Just finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence.
I must say I like parts of it. I took some effort to follow the western PoMo interpretation of Greek philosophy. I did find things I could identify with. I was not comfortable with the reference to insanity and mental asylum, for obvious reasons.

I watched New York the hindi film by Kabir Khan. Not impressive.

'Death in Venice' directed by Luchino Visconti based on the novel by Thomas Mann was interesting. I kept looking for parallels to Lolita. Maybe I will enjoy it more on a re-see.

Today I finished watching 'Water' from the Deepa Mehta trilogy (Fire, Earth, Water.) Preditable and cliche but good acting and wonderful casting. The refference to 'Manu Smriti' a favourite punching bag for anyone who manages to read a book or two is irritable. Selectively quoting isoloated passages from a man who lived a few thousand years ago and passing judgement is not fair. Nobody cares to see the constructive statements made in Manu Smriti. Of course Mayavati screaming 'Manuvadi!!!' every other day does not help.

Met us with a uncle after a while. He too is really into movies. I lent him some movies. Still waithing for his feedback.

The shrink got a new place. She is going places. It is still a little impersonal and minimalist.

Next in the line is 'The travels of Marco Polo' and the movie 'Shadows of time'.

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Finished reading the Old Testament. Some parts were really interesting, especially Psalms and Proverbs. Then I read Persian Hidden Words by Bahaullah. Interesting in many ways. Very strong Dualist and Bhakti vibes.

I have meaning to read Perfumed Garden by Sheik Nefzauoi for a very long time. I finally got to it. It has several deviations from the topic like interpreatation of dreams, methods of penis enlargement!! and aphrodisiacs. The author has taken care not to court controversy and speak critically of islam. Nevertheless a very revealing work.

I watched 'Departures' directed by Yojiro Takita. Really insightful and very Japanese. Delicate treatment of death unlike Indian over acting. Somewhat cliche ending.

I had stopped watching Stealing Beauty mid way. I sat throught and watched both Stealing Beauty and The Dreamers by Bernardo Betrolucci. Both are good. The director has managed to get very memorable performances from the young casts.

Back to Indian movies I watched Masoom by Shekar Kapur. One of his earlier work before Bandit Queen and Elizabeth. Good acting from the child artists. Nayagan by Mani Ratnam was very good. Kamal Hasan at his usual best. Banaras directed by I C Singh was frankly disappointing. A waste of the actors talent with an uninspiring plot.

I watched Waltz with Bashir the Israeli animation film. I liked it. It is slow paced but packs a lot in. Israel is favourably potrayed but facts (inspired by facts) are not misrepresented. Ariel Sharon (Animated) appears in one scene. I still can't believe they made him Prime Minister.

The Girlfriend Experience hyped a lot because it stars the porn star Sasha Gray is not bad. Disproving my expectation of horrible acting she does have a good screen presence and maybe even talent. The cinemetography is very differnet for other Stephen Soderberg films. A lot of still camera and outsider shots. The big question is, Can she act?? I am not sure. Maybe I can tell by seeing more movies of her.

I has been a while since my last post so the list is rather large.

I am currently listening to Zen and the Art of motorcycle maintenece by Robert Pirsig, and doing sort of OK.

I decided to take up gardening more seriousel and regularly. I visited Lalbagh and bought a few plant. I am thinking of trying to raise a few bonsai.

That's about it.