of them either drift away or grudgingly accept their lonely existence.

Kadambari by Tagore

A compilation of poems in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore dedicated to his sister-in-law (kadambari devi) . The poems are a treat for everyone.
Satyajit Ray captures their relationship beautifully in his movie "Charulata".

sunrise

I have a great view of Lake Michigan from my apt where I have been
living for about an year. But the sad thing is I never saw the sun rise
from the lake. I am a late riser and never got a chance to view one. Today I
woke up at 6:00 and saw my first one and it was beautiful.
Surprisingly, the entire thing happens in less that 15 minutes. The
entire display of colors from pale grey to bright red and finally the
brilliant blue is simply ethereal.

Time Of Your Life

One of my favorite songs

Artists > Green Day > Good Riddance (time Of Your Life)

Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist
Directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
And don't ask why
It's not a question
But a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life

So take the photographs
And still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf of
Good health and good time
Tattoos of memories
And dead skin on trial
For what it's worth
It was worth all the while
It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life

Coetzee's Disgrace

Now reading J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace".

song meanings

Have you ever wondered what the lyrics of your favorite songs really
meant? Check out http://www.songmeanings.net for some gr8 stuff.