Master & Commander

You can't understand the nautical references and parts of the dialogue in
Master & Commander - The Far Side of the World.

But big deal - it's still a good film to watch. I've seen it twice.

I was broke the whole of last week. So when I got my salary yesterday, I went to the nearest
theatre. I'd already seen it more than a week back, but I went anyway - just to trip
on the pictures and the music.

The film's cinematography is unbelievably good. It is set in the era of the Napoleanic Wars
and being a sea adventure, every frame in the film looks like a painting.
Watching it is like seeing the works of Constable and Turner on film.
Both these painters lived during this era and were famous for their sea & nature stills.

The film is based on Patrick O Brian's famous book series "Master & Commander".
In preparation for the film, I'd started reading the first part, but haven't finished it yet.
Good thing too, because I'm still determined not to read fiction this year.

I suddenly don't feel like saying anything else.

The return of the Zulu

Lance Klusener is back. After almost a year of oblivion.For the uninitiated,
he's a South African all-rounder (though the term hardly does him justice)
who was kicked out of the team after SA's failure to qualify for the super sixes,
during the World Cup last year. Apparently, he was being punished for insolence and did
not get along with new captain Graeme Smith.

Now it looks like bygones will be bygones - Klusener made a comeback in the first
ODI vs West Indies yesterday and even took 3 wickets in just 5 overs.

Why does the Zulu's return make me happy? Let me see.
For someone who's grown up in the nineties, South Africa's return to international cricket was the
BIG event. And the Proteas actually played a brand of cricket not seen before - Jonty Rhodes diving
and making catches out of nothing, Hansie Cronje taking to the field with a earpiece,
Lance Klusener smashing the cherry to all parts of the park, the list
goes on.
Plus it all coincided with the dawning of day/night cricket, white ball, coloured clothing
and 15 over restrictions. No wonder I looked up to the South Africans.
With Klusener back, South Africa has the world's best bowling attack.
But that, is for another day.

No fiction please

No more stories please, only non-fiction. That's been my resolution this year.
The idea is to read only essays, autobiographies, magazines and newspapers -
something that I can't do if I'm busy burrowing my nose in a Dick Francis thriller,
Fantasy novel, British fiction or Sci-Fi.

In keeping with the mood, I started 'Living to tell the tale' the first part of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's
autobiography. A few pages later I jettisoned the idea, because the prose was too delicious and
hence to be savoured later.
In a more pragmatic manner, I re-read Lee Iacocca's autobiography and have started
on what is proving to be a fascinating read - "The story of my experiments with truth".
Yes, I'm reading grandaddy Gandhi's autobiography. More on that later.
And I've also read two cover stories and many newspaper editorials.

Now if I could only do the abdominal crunches as well...

pray this works.