4.3.09

Back to school

So today uni opened for the first semester for this year. Melbourne was quite bleak today...a winter day in the middle of summer. Since this is also enrollment time for the first years, there was a whole bunch of new 'kids' as well. If you can call 33-65 year olds as new kids. Shrug.

Seems like 'Edward Cullen' from the Twilight series is quite the heart-throb; everyone from 25-year-old bouncing young things to young moms gushed about him. Book stores here have everything from Twilight posters, Edward Cullen posters and tee shirts and even key chains with the Cullen family crest. Apparently, a radio show also interviewed a dude who BELIEVES he is a vampire. Given the fact that Meyer justifies the existence of vampires without drinking blood; something tells me this isn't the last we're hearing of 'humans' believing themselves vampires.

As for Edward Cullen, if you overlook the fact that he is a vampire, he is being called the 'perfect man'.

That Stephenie Meyer is a horrid writer was unanimously agreed upon. That every hot-blooded chick digs vampire Cullen was also unanimously agreed upon. However, since Edward did not exist before Meyer created him, is she really such a bad writer? Everyone after all IS gushing about her fictional character. The writing in the book is nothing spectacular, neither is the story-telling. However, she has created a fool-proof character for women/girls. A man who will not look at any other woman no matter how beautiful, who thinks of you ALL the time, who wants to spend every waking/sleeping moment with you, who thinks of you as his best friend, who makes crazy love to you and who's drop dead (pun unintended) good looking is Prince Charming in a new avatar. Of course given that only your blood 'calls' to him, he doesn't need sleep, does not need to work or earn money and does not have any guy friends (or other friends) to demand/share his time with you, doesn;t matter. Those are practical things and perhaps I am a cynic.

You might scoff at Meyer's writing, yet you're in 'love' with her creation. Funny. Hating or disparaging Stephenie Meyer's writing is perhaps cool, like it's cool to say that people hate Harry Potter. Or love Slumdog Millionaire, or hate it. Ah yes, the Slumdog questionnaire still exists. Now interestingly -- just to prolong the fun -- I also bring in comparisons with Danny Boyle's Trainspotting and City of God. For the sake of debate, how many out there -- who are reading and care to participate/share their point of view -- think there are ANY similarities between Trainspotting and Slumdog?

On a different note though: Is anyone SCARED by what's happening in Pakistan and the repercussions in/for India? First the Mumbai attacks. Then the Taliban takes over Swat and now cricketers are shot at. New Delhi is a two-hour flight or less from Pakistan. What happens if Taliban takes over Pakistan??? What if they bomb Delhi? So perhaps Pakistan -- or its non-fanatical leaders -- might not have nuked India... but is everyone so sure that the Taliban will not think nuclear?

I am very scared. Are you?

6 comments:

flygye12 said...

Gosh I am scared after all this. if they don't spare their own homeland, how safe are we?

Perakath said...

I think even the Taliban or whoever it was who attacked the Sri Lankans knows the consequences of a unilateral nuclear strike. They want failure of the present Paki democratic state, but not total annihilation-- I hope.

Perakath said...

As for Trainspotting versus Slumdog, one was profane, cool, with good music, and talented actors. The other was just so blah, with a catchphrase that makes me scowl. Jai boo.

Jhoomur aka JB said...

FlyGye: It always starts at "home". Given the nature of war and given how connected we all are with the rest of the world... How safe is anyone?

@Perakath: A 'fanatic' is defined as 'a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.'(dictionary.com) The operative word would be 'uncritical'... do they stop to think? If these are groups that consider 'suicide' as a way of honouring their faith/beliefs... how much would they care about total annihilation? Wouldn't that be personal sacrifice on a grand scale?? i mean who is certain that these guys want only 'power'? Perhaps that would have --in a perverse way -- ensured that they would not be interested in complete devastation. But what if that's not the case?
Call it conspiracy theory or whatever...it's scaring the hell out of me.

Chandan Mulherkar said...

Jhoomur aka JB, your conspiracy theory IS credible; there's no telling what these inhumane idiots might do- there's newer evidence of that almost everyday. But there is another body of evidence that's even more compelling. The ratio of the actual no. of terrorist attacks to the leads that our agencies have got on them seems rather skewed towards the former, don't you think? That means whoever is(are) behind all this is fairly good at organizing and discreetly implementing such crimes.In other words,they do have brains, although rather rotten ones.
So I'd say the chances of them(their leadership) being like The Joker are quite low. Yet, we can't ignore the possibility that some of them might have gone rogue and formed separate groups, as is currently being speculated in the media.
And by The Joker, I mean the one in The Dark Knight; aptly described by the following quote-- "Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. "

Eveline said...

I'm scared and furious at the people who denied that the 'Lahore attacks' was committed by one of their own! I mean really, it's sad that ppl would go to any extent to stir up fear and intimidation!
I'm for sure stuck in limbo- care for what's happening and become totally paranoid or dont give a damn and become absolutely heartless.

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